french final

Passé composé

French Final Exam Notes



The passé composé is used to describe events that were already completed in the past. It is also used to express actions that are viewed by the speaker, as completed. 



There are two parts to the Passe Compose, the helping verb and the past participle.  Verbs are conjugated with avoir, except for Reflexive Verbs and Dr. and Ms. Vandertramp. There are 16 verbs conjugated with être, using Dr. and Ms. Vandertramp (see chart below), as well as reflexive verbs. All verbs conjugated with être in the passe compose, have a past participle that agrees with the subject.  ***  Verbs conjugated with ¨avoir¨ have a past participle that agrees with the preceding COD (direct object pronoun)



The passé composé, a compound past tense, is formed by combining two elements, the helping verb and the past participle. To find the past participle you must 



ER Verbs:

  1. Take the infinitive, e.g. parler.

  2. Remove the final -er, e.g. parl.

  3. Add the ending -é, e.g. parlé



RE Verbs:

  1. For –re verbs like perdre (to lose), attendre (to wait), répondre (to respond), etc. drop the –re and replace with -u to make the past participle: perdu, attendu, répondu.



IR Verbs:

  1. Take out the -ir ending and substitute it with “i” for all of the subjects.



Irregular verbs:

  1. You need to memorize the Irregular verbs in order to know them.





Dr. and Ms. Vandertramp

Infinitif:               Participe Passé:         English: 

Devenir

Devenu  (e)(s)

To become

Revenir

Revenu (e)(s)

To come back

Monter

Monté  (e)(s)

To climb

Rester

Resté  (e)(s)

To stay

Sortir

Sorti  (e)(s)

To go out

Venir

Venu  (e)(s)

To come

Aller

Allé  (e)(s)

To go

Naître

Né  (e)(s)

To be born

Descendre

Descendu  (e)(s)

To descend

Entrer

Entré  (e)(s)

To enter

Rentrer

Rentré  (e)(s)

To reenter

Tomber

Tombé  (e)(s)

To fall

Retourner

Retourné  (e)(s)

To return

Arriver

Arrivé  (e)(s)

To arrive

Mourir

Mort  (e)(s)

To die

Partir

Parti  (e)(s)

To leave 





Reflexive constructions always include a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se).   An example of a passe compose reflexive verb is:  Je me suis lavé les mains.







Imparfait:

The imparfait refers to continuous states of being or repetitive actions.



  • You use the imparfait to describe ongoing past actions without reference to beginning or end

  • You use it to express habitual habits.

  • You use it to describe mental, physical, and emotional states.

  • You use it to describe conditions or to tell what things were like in the past. 



The imparfait describes what was happening, and you use it to provide background information



  • You use the imparfait when there is a was/were and “-ing”, and used to. 



  • Je marchais avec toi -> I was walking with you.

  • Tu me parlais -> You were talking to me.

  • Tu faisais la cuisine -> You used to cook.



To conjugate the imparfait, you take the present tense nous form, and add the endings: 

  • Je -> Ais

  • Tu -> Ais

  • il, elle, on -> Ait

  • Nous -> Ions

  • Vous -> Iez

  • ils, elles -> aient 



The ONLY irregular verb in the imparfait is être. (ét + imparfait endings above) - J'étais malade.



The imparfait describes what was happening all around you in the background. Also it refers to ongoing events, habits, what used to be. 



The passé composé expresses what took place at a precise moment: a specific event or a succession of specific events, the main storyline.



Example:  je regardais par la fenêtre quand tout à coup j´ai vu un accident de voiture. (I was looking out the window when suddenly I saw a car accident.)