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### Irregular past participles

While regular verbs follow predictable patterns to form their past participles, some of the most common verbs in French are irregular. You simply have to memorize them!

Let's learn five high-frequency irregular past participles so you can start recounting past experiences.

### Avoir and Être

The verbs **avoir** (to have) and **être** (to be) are not only helping verbs, but they are also used as main verbs to describe what you had or how things were.

The past participle of **avoir** is **eu** (had). Notice it uses the helping verb *avoir* in the passé composé.

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The past participle of **être** is **été** (was/been). Surprisingly, **être** *also* uses the helping verb **avoir** to form the passé composé!

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### Faire and Prendre

The past participle of **faire** (to do/make) is **fait** (did/made).

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The past participle of **prendre** (to take) is **pris** (took). Just like in English, you will use it for expressions like taking a risk or making a decision.

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### Voir

The past participle of **voir** (to see) is **vu** (saw/seen).

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### Telling a story

Because these five irregular verbs are so common, you will often use them together to share memories and recount events. You can easily connect your thoughts using **et** (and).

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Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular 'to be' and indefinite articles (je suis un...)

Singular definite articles (le, la, l')

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Knowing facts vs. familiarity (savoir, connaître)

Question	Answer
the experience (f)	l'expérience
incredible	incroyable
They had an incredible experience.	Ils ont eu une expérience incroyable.
terrible	terrible
I had a terrible problem yesterday.	J'ai eu un problème terrible hier.
recently	récemment
Have you had the time recently?	Est-ce que tu as eu le temps récemment ?
We had a lot of luck.	Nous avons eu beaucoup de chance.
wonderful	formidable
The trip was wonderful.	Le voyage a été formidable.
You have been very patient recently.	Vous avez été très patient récemment.
The exam was terrible for them.	L'examen a été terrible pour eux.
the effort (m)	l'effort
We made a great effort.	Nous avons fait un grand effort.
the choice	le choix
Did you make this choice?	Est-ce que vous avez fait ce choix ?
the risk	le risque
I took an incredible risk.	J'ai pris un risque incroyable.
They made a wonderful decision.	Elles ont pris une décision formidable.
You took the train yesterday.	Tu as pris le train hier.
the landscape	le paysage
I saw a beautiful landscape.	J'ai vu un beau paysage.
They saw incredible things recently.	Ils ont vu des choses incroyables récemment.
strange	bizarre
Did you see this weird movie?	Est-ce que tu as vu ce film bizarre ?
We did the housework yesterday.	Nous avons fait le ménage hier.
Did you see my little dog?	Vous avez vu mon petit chien ?
You made a choice and you took a risk.	Vous avez fait un choix et vous avez pris un risque.
I made an effort and I had a wonderful experience.	J'ai fait un effort et j'ai eu une expérience formidable.
The trip was incredible and we saw a bizarre landscape.	Le voyage a été incroyable et nous avons vu un paysage bizarre.

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