J’ai perdu mon portefeuille.

I lost my wallet.

Breakdown of J’ai perdu mon portefeuille.

• je: I
• mon: my (before a masculine singular noun)
• avoir: to have
• perdre: to lose

Questions & Answers about J’ai perdu mon portefeuille.

Why is it J’ai and not Je ai?

Because of elision. In French, je becomes j’ before a word that starts with a vowel sound or mute h. ai (from avoir) starts with a vowel sound, so je ai contracts to j’ai.

What tense is ai perdu, and how does it compare to English?

It’s the passé composé: present of avoir + past participle (perdu). It refers to a completed past event. In English it often corresponds to both “I lost” and “I have lost,” depending on context. For background or habitual past, you’d use the imparfait: je perdais.

Why use avoir and not être as the auxiliary?

Most verbs, especially those that take a direct object, use avoir in the passé composé. Perdre is transitive (you lose something), so it uses avoir. Être is mainly for intransitive movement verbs (aller, venir, etc.) and all reflexive verbs. Related note: se perdre means “to get lost”: Je me suis perdu(e).

Does the past participle perdu agree with mon portefeuille?