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

2889 Views

See similar French GCSE tutors

Related French GCSE answers

All answers ▸

What is the difference between the passé composé tense and the imperfect in french


When should I use perfect or the imperfect tense?


Vous décrivez là où vous habitez pour votre blog.


How can you tell whether a word is feminine or masculine?


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:

© 2026 by IXL Learning