It
consists of 2 parts: the auxiliary verb (le verbe
auxiliaire) and the past participle (le participe passé)
The perfect tense (le passé composé)
This is used to communicate about actions that happened in the past.
| Hier | Yesterday |
| La semaine passée | Last week |
| L'année passée / dernière | Last year |
| Il y a deux jours | Two days ago |
| L'avant-hier | The day before yesterday |
| Le mois dernier | Last month |
It
consists of 2 parts: the auxiliary verb (le verbe
auxiliaire) and the past participle (le participe passé)E.g.
Je
suis allé à Londres
et j'ai acheté des souvenirs.
I went to London and I bought some souvenirs
Auxiliary Past participle
Auxiliary Past participle
| Avoir | (To have) | Etre | (To be) |
| J'ai | I have | Je suis | I am |
| Tu as | You have (familiar) | Tu es | You are (familiar) |
| Il a | He has | Il est | He is |
| Elle a | She has | Elle est | She is |
| On a | "One" has | On est | "One" is |
| Nous avons | We have | Nous sommes | We are |
| Vous avez | You have (polite & plural) | Vous êtes | You are (polite & plural) |
| Ils ont | They have (masculine, mixed) | Ils sont | They are (masculine, mixed) |
| Elles ont | They have (feminine) | Elles sont | They are (feminine) |
For many -er verbs this ends in é Il a mangé (He ate)
For many -ir verbs this ends in i Je suis parti (I left)
For many -re verbs this ends in u Je suis descendu (I came down)
However there are lots of verbs with irregular past participles. These have to be learnt.
The past participle does not change according to number or gender. It is invariable.
The past participles are variable. They change according to number and gender.
E.g. Je suis allé (if the "I" is male) Je suis allée (if the "I" is female)
So possible endings are as follows:
Je suis allé (e)
Tu es allé (e)
Il est allé
Elle est allée
Nous sommes allé (e) s
Vous êtes allé (e) (s)
Ils sont allés
Elles sont allées
The following verbs take être as an auxiliary in the perfect tense:
| Monter | Je suis monté | I went up |
| Retourner | Je suis retourné | I returned |
| Venir | Je suis venu | I came |
| Aller | Je suis allé | I went |
| Naître | Je suis né | I was born |
| Sortir | Je suis sorti | I went out |
| Tomber | Je suis tombé | I fell |
| Rester | Je suis resté | I stayed |
| Arriver | Je suis arrivé | I arrived |
| Mourir | Je suis mort | I died |
| Partir | Je suis parti | I left, went away |
| Entrer | Je suis entré | I went in |
| Descendre | Je suis descendu | I came down; got off |
Other verbs that take être are verbs which contain one of the 13 verbs above (e.g. revenir - to come back).
Reflexive verbs also take être as the auxiliary in the perfect tense - Je me suis couchée (I went to bed).
A good way of remembering the 13 verbs that take être is to think of MR VANSTRAMPED, as the name is made of the first letter of the 13 verbs.