French grammar · Beginner
The Passé Composé in French: Avoir, Être, and Finished Actions
Le passé composé is the everyday French past tense, used for finished actions. It is built from two pieces: the present tense of avoir or être, plus the past participle of the main verb. J'ai mangé means both I ate and I have eaten.
J'ai vu ce film la semaine dernière.
I saw that film last week.
What it is
The passé composé is called composed because it is assembled rather than conjugated: an auxiliary verb carries the person and the tense, and a past participle carries the meaning. Its job is to report events as completed, which makes it the tense of anecdotes, news, and anything that happened and then stopped.
Elle a fermé la porte et elle est partie. — She closed the door and left.
How to spot it
Two words where English has one is the giveaway. Find the form of avoir or être, then read the participle after it to see what actually happened.
- Nous avons fini à minuit. — We finished at midnight.
- Il est tombé dans l'escalier. — He fell down the stairs.
- Tu as compris ? — Did you get it?
- Elles se sont rencontrées à Nice. — They met in Nice.
Around fifteen verbs of movement and change of state take être instead of avoir, and their participle then agrees with the subject like an adjective.
Passé Composé Quick Reference
Building the passé composé
| Verb type | Auxiliary | Participle | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| -er verbs | avoir | -é | j'ai parlé — I spoke |
| -ir verbs | avoir | -i | j'ai fini — I finished |
| -re verbs | avoir | -u | j'ai vendu — I sold |
| Movement verbs | être | agrees | elle est allée — she went |
| Reflexive verbs | être | agrees | je me suis levé — I got up |
| Irregular | avoir | unpredictable | j'ai fait, j'ai pris, j'ai vu |
Common Passé Composé Examples in French
The passé composé at work:
Single Finished Events
- J'ai reçu ta lettre hier.
- I got your letter yesterday.
- Il a raté son train.
- He missed his train.
- Nous avons déménagé en mars.
- We moved house in March.
- Elle a réussi son examen.
- She passed her exam.
A specific moment in the past, an action with a clear end. This is the core use.
A Sequence of Events
- Je me suis levé, j'ai pris une douche et je suis sorti.
- I got up, took a shower, and went out.
- Elle est entrée et elle a allumé la lumière.
- She came in and turned on the light.
- Ils ont mangé, puis ils sont partis.
- They ate, then they left.
When a story moves forward, each new step goes in the passé composé. The imperfect handles the scenery around them.
Verbs That Take Être
- Je suis né en 1998.
- I was born in 1998.
- Elle est devenue avocate.
- She became a lawyer.
- Nous sommes rentrés très tard.
- We got home very late.
- Ils sont restés trois jours.
- They stayed three days.
Naître, mourir, devenir, rester, and the verbs of coming and going all take être, and the participle agrees.
Reflexive Verbs
- Je me suis trompé.
- I made a mistake.
- Elle s'est couchée tôt.
- She went to bed early.
- Nous nous sommes