le passé composé avec avoir et être grammar in French

Language: French
Level: A2
Unit: Verbes et temps verbaux
Practice types: 0

What this grammar point covers

Le passé composé is a French past tense used to talk about completed actions. It is formed with an auxiliary verb (avoir or être) and the past participle of the main verb.

When to use it

Use le passé composé to talk about actions that happened and finished in the past, like yesterday or last week.

Key forms

avoir + past participle (ex: j'ai mangé)
être + past participle (ex: je suis allé(e))

Examples

J'ai fini mes devoirs.

English: I finished my homework.

Tu as regardé le film.

English: You watched the movie.

Elle est arrivée à l'heure.

English: She arrived on time.

Nous sommes partis tôt.

English: We left early.

Tips

Most verbs use 'avoir' as the auxiliary, but some verbs (mainly movement or reflexive verbs) use 'être'.
With 'être', the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject (add -e for feminine, -s for plural).
Do not forget to put the auxiliary verb before the past participle.

Exceptions and edge cases

Some verbs have irregular past participles (ex: 'avoir' → 'eu', 'faire' → 'fait').
Some verbs can use both 'avoir' and 'être' depending on their meaning (ex: 'monter', 'sortir').