Can you see that the first letters of our first pairs form the acronym ADVENT? That can help you remember them. If, like me, you are a visual learner, you will find this infographic helpful. Last but not least, have you heard of my old friend Dr. Mrs. Vandertramp?
French Articles
What are compound tenses in French?
By: Mango Languages Wed Jul 24 2024
FrenchVerbs
A French compound tense is a tense or a mood that is formed using two elements: an auxiliary verbNo definition set for auxiliary verbLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. and a past participleNo definition set for past participleLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. One example of a compound tense is the French passé composé. Take a look:
Nous avons déjà mangé.
We already ate.
There are also other compound tenses that use the same structure, such as the French future perfect.
Nous aurons déjà mangé.
We will have already eaten.
There are two auxiliary verbs in French: avoir(to have) and être(to be). Which auxiliary verb you use depends on the verb you are conjugatingNo definition set for conjugatingLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., but most of the time the auxiliary for a compound tense will be avoir. In addition to the auxiliary verb, you will also need to form the past participle. In this post, you’ll learn how to select the auxiliary verb and form the past participle, as well as which different compound tenses you can expect to encounter in French. Let’s dive in!
Table of Contents
How to choose between the auxiliaries ‘avoir’ and ‘être’?
Most verbsNo definition set for verbsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. use the auxiliary avoir(to have), and only a handful of them use être(to be). Take a look at the table below to see which verbs take the auxiliary être in French:
Auxiliary | Example | For which verbs? | |
|---|---|---|---|
French | English | ||
être to be | Tu es allé au marché ? Did you go to the market? | Arriver / partir | to arrive / to leave |
Descendre / Monter | to go down / to go up | ||
Venir / aller | to come / to go | ||
Entrer / sortir | to enter / to go out | ||
Naître / mourir | to be born / to die | ||
Tomber / rester | to fall / to stay | ||
retourner | to return | ||
passer | to pass | ||
avoir to have | Elle a mangé une banane. She ate a banana. | All other verbs | |
Tip
Important
All verbs that take the auxiliary être that have a prefixNo definition set for prefixLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. will still take être. For example with venir(to come), you can have parvenir(to reach), devenir(to become), revenir(to come back), and intervenir(to intervene). These all take the auxiliary être.
However, sometimes a verb can take both the auxiliary avoir and être. Take a look at the exception below.
Important
Monter, descendre, entrer, and retourner use the auxiliary avoir when they are followed by a direct objectNo definition set for direct objectLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. Otherwise, they use the auxiliary être.
Je suis sortie.
I went out.
Je suis sortie avec mon amie.
I went out with my friend.
J’ai sorti la poubelle.
I took the garbage can out.
Now that you know how to select the auxiliary verb for compound tenses, let’s look at the second step of forming compound tenses: how to form the past participle.
How to form the past participle?
To form the past participle of a verb, you need to check the verb ending of the infinitiveNo definition set for infinitiveLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. and modify the verb form accordingly. You will follow these steps for -er, -ir, and -re verbs, but keep in mind that there are also some irregularNo definition set for irregularLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. French past participles:
Verb ending in -er | Verb ending in -ir | Some verbs ending in -re |
|---|---|---|
Remove -er, add -é | Remove -r | Remove -re, add -u |
jouer(to play)→ jou-→ joué | finir(to finish)→ fini | vendre(to sell)→ vend-→ vendu |
So, how would you find the past participle of the verb trouver(to find)? Let's work it out together:
trouver ends in -er.
remove the ending -er and you are left with trouv.
Add -é, and voilà ! Your past participle is trouvé.
In the table above, I mention “some” verbs ending in -re. How about the rest? Here is a list of the most common irregular past participles. Irregular means they do not follow this pattern above and you have to learn them by heart. The good news is that you will use them so often that you’ll remember them very quickly!
Important
Around 80 percent of verbs in French end in -er. So, trust me, you will very quickly get used to working out the past participle.
Sometimes, you might need to make some changes to your past participle. Let’s take a look!
