Passé Composé with Avoir
Form the passé composé using avoir as auxiliary. Learn regular past participle patterns (-er → -é, -ir → -i, -re → -u) and the most common irregular participles: fait, pris, vu, lu, dit, écrit.
A lesson of French A2 — Elementary, in Passé Composé, about 10 minutes.
By the end of this lesson, you will form the passé composé using avoir, apply the three regular past participle patterns, and use the most common irregular past participles.
What Is the Passé Composé?
The passé composé is the main past tense for completed actions in spoken and informal written French. It corresponds to several English structures:
- J'ai mangé. → I ate. / I have eaten. / I did eat.
The tense is compound — it always has two parts: an auxiliary verb (avoir or être) conjugated in the present, plus a past participle.
This lesson covers the majority of French verbs, which use avoir as their auxiliary.
Structure
Subject + avoir (present) + past participle
| Pronoun | avoir | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | ai | j'ai mangé | I ate |
| tu | as | tu as fini | you finished |
| il/elle/on | a | elle a vendu | she sold |
| nous | avons | nous avons lu | we read |
| vous | avez | vous avez dit | you said |
| ils/elles | ont | ils ont pris | they took |
Regular Past Participles
The past participle is formed from the verb's infinitive using three patterns based on the infinitive ending:
-er verbs → -é
Drop the -er, add -é.
| Infinitive | Past Participle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| manger | mangé | j'ai mangé (I ate) |
| parler | parlé | tu as parlé (you spoke) |
| travailler | travaillé | il a travaillé (he worked) |
| acheter | acheté | elle a acheté (she bought) |
This covers the largest group of French verbs. If it ends in -er, this rule applies — and there are no exceptions to the -é pattern.
-ir verbs → -i
Drop the -ir, add -i.