7.1 Formation of the past tenses


7.1.1 The passé composé

We have already met the passé composé in french survival guide II. We differentiate between transitive (have an object) and intransitive verbs (do not have an object). Transitive verbs form the passé composé with avoir (to have), intransitive verbs with être (to be).

transitive verbs
French English
subject  auxiliary  perfect
 participle
subject  auxiliary  perfect
 participle
J' (m) ai acheté I (m) have bought.
J' (f) ai acheté I(f) have bought.
Tu (m) as acheté You (m) have bought.
Tu (f) as acheté You (f) have bought.
Il a acheté He has bought.
Elle a acheté She has bought.
Nous
(m)
avons

acheté

We (m)

have

bought.

Nous (f) avons acheté We (f) have bought.
Vous
(m)
avez

acheté.

You (m)

have

bought.

Vous (f) avez acheté. You (f) have bought.
Ils

ont

acheté

They
(m)
have

bought.

Elles ont acheté They (f) have bought.

intransitive verbs
French English
subject  auxiliary  perfect
participle
subject  auxiliary  perfect
participle
Je (m) suis venu. I (m) have come.
Je (f) suis venue. I (f) have come.
Tu (m) es venu. You (m) have come.
Tu (f) es venue. You (f) have come.
Il est venu. He has come.
Elle est venue. She has come.
Nous
(m)
sommes

venus.

We (m)

have

come.
Nous (f) sommes venues. We (f) have come.
Vous
(m)
êtes

venus.

You (m)

have

come.
Vous (f) êtes venues. You (f) have come.
Ils

sont

venus.

They
(m)
have

come.

Elles sont venues. They (f) have come.


Once again we can see that the perfect participle after être changes according to the gender and the number of the person it refers to.





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