LEÇON : LE PASSÉ COMPOSÉ (aka Perfect Tense)

CLASSE : GRADES 10 & 11 (TROISIÈME ET SECONDE)

What is the PASSÉ COMPOSÉ?

A COMPOUND PAST TENSE in French that describes

a COMPLETED past action. It is usually accompanied

by a specified time, date etc.

OBJECTIVES:

This lesson focuses on the use of the Passé compose

in the Affirmative: ‘I ate’, ‘I have eaten’, ‘I did eat’.

In another lesson, we will learn how to structure a

sentence in the NEGATIVE using this compound past

tense.

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At the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

▪ Identify the Passé Composé (Present Perfect) in French.

▪ Employ it to describe what they did last week.

Let’s go! On y va!

FORMATION OF THE PASSÉ COMPOSÉ:

As seen in the image above, the PASSÉ COMPOSÉ is formed

using the Present Tense of ONE of the Auxiliary Verbs,

‘AVOIR’ (to have) or ‘ÊTRE’ (to be) and the PAST

PARTICIPLE of the main verb.

• It resembles the PRESENT PERFECT in English which is

formed as follows: ‘Subject + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE’

→ I have spoken > J’ai parlé (in French)

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→ You have left > Tu es parti(e)

• It is also equivalent to the English SIMPLE PAST

→ I spoke > J’ ai parlé

→ You left > Tu es parti(e)

• As well as the English EMPHATIC PAST

→ I did speak > J’ ai parlé

→ You did leave > Tu es parti(e)

FORMATION OF THE PAST PARTICIPLE:

In French, verbs may be placed into THREE categories, ‘ER’,

‘IR’ and ‘RE’. The image above shows how the past participle

is generally formed for EACH.

For ‘ER’ verbs, the past participle is formed typically by

dropping the ‘R’ from the Infinitive form (the unconjugated

form) of the verb, then adding an acute accent above the

letter ‘e’. So that ‘e’ → ‘é’.

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For verbs ending in ‘IR’, such as ‘FINIR’, we remove the final

‘r’ to get the past participle of the verb; FINIR → FINI.

Finally, for those verbs ending in ‘RE’, we remove the ‘RE’

ending, then add ‘u’, RÉPONDRE → RÉPONDU.

Most verbs in French, are conjugated with the auxiliary verb

‘AVOIR’. Those conjugated with ‘ÊTRE’, include ALL

PRONOMINAL VERBS (which can be identified by the

PRONOUN ‘SE’ appearing in front of them, e.g. ‘Se doucher’

= to shower one’s self, ‘Se souvenir’ = to remember.

Below is the complete conjugation of the verbs ‘DANSER’ (to

dance) and ‘PARTIR’ (to leave, depart), in the PASSÉ

COMPOSÉ. NOTICE, that for Verbs conjugated with the

auxiliary verb ‘ÊTRE’, the PAST PARTICIPLE agrees with the

subject in number (singular – plural) - by adding ‘s’ at the end

to make it plural; as well as gender (masculine – feminine) –

by adding ‘e’ to make it feminine. See the image below:

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Now let us have a look at REFLEXIVE VERBS in the Passé

Composé. Below is the complete conjugation of the verb ‘Se

reposer’ (to rest, relax, take a break). Notice that between

the subject pronoun and the auxiliary verb, ‘Être’,

(conjugated in the Present Tense), there is a ‘Reflexive

Pronoun. (me/m’, te/t’ etc.). These pronouns accompany all

PRONOMINAL (which includes ‘Reflexive’) Verbs.

REMEMBER:

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There are TWO ways of memorizing the verbs that must be

conjugated with the auxiliary verb ‘Être’. See the images below:

1. By using the MNEMONIC

2. By using the structure of the house and relevant action

associated with it. See image below:

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Here are some verbs with irregular PAST PARTICIPLES:

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A VOUS MAINTENANT!

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!

ACTIVITÉ 1:

Study the excerpts below taken from a popular French Children’s

novel. Then, circle the examples of the Passé Composé that you

noticed. No need to translate first.

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ACTIVITÉ 2:

Study the image below to see what happened when the Didier

Family went on a Family Outing (une excursion). Then, fill in the

blanks with the appropriate form of the verbs given in brackets to

retell (raconter) the story in the Past (Passé Composé).

Une excursion compliquée Raconte l’histoire au passé composé.

Samedi dernier, la famille Didier (décider) ________________ de faire un pique-nique, alors ils

( entrer) __________________ dans la voiture et (aller) _____________________ à la campagne. Ils

(trouver) ____________________ une jolie place dans un champ, ils (enlever) _________________ les

aliments de la corbeille. Quand ils(commencer) ______________ à manger , un paysan furieux leur

(dire)________________ de partir de ses terres. Ils (ranger) ____________________ tout et (partir)

______________________ pour chercher une autre place. Ils (manger) ______________quand ils

(voir)_____________________ un taureau qui venait.. Ils (courir) ______________________rapidement

vers la voiture . À ce moment il

(commencer) __________________ à pleuvoir très fort. Pour ça, ils (retourner) ____________________à

la voiture pour revenir à la maison. Ils n’étaient pas encore à mi-chemin quand ils (sentir) ______________

un coup. Ils (sortir)________________________ de la voiture et ils (voir)_________________que le pneu

était à plat.. Quand ils (arriver) ______________ chez eux, ils étaient mouillés et avaient faim. Ils (prendre)

_____________________ une tasse de thé et ils (aller)____________________dormir.

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ACTIVITÉ 3:

Write a composition (100 – 130 words) describing what you did

last week (la semaine dernière). Here are some verbs to help you

get started:

Se réveiller, Se coucher, Rester, Balayer, Aller, Cuisiner , Surfer

sur internet, Lire, Manger and Regarder

Begin with…

La semaine dernière, je/j’…