French Topic
Passé Composé Basics
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Study focus - 3 things
- The passé composé is used for completed actions in the past
- The basic structure is subject + auxiliary verb + past participle
- Most Grade 9 exam questions ask you to translate or rewrite sentences into the past
Section 1What it means
The passé composé is a French past tense. It is used for actions that happened and are finished, like I ate, she played, or we went. In plain words, it is the tense for completed past actions.
Section 2Basic structure
The structure is subject + auxiliary verb + past participle. Example: j'ai parlé means I spoke or I have spoken. Here's the trick: the auxiliary is the little helper verb, and the past participle carries the main meaning.
Section 3Two helper verbs
French uses either avoir or être as the auxiliary verb in the passé composé. Most verbs use avoir. Some movement verbs, change-of-state verbs, and reflexive verbs use être.
Section 4English translations
A passé composé sentence can translate in more than one natural way. J'ai mangé can mean I ate, I have eaten, or I did eat. Watch out: do not translate word-for-word as I have ate.
Examples
Rewrite je regarde la télé in the passé composé.
Regarder is a regular -er verb, so regardé is the past participle. The answer is j'ai regardé la télé.
Translate: Yesterday in Kingston, I visited my grandmother.
Use visiter with avoir: Hier à Kingston, j'ai visité ma grand-mère. The action is completed, so passé composé fits.
Now let's water it
Session runs notes to flashcards to quiz back-to-back.