J'ai fini mes devoirs.
English: I finished my homework.
- 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
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').