How do you form the perfect tense using avoir?

The Perfect tense is formed of two parts -- the present tense of the auxillary verb (avoir or etre) + the past particple of the verb you are using!

Most verbs take avoir - to have, as the auxillary, but some take etre - to be.

The present tense of avoir:

J'ai

Tu as

On a

Nous avons 

Vous avez

Ils ont 

To form the past particple you take the stem of the verb and + the endings:

ER verbs = -er + é    parler -- parlé

IR verbs = -ir + i    choisir -- choisi

RE verbs = -re + u   vendre -- vendu 

Then you just add the two togther! 

ex.

J'ai choisi ! I chose 

Tu as parlé ! You spoke

There are some irregular verbs that take avoir as an auxillary - these you just have to memerise! 

LH
Answered by Lily H. French tutor

2150 Views

See similar French GCSE tutors

Related French GCSE answers

All answers ▸

How do you form the simple future tense?


What is the difference between "parce que" and "car"?


Décrivez votre école


When do you agree the past participle?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2025 by IXL Learning