French tenses

Past Tenses

Passé Composé

Verbs conjugated in the Passé Composé, start with either the verb être or avoir (the ‘auxiliaire’). This depends on the type of verb it is. Verbs conjugated with être are reflexive verbs (e.g. se doucher) and 17 other verbs, listed below. We can use the acronym Dr. & Mrs. Vandertrampp to remember them.

%%Descendre%%

%%Retourner%%

%%&%%

%%Monter%%

%%Rester%%

%%Sortir%%

%%Venir%%

%%Aller%%

%%Naître%%

%%Devenir%%

%%Entrer%%

%%Revenir%%

%%Tomber%%

%%Rentrer%%

%%Arriver%%

%%Mourir%%

%%Partir%%

%%Passer (par)%%

All the other verbs use avoir.

We conjugate the auxilary like we normally would in the present tense.

Être

Je suis

Tu es

Il/elle est

Nous sommes

Vous êtes

Ils/elles sont

Avoir

J’ai

Tu as

Il/elle a

Nous avons

Vous avez

Ils/elles ont

Then, we get the unconjugated verb and we remove the last two letters and add another one, depending on the suffix. -er verbs therefore end in -é, -ir verbs end in -i and -re verbs end in u. These remain the same no matter who the subject of the sentence is.

However, there are quite a few irregulars. Here are a few commonly used ones:

Avoir → eu, Être → été, Dire → dit, Ecrire → ecrit, Mettre → mis, Permettre → permis, Prendre → pris, Comprendre → compris, Apprendre → appris, Croire → cru, Voir → vu, Boire → bu, Devoir → dû, Pouvoir → pu, Lire → lu, Recevoir → reçu, Vivre → vécu, Vouloir → voulu, Connaître → connu, Courir → couru, Faire → fait, Rire → ri, Ouvrir → ouvert, Savoir → su, Mourir → mort, Naître → né.

If a verb has the auxilary of être, the verb must be accorded with the subject of the sentence.

Je (if female), +e to the end of the verb

Tu (if female), +e to the end of the verb

Elle, +e to the end of the verb

Nous, +s to the end of the verb, (if all female) +es to the end of the verb

Vous, +s to the end of the verb, (if all female) +es to the end of the verb

Ils, +s to the end of the verb

Elles, +es to the end of the verb

a diagram to show the way we construct a sentence in the passé composé

L’imparfait

We use the present tense in nous of a verb and then remove the -ons from this. Then, we add the following endings.

Je: -ais

Tu: -ais

Il/Elle: -ait

Nous: -ions

Vous: -iez

Ils/Elles: -aient

a diagram to illustrate the structure of a sentence in imparfait

Present Tense

The conjugation of each verb is reliant on its suffix and the subject of the sentence.

-ER verbs

Je: -e

Tu: -es

Il/Elle: -e