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### The passé composé

The **passé composé** is the most common past tense in French. It is used to talk about completed past actions. It is built with two parts:
1. The present tense of a helping verb (usually **avoir**).
2. The **past participle** of the main verb.

Here is a reminder of the present tense of **avoir**:

| Subject | avoir |
|---|---|
| j' | ai |
| tu | as |
| il / elle / on | a |
| nous | avons |
| vous | avez |
| ils / elles | ont |

### Regular past participles

To form regular past participles, replace the infinitive ending:
- **-er** verbs: drop **-er** and add **-é** (*bavarder* → *bavardé*)
- **-ir** verbs: drop **-ir** and add **-i** (*réussir* → *réussi*)
- **-re** verbs: drop **-re** and add **-u** (*attendre* → *attendu*)

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### Past time markers

Use markers like **hier** (yesterday) and **avant-hier** (the day before yesterday) to set the time frame.

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To say "last", use the adjective **dernier**. It goes *after* the time noun and agrees with it (e.g., **dernière** for feminine nouns like *la semaine*).

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### Connecting past actions

Join multiple actions in the passé composé using **et** (and).

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The passé composé with avoir

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and elision (le, la, l')

Indefinite articles (un, une)

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)

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

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
to chat (idly)	bavarder
yesterday	hier
I chatted with my neighbor yesterday.	J'ai bavardé avec mon voisin hier.
to call / to phone	téléphoner
the friend / the mate (masculine)	le copain
Did you call a friend yesterday?	Tu as téléphoné à un copain hier ?
She passed her exam!	Elle a réussi son examen !
We played tennis yesterday.	Nous avons joué au tennis hier.
the day before yesterday	avant-hier
They met a friend the day before yesterday.	Elles ont rencontré un ami avant-hier.
The boss organized a meeting yesterday at ten o'clock.	Le chef a organisé une réunion hier à dix heures.
last	dernier
You finished your work last weekend.	Vous avez fini votre travail le week-end dernier.
Last month, he chose a big apartment.	Le mois dernier, il a choisi un grand appartement.
I waited for my friend in front of the cinema.	J'ai attendu mon copain devant le cinéma.
the friend / the mate (feminine) / the girlfriend	la copine
Did you reply to your friend's message?	Tu as répondu au message de ta copine ?
They sold their boat last week.	Ils ont vendu leur bateau la semaine dernière.
I prepared dinner and we ate.	J'ai préparé le dîner et nous avons mangé.
The day before yesterday, I called a friend.	Avant-hier, j'ai téléphoné à une copine.
the game (board game, video game, etc.)	le jeu
to sing	chanter
the song	la chanson
We chatted about a game and we sang a song.	Nous avons bavardé d'un jeu et nous avons chanté une chanson.
The child sang a song for this game.	L'enfant a chanté une chanson pour ce jeu.

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