When is the passé composé used and how is it formed?

When is the passé composé used?The passé composé is a tense which is the equivalent of the simple past (I did) and the present perfect (I have done). It is the most commonly used past tense in French. It is used to highlight the consequences of past actions and talk about:Completed actions, Repeated actions, Series of actions, Conditions in likely situationsHow is it formed?It is a compound tense, meaning you need to components:The auxilery (avoir or être) conjugated in the present tense. The past participle of the verb you want to conjugate. Avoir conjugation: ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont. Être conjugation: suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont.Être: use DR and MRS VANDERTRAMP to work out which verbs take êtrePast Participle: regular: er --> é | ir--> i | re--> uirregular: learn these agreements with être: (e) if female, (s) if plural, (es) if female and plural

FT
Answered by Francesca T. French tutor

2576 Views

See similar French GCSE tutors

Related French GCSE answers

All answers ▸

How do I form the conditional tense?


How do you conjugate the future tense in French?


How to form and use the future tense.


How do I form and use the perfect tense/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:

© 2026 by IXL Learning