How do I form the perfect tense in French?

Forming the perfect tense in French is simple: you need to firstly decide whether the verb you want to conjugate is avoir or être. If the verb is avoir, then you must first conjugate avoir in the present tense using the corresponding conjugation (ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont). If the verb is être, then you must conjugate être in the present tense (suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont). Next, you must form the past participle of the verb you want to conjugate. For -er verbs, you chop off the -er and add é. For -ir verbs, you chop off the -ir and add i. For -re verbs, you chop off the -re and add u. You have now formed the perfect tense. Examples: J'ai mangé, tu as vendu. REMEMBER: If the verb is an être verb, then the ending of the past participle must reflect the gender and number of the subject. (Adding an -e for a feminine subject and an -s for a plural subject; such as je suis sortie for a female speaker.)

TD

Related French GCSE answers

All answers ▸

What is the difference between the use of l'imparfait and le passé composé


Qu'est ce que vous aimez faire dans vos temps libre?


When do I use être in the perfect tense?


Vous décrivez vos vacances dans une lettre adressée à votre ami(e) en France. Écrivez environ 100 mots.