Completed Past in French (Passé composé)

How to use the Passé composé in French

In general, the passé composé corresponds to the past simple in English. It is used for actions that have been started and completed in past.

Some common signal words that are used with the passé composé are:

• hier (yesterday)
• l’autre jour (the other day)
• un samedi (one Saturday)
• une fois (once)
• quelquefois (sometimes)
• la semaine dernière (last week)
• l’année passée (last year)

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Forming the passé composé in French

Basically, the passé composé is a compound tense which consists of:

• the auxiliary verb avoir or être in the present tense
• the past participle

Passé composé with être and avoir

Most French verbs are conjugated with the verb avoir (to have). Whereas the auxiliary verb être is used for all reflexive verbs and verbs describing motion and direction such as:

• aller (to go)
• arriver (to arrive)
• demeurer (to remain)
• entrer (to enter)
• monter (to go up)
• partir (to leave)
• sortir (to go out)
• venir (to come)

Passé compose with être

Passé composé with avoir

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