French Articles

The ‘passé composé’: How to form and use it in French?

By: Agnés Finot Wed Jul 24 2024

Verbs, Indicative Mood

Use the passé composé to talk about a short, punctual action that happened at a definite time in the past; this is a compound tense, meaning it is formed from an auxiliary verb and past participle. The passé composé can be translated in two ways in English: for example, j’ai joué can be translated as “I have played” or “I played.” In this post, we’ll cover how to form the passé composé in French, as well as when to use it.

Do you want to know why my students agree that the passé composé is as easy as 1, 2, 3? Let's go!

How to form the ‘passé composé’ in French?

To form the passé composé in French, you'll need to conjugate the auxiliary verb, either avoir(to have) or être(to be), in the French present tense and pair it with the past participle form of the French verb. Let's take a look:

subject

auxiliary
(present tense)
avoir(to have ) / être(to be)

past participle

Tu as parlé

You have spoken.

Paul est allé

Paul went.

(lit. Paul has gone)

Tip

For a review of the conjugations of avoir and être in the present tense, check out our handy table!

Two important notes:

Generally, most verbs will use the auxiliary verb avoir, except for verbs of movement and reflexive verbs in French. To learn more about how to choose between the auxiliaries avoir and être in compound tenses, take a look at our post on compound tenses in French.
Sometimes, past participles will need to agree in gender and number with the subject or, in special cases, the direct object of a sentence. to learn when to form agreement with the past participle in French, check out our post!

How to use negation with the ‘passé composé’ in French?

To use a French negation phrase with the passé composé, place the negotiation, like ne…pas(not), around the auxiliary verb:

subject

auxiliary

pas

past participle

Les joueurs n'ont pas gagné

The players didn’t win.

Elle n'est pas tombée !

She didn't fall!

How to form questions in the ‘passé composé’ in French?

To form questions in French with the passé composé, you first must decide which type of question format you want to use. There are several ways of forming a question in French. Let’s explore:

One way is to not change anything and simply raise your pitch at the end of the sentence.
subject
auxiliary
past participle
(+ object)
Il a fini son dessin ?
Has he finished his drawing?
Using est-ce que:
Est-ce que
subject
auxiliary
past participle
(+ object)
Est-ce que tu es allé à la salle de gym ?
Have you been to the gym?
Inversion (more formal):
auxiliary
subject
past participle
(+ object)
Avez-vous réservé une table ?
Have you booked a table?
Inversion with negation: Here is what you need to do when you have a question with a negation!
Ne
auxiliary
subject
pas
past participle
(+ object)
N'est-il pas parti ce matin ?
Didn’t he leave this morning?

Now that we’ve covered the basics for how to form the passé composé , let’s see when you’ll want to use it.

When to use the ‘passé composé’ in French?

The passé composé is a past tense in French, so you will use it to talk about past events that are completed. Let’s take a look at different cases where you’ll want to use the passé composé:

To talk about a unique event in the past, like something you have done once.
Hier, j’ai sauté en parachute.
Yesterday, I did a parachute jump.
To talk about something that happened in the past, like a historical event.
En 1981, la France a aboli la peine de mort.
In 1981, France abolished the death penalty.
To describe a succession of actions in the past, like your morning routine.
Il s’est réveillé, il s’est levé, puis il a bu un chocolat chaud.
In 1981, France abolished the death penalty.
When something happened suddenly in the past.
Tout à coup, mon téléphone a sonné.
Suddenly, my phone rang.

There is one question I always ask my students on a Monday morning: Qu’est-ce que vous avez fait le week-end dernier ?(What did you do last weekend?). This is a great question to practice the passé composé! What would your answer be?

Important

To make a description in the past, and to talk about things you used to do regularly, you should use a different tense called l’imparfait, or the French imperfect tense:

Les enfants portaient des bonnets et des gants, ils faisaient une bataille de boules de neige et ils semblaient très heureux.

The children were wearing hats and gloves, they were having a snowball fight, and they seemed very happy.

Quand j’étais jeune, je rendais visite à mes grands-parents tous les week-ends.

When I was young, I used to visit my grandparents every weekend.

But how do you know the difference between the passé composé and the imperfect in French? Check out our article to find out!

Let’s recap

The French passé composé is a past compound tense formed using an auxiliary verb (avoir or être) conjugated in the present tense and a past participle. You will use the passé composé to talk about past actions that you “did” or “have done.”

To become familiar with the construction of the passé composé, you need to practice, practice, practice! Here are some fun exercises to help you practice the French passé composé!

Downloadable Resources

Elevate your language-learning journey to new heights with the following downloadable resources.

The passé composé-How to form and use it in French~List of French verbs that have an irregular past participle The passé composé-How to form and use it in French~Passé composé TableThe passé composé- How to form and use it in French~Activities

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