Un 9.1
The Passé Composé
with ‘avoir’
When speaking of the past, the passé composé is virtually unavoidable. In most cases, this past tense requires the verb ‘avoir’.
Le Passé Composé
The passé composé is most commonly used to refer to completed actions that finished in the past. All verbs in French can be used in the passé composé.
e.g.
|
J’ai plié les nouveaux vêtements. |
I folded the new clothes. I’ve folded the new clothes. |
The passé composé is composed of two parts: an auxiliary in the present tense along with a past participle. For most verbs, the passé composé uses the auxiliary ‘avoir’ in the present tense. Contraction, enchaînement and liaison may occur with certain forms of ‘avoir’. The past participles of all regular -er verbs are formed by (1) the removal of the -er ending and (2) the addition of the –é ending.
|
penser – au passé composé |
|||
|
j’ |
ai pensé |
nous |
avons pensé |
|
tu |
as pensé |
vous |
avez pensé |
|
il elle on |
a pensé |
ils elles |
ont pensé |
Negation in the Passé Composé – Le passé composé et la négation
In the passé composé, just like in the present tense, sentences are negated by the use of two negative particles. These two negative particles are placed around the conjugated verb, which, for the passé composé, means around the auxiliary that is in the present tense. This is not always the case for negative particles that can move within the sentence. Contraction can occur.
e.g.
|
Les patrons n’ont pas encore décidé. |
The bosses haven’t decided yet. |
|
Nous n’avons jamais demandé à la caissière d’emballer mon nouveau smoking. |
We never asked the cashier to wrap my new tuxedo. |
|
Non, personne n’a porté ces chaussures-ci. |
No, no one’s worn these shoes. |
|
N’as-tu pas trouvé le livre ? |
Didn’t you find the book? |
Irregular Past Participles – Des participes passés irréguliers
As might be expected, all of the irregular verbs that we have seen so far also follow an irregular pattern when forming their past participle. The verbs on this list all are combined with the verb ‘avoir’ (yes, even ‘avoir’ – j’ai eu) to form the passé composé.
|
infinitif |
participe passé |
|
avoir |
eu |
|
boire |
bu |
|
croire |
cru |
|
devoir |
dû |
|
être |
été |
|
faire |
fait |
|
falloir |
fallu |
|
pouvoir |
pu |
|
savoir |
su |
|
voir |
vu |
|
vouloir |
voulu |
Il y a...
When followed directly by an amount of time, ‘il y a’ corresponds to the English preposition ‘ago’. This is a very useful expression in tandem with the passé composé.
e.g.
|
Ces soldes ont commencé il y a trois jours. |
These sales started three days ago. |
|
Il y a cinq heures, j’ai fait la vaisselle. |
Five hours ago, I did the dishes. |
