Kilo Lingo
French grammar Part of Chapter 7

CEFR A2-B1

3 min read

Test yourself (19 questions)

French Passé Composé: Formation and Conjugation Tables

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

The is the everyday French past tense. It is in the present plus a past participle, and it means both I did and I have done:

the participle ending (or the whole irregular participle)avoirWhat do the colours mean?
Personavoir+ participle
/ / on
/

Quick check

Now use it: three quick questions on the chart above. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Choose the past participle.

  1. Hier, j'ai un bon film. (voir)

  2. J'ai un gâteau. (faire)

  3. Nous avons le train. (prendre)

  • . - I spoke. / I have spoken.
  • . - We ate. / We have eaten.

with the person; the participle does not. A small set of verbs takes instead ( ., I went): see the last section.

Avoir + past participle

Most French verbs build their past this way, and it is two words every time: the right form of , then the participle.

Three calendar pages along a time arrow: on the left a grey page torn off the pad and lying tilted behind, showing a football and a tick (yesterday, done); in the middle the page on the pad, glowing yellow and showing an open book (today); on the right a dashed-outline page still to come, showing a bicycle (tomorrow).
  1. , .
  2. , .
  3. , .

Hier, j'ai joué: yesterday I played (passé composé). Aujourd'hui, je lis: today I'm reading (present). Demain, je vais faire du vélo: tomorrow I'm going to cycle (aller + infinitive).

  • , . - Yesterday I played football.
  • ? - Did you watch the film?
  • . - They worked late.

The same French covers two English tenses, so do not look for a separate "have done" form:

FrenchEnglish
.I ate. / I have eaten.
.She finished. / She has finished.

For a single finished event at a known time, English uses I ate; French still says .

Regular past participles

The participle comes from the infinitive. Drop the ending and add -é, -i or -u:

-er verbs: drop -er, add -é
Verb typeInfinitiveParticiple
-er
-ir
-re
  • Marie. - I spoke to Marie.
  • . - We chose.
  • vendu . - He sold his car.

-er is by far the biggest group, so -é is the participle you will write most. It sounds exactly like the infinitive: and are both /paʁ./.

Irregular past participles

Many common verbs have their own participle. Learn the first three straight away, because they are everywhere:

the participle ending (or the whole irregular participle)avoirWhat do the colours mean?
VerbParticipleExample
.
.
.
  • . - I was ill.
  • . - I was scared.
  • . - I made a cake.

The next group falls into families by sound. Learn them by ending:

EndingVerbsParticiples
-u, , , ,
-u, , , ,
-is, ,
-it, ,
-ert
  • Marie . - I saw Marie yesterday.
  • . - We took the train.
  • . - He said hello.
  • . - I wrote a letter.

keeps its circumflex in the masculine singular only, so it is never confused with the article .

Negation in the passé composé

and wrap , not the participle. The participle comes last.

the participle ending (or the whole irregular participle)avoirWhat do the colours mean?
Subject
ne
avoir
Negative
Participle
’
’
’
  • . - I didn't eat.
  • . - We have never seen the film.
  • . - She didn't say anything.

shortens to n' because every form of starts with a vowel. The full set of negatives is on the negation page.

A small set takes être

About seventeen verbs of movement and change, and every reflexive verb, use instead of . With , the participle agrees with the subject like an adjective:

êtrefeminine agreementplural agreementWhat do the colours mean?
Subjectêtre + allerEnglish
(a man) I went
(a woman) I went
he went
she went
they went
they went (women)
  • . - I went to the market.
  • . - She left yesterday.

Which verbs, and why, is on the avoir or être page.

Common mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
. . takes
. .no agreement with
faisé. . is irregular
. . comes before the participle
. . takes

The last row is not a small slip: means something like "I am eaten". And there is no separate "did" form to look for: I ate and I have eaten are both .

What to do next

  1. Write five things you did yesterday, all with .
  2. Make two of them negative, with ... around .
  3. Then learn the verbs on avoir or être.

Practise: test yourself

Build the word

0/4

Build the past participle from the stem and the ending.

  1. parler (spoken)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  2. finir (finished)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  3. attendre (waited)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  4. choisir (chosen)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

Pick the right one

0/5

Choose the past participle.

  1. Hier, j'ai un bon film. (voir)

  2. J'ai un gâteau. (faire)

  3. Nous avons le train. (prendre)

  4. Vous avez la vérité. (dire)

  5. Tu as de la chance. (avoir)

Put the words in order

0/3

Put the words in order.

  1. I didn't eat.

    Your sentence is empty.

  2. We have never seen the film.

    Your sentence is empty.

  3. She didn't say anything.

    Your sentence is empty.

Spot the mistake

0/4

Tap the mistake English speakers make.

Translation drill

0/3

Translate into English.

  1. J'ai parlé à mon ami.

  2. Elle n'a pas fini.

  3. Nous avons pris le train.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you form the in French?
Take in the present tense (, as, a, , , ) and add the past participle of the verb: , I spoke. The participle does not agree with the subject after : , . A small set of verbs of movement, and every reflexive verb, uses instead: .
How do you form the French past participle?
Three regular patterns. -er verbs drop -er and add -é: , . Most -ir verbs drop -ir and add -i: , . Regular -re verbs drop -re and add -u: , . The three irregulars to learn first are (from ), (from ) and (from ); , , , and come straight after.
Is the the same as the English present perfect?
It is built the same way, an auxiliary plus a participle, but it covers more ground. translates both I ate and I have eaten, because everyday French has no separate simple past: the only in literature and formal writing.
How do you make the negative?
Wrap ... around the auxiliary, not the participle: (I didn't eat), (she didn't leave). The participle always comes after . and sit in the same place: , .
When do you use the and when the imparfait?
The is for completed events you can count or put in order: , . The imparfait is for background, habits and states in the past: , . One sentence often uses both: .