When to form past participle agreement in French compound tenses?
In French, past participle agreementNo definition set for agreementLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. can take place between the past participle and the subjectNo definition set for subjectLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. or (occasionally) the direct objectNo definition set for direct objectLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. The rules for how and when this agreement takes place will depend on which auxiliary verb is used, être or avoir, and sometimes other aspects of the sentence's structure as well. Let's have a look!
How to form participle agreement after the auxiliary ‘être’ in French?
With verbs using the auxiliary être, the past participle must agree with the subject in genderNo definition set for genderLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. and numberNo definition set for numberLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.:
Subject | Agreement | Example |
|---|---|---|
Masculine singular | No agreement | Il est monté. He went up. |
Masculine plural | Add -s | Ils sont montés. They went up. |
Feminine singular | Add -e | Il est montée. She went up. |
Feminine plural | Add -es | Il est montées. They went up. |
This is the most common form of past participle agreement. However, there are some instances in which the past participle will need agreement when the auxiliary avoir is used, as well. Most of the time, however, there is no past participle agreement with avoir. Let's take a look at this next.
How to form past participle agreement after the auxiliary ‘avoir’ in French?
In verbs that use the auxiliary avoir the past participle almost always stays the same, whether the subject is masculine, feminine, singular, or plural. 🎉 And the best news is... most verbs use avoir!
Hier, j’ai acheté des fleurs.
Yesterday, I bought flowers.
La semaine dernière, elle a acheté des bonbons.
Last week, she bought sweets.
Mardi, ils ont acheté des cartes postales.
On Tuesday, they bought postcards.
Exception!
If the direct object is before the verb, the past participle must agree in number and gender with the direct object in French. The endings to use are the same as the ones we saw above.
direct object
Les cartes postales que j’ai achetées sont belles.
The postcards I bought are nice.
Tip: To find the direct object of the sentence, ask “what”: What did I buy? The postcards.
There are many more specific exceptions and rules when it comes to forming agreement with the past participle in compound tenses. Check out our post on past participle agreement in French to learn more!
Finally, let’s take a look at some of the most common compound tenses in French.
What are the most common French compound tenses?
The most common compound tenses in French include the passé composé, the pluperfect, the future perfect, the conditional perfect, the past subjunctive, and the past infinitive. In all of these compound tenses and moods, the formula includes both an auxiliary verb and a past participle. The past participle formation will always be the same across all compound tenses, along with the rules of agreement. However, the tense of the auxiliary verb will change, depending on which compound tense you are using. Take a look at the examples of each below:
Compound tense | Auxiliary verb tense | Example |
|---|---|---|
Passé composé | Present | La fille a étudié. The girl studied. |
Pluperfect | Imperfect | La fille avait étudié. The girl had studied. |
Future perfect | Future | La fille aura étudié. The girl will have studied. |
Conditional perfect | Conditional present | La fille aurait étudié. The girl would have studied. |
Past subjunctive | Subjunctive present | Il est possible que la fille ait étudié. It’s possible that the girl studied. |
Past infinitive | Infinitive | avoir étudié to have studied |
Let’s recap
When using compound tenses in French, keep the following points in mind:
Compound tenses are made up of an auxiliary verb (avoir or être) and a past participle
Check if your verb requires the auxiliary avoir, except for certain verbs of motion and reflexive verbs. The tense of the auxiliary verb depends on the tense of the compound tense.
Form the past participle according to the ending of the infinitive of your verb, but remember that there are some tricky irregular past participle forms!
If you are using the auxiliary être, remember that your past participle must agree with the subject. You can’t hear the difference, but you can see it! (Il est parti / Elle est partie / Elles sont parties). Most of the time, there is no agreement with auxiliary avoir, but occasionally an agreement in gender and number will form with the direct object.
There are several compound tenses in French, but the tense and mood of the auxiliary verb changes among them.
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~Passé composé TableThe passé composé-How to form and use it in French~List of French verbs that have an irregular past participleThe passé composé- How to form and use it in French~Activities
