French grammar: passé composé

What this grammar point covers

The 'passé composé' is a French past tense used to talk about actions or events that are completed in the past.

When to use it

Use the passé composé to describe actions that happened once or a specific number of times in the past, or to talk about events that are finished.

Key forms

• avoir/être (present) + past participle
• Example: j'ai mangé, tu as fini, il est allé

Examples

Tips

• Most verbs use 'avoir' as the auxiliary, but some use 'être' (like verbs of movement: aller, venir, arriver, partir).
• The past participle sometimes changes to agree in gender and number when using 'être'.
• Do not forget to use the correct auxiliary (avoir or être) for each verb.

Exceptions and edge cases

• Some verbs have irregular past participles (e.g., 'avoir' → 'eu', 'être' → 'été', 'faire' → 'fait').
• Reflexive verbs always use 'être' as the auxiliary.