French Passé Composé
The passé composé is the most important past tense in spoken French. Whenever you want to say "I ate," "she went," or "we finished," this is the tense you need. It is built from two parts: a helper verb (avoir or être) plus a past participle. The tricky part is knowing which helper to use and how to form the participle.
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The Structure: Helper + Past Participle
Every passé composé sentence follows the same formula: subject + helper verb (conjugated) + past participle.
- J'ai mangé. — I ate. (avoir + past participle of manger)
- Elle est partie. — She left. (être + past participle of partir)
Regular Past Participles
The pattern is simple: -er verbs → -é, -ir verbs → -i, -re verbs → -u.
Avoir: The Default Helper
The vast majority of French verbs use avoir as their helper. If you are unsure, avoir is almost always the safe bet.
- J'ai parlé français. — I spoke French.
- Tu as fini ton travail. — You finished your work.
- Nous avons vu le film. — We saw the film.
- Ils ont pris le train. — They took the train.
With avoir, the past participle normally does NOT change for gender or number. "Il a mangé" and "Elle a mangé" are identical. The exception is when a direct object comes before the verb, but do not worry about that rule until intermediate level.
Être: The 17 Verbs of DR MRS VANDERTRAMP
About 17 verbs use être instead of avoir. These are mostly verbs of movement or state change. The famous mnemonic DR MRS VANDERTRAMP helps you remember them:
- Devenir (to become) — devenu
- Revenir (to come back) — revenu
- Monter (to go up) — monté
- Rester (to stay) — resté
- Sortir (to go out) — sorti
- Venir (to come) — venu
- Aller (to go) — allé
- Naître (to be born) — né
- Descendre (to go down) — descendu
- Entrer (to enter) — entré
- Retourner (to return) — retourné
- Tomber (to fall) — tombé
- Rentrer (to go back in) — rentré
- Arriver (to arrive) — arrivé
- Mourir (to die) — mort
- Partir (to leave) — parti
All reflexive verbs (se laver, se lever, s'habiller) also use être.
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Past Participle Agreement with Être
When using être, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. This is one of the most important grammar rules in French.
- Il est allé. — He went. (masculine singular)
- Elle est allée. — She went. (add -e for feminine)
- Ils sont allés. — They went. (add -s for masculine plural)
- Elles sont allées. — They went. (add -es for feminine plural)
Agreement adds letters you often do not hear in speech: allé, allée, allés, and allées all sound the same. But in writing, the agreement is mandatory. Forgetting it is one of the most common mistakes on French exams.
Common Irregular Past Participles
These irregular participles must be memorized. The good news is that once you know the 15 most common ones, you can handle the vast majority of everyday French conversation in the past tense.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the passé composé in French?
The passé composé is the most common French past tense for talking about completed actions. It is formed with a helper verb (avoir or être) plus a past participle: "J'ai mangé" (I ate), "Je suis allé" (I went).
How do I know whether to use avoir or être?
Most verbs use avoir. Only about 17 verbs of movement or state change use être (remembered by the mnemonic DR MRS VANDERTRAMP: Devenir, Revenir, Monter, Rester, Sortir, Venir, Aller, Naître, Descendre, Entrer, Retourner, Tomber, Rentrer, Arriver, Mourir, Partir). All reflexive verbs also use être.
What is past participle agreement?
When using être as the helper, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject: "Elle est allée" (she went, add -e for feminine), "Ils sont allés" (they went, add -s for masculine plural). With avoir, agreement occurs only when a direct object precedes the verb.
What are the most common irregular past participles?
Key irregular participles: avoir → eu, être → été, faire → fait, prendre → pris, mettre → mis, dire → dit, écrire → écrit, voir → vu, lire → lu, boire → bu, connaître → connu, vouloir → voulu, pouvoir → pu, savoir → su.
Is the passé composé used the same way across all French-speaking countries?
Yes, the passé composé is standard across France, Belgium, Switzerland, Quebec, and francophone Africa. It has largely replaced the passé simple in spoken French everywhere. The passé simple now appears mainly in formal writing and literature.