How do you form the passé composée?

The past tense known as the passé composée in French is composed of three parts. The subject (je), the auxiliary verb (a conjugated form of with avoid or être) and finally the past participle (mangé).Avoir and Être are conjugated in the present tense depending on the subject (AVOIR - j'ai, tu as, il a... ÊTRE - je suis, tu es, il est...). Most verbs take avoir, only MRSVANDERTRAMP verb take être.Auxiliary verbs that take avoir change slightly, -er go to -é (mangé) -ir go to -I (réussi) and -re go to -u (perdu).Auxiliary verbs that take être change more significantly, the change is the same as above if the subject is masculine singular, if the subject is feminine singular, an -e in added, if masculine plural -s is added and if feminine plural -es is added.

KD
Answered by Katharine D. French tutor

2489 Views

See similar French GCSE tutors

Related French GCSE answers

All answers ▸

How do you form the conditional tense in French?


Vous écrivez un article sur la santé des jeunes. Vous devez mentionner ce que vous mangez et buvez, vos méthodes pour rester en forme et votre opinion sur le tabac, et sur l'avenir de la santé des jeunes.


Explain why the verb ‘mettre’ in its past tense form as it appears in the following sentence “Il a décroché la casserole et l’a mise sur la table” has a feminine ending or terminaison (despite the auxiliary’s verb ‘avoir’’s neutrality)?


Which verbs always use 'être' when conjugated in the passé composé?


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