V. Passerat

The perfect tenseThe perfect tense(Le Pass(Le Passé Composé) é Composé)

1- Use and formation1- Use and formation2- Perfect with Avoir2- Perfect with Avoir3- Perfect with Être3- Perfect with Être4-Time expressions4-Time expressions

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1-Use and formation • This tense is used to describe a

single completed action in the past.

• It needs 2 parts: the auxiliary or helping verb (avoir or être in the present) and the past participle.

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In English….• How to say things in English in the

past tense?• Ex: to play

1. I….2. I…3. I…

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Did you get it correct?

•I have played•I did play•I have played

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The passé composé tense is a compound

tense!because it is made up of more than

one part. It is COMPOSED OF TWO THINGS!

A HELPING VERB AND A PAST PARTICIPLE!

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For most verbs it is made up of the present tense of

avoir…• J’ai…• Tu as…• Il/elle/on a…• Nous avons…• Vous avez…• Ils/elles ont…• We call this the auxiliary [helping] verb

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…and a ‘past participle’• J’ai mangé- I have eaten (I ate, I did eat)• Tu as vu- You have seen (you saw, you did see)• Il/elle/on a dansé- She danced, (did dance, has

danced)• Nous avons vendu- We sold, (did sell, have sold)• Vous avez acheté- You bought (did buy, have

bought) • Ils/elles ont fini- They finished,(did finish, have

finished)

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Regular past participles• The past participle of a verb is the form

that generally corresponds to the –ed ending in English (played, changed, finished…)

• -ER verbs end in –é (manger mangé)• -RE verbs end in –u (vendre vendu)• -IR verbs end in –i (finir fini)

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2-Avoir verbs • Most verbs use the auxiliary avoir . • The endings always stay the same.

-ER -RE -IRREGARDER VENDRE FINIR

J’ai regardé vendu finiTu as regardé vendu finiIl, Elle, On a regardé vendu finiNous avons regardé vendu finiVous avez regardé vendu finiIls, Elles ont regardé vendu fini

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Some Irregular past participles

Avoir-to have (j’ai eu/I had), Être-to be (j’ai été/I was), Faire-to do, make (j’ai fait/I did)

Ending in “it”: Ending in “ert”:Dire (j’ai dit/I said) Offrir (j’ai offert/I offered) Écrire (j’ai écrit/I wrote) Ouvrir (j’ai ouvert/I opened) Ending in “is”:Mettre (j’ai mis/I put)Promettre (j’ai promis/I promised)Permettre (j’ai permis/I permitted)Prendre (j’ai pris/I took)(Apprendre-compris/learned/Comprendre-compris/understood)

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More Irregular Past participles!

Ending in “u”: Boire (j’ai bu/I drank)Courir (j’ai couru/I ran)Pouvoir (j’ai pu/I could)Vivre (j’ai vécu/I lived)Voir (j’ai vu/I saw)*****Vouloir (j’ai voulu/I wanted)

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3- Être verbs• There are some verbs that use the

auxiliary verb (helping verb) être.• In that case, the past participle

agrees with the subject (masculine, feminine, singular or plural endings).

• ONLY ÊTRE VERBS AGREE!!!!!!

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Remember Être? • Je suis • tu es • elle est • nous sommes • vous êtes • ils sont

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Être verbs agree! -ER -RE -IR ALLER DESCENDRE PARTIR

Je suis allé(e) descendu(e) parti(e)Tu es allé(e) descendu(e) parti(e)Il,Elle, On est allé(e) descendu(e) parti(e)Nous sommes allé(e)s descendu(e)s parti(e)sVous êtes allé(e)(s) descendu(e)(s) parti(e)(s)Ils, Elles sont allé(e)s descendu(e)s parti(e)s

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List of Être verbs-using Dr. & Mrs. Vandertrampp

• Devenir (to become) devenu(e)(s)• Retourner (to return) retourné(e)(s)• Monter (to go up) monté(e)(s)• Rentrer (to return) rentré(e)(s)• Sortir (to go out) sorti(e)(s)• Venir (to come) venu(e)(s)• Arriver(to arrive) arrivé(e)(s)• Naître (to be born) né(e)(s)• Descendre (to get off/go down) descendu(e)(s)• Entrer (to enter) entré(e)(s)• Rester (to stay) resté(e)(s)• Tomber (to fall) tombé(e)(s)• Revenir (to come back) revenu(e)(s)• Aller (to go) allé(e)(s)• Mourir (to die) mort(e)(s)• Partir (to leave) parti(e)(s)• Passer (to pass by) passé(e)(s)

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Another way to remember ÊTRE is the ÊTRE song!

(to the tune of the ABC song)• Allé• Arrivé• Descendu• Devenu• Entré• Monté• Mort• Né• Parti• Passé• Rentré• Resté• Retourné• Revenu• Sorti• Tombé ET • Venu

“Ce sont les participes passés, ce sont les mots que je connais!”

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REMEMBER: Être verbs must agree!

• For example: Elle est venue• Nous sommes arrivés

But when we used avoir, there was NO agreement…

• Elle a choisi• Nous avons parlé

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So you can remember the 17 Être verbs with Dr. & Mrs. Vandertramp, the Être house/hospital or with the

Être song! • Devenir• Revenir

• Mourir• Rester• Sortir

• Venir• Aller• Naître• Descendre• Entrer• Retourner• Tomber• Rentrer• Arriver• Monter• Partir• Passer

AlléArrivéDescenduDevenuEntréMontéMortNéPartiPasséRentréRestéRetournéRevenuSortiTombé ET Venu

“Ce sont les participes passés, ce sont les mots que je connais!”

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So this is the process…

Find the French verb

Ask yourself: does it take être?[That is, is it reflexive or one of the être list

verbs?] If not, use AVOIR in the present tense, and add your past participle. If yes, use ETRE in the present tense and add the

possibly morphed past participle!

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If the answer is ‘yes, it uses être’

• For example… ‘Christine fell..’ …• To fall = tomber = être list verb• Find the subject of the verb: • Christine• Use the present tense of être to agree with

Christine• Christine est• Work out the past participle and make it agree• tombée• So we get: Christine est tombée

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Être Verbs: Now you try!

Translate: 1. I went to the doctor this morning.2. I left school late. 3. I fell at the train station.4. I arrived with my sister.

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Reflexive verbs- (French 2 will get these in the

spring!) • All reflexive verbs use the auxiliary être in the

perfect tense.Se lever (to get up)

Je me suis levé(e)Tu t’es levé(e)Il,Elle,On s’est levé(e)Nous nous sommes levé(e)sVous vous êtes levé(e)(s)Ils,Elles se sont levé(e)s

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4- Time expressions• L’année dernière (last year)• Avant-hier (the day before yesterday)• Hier (yesterday)• Hier matin/soir (yesterday morning/evening)• Pendant les dernières vacances (during the

last holidays)• La semaine dernière (last week)• Le week-end dernier (last week-end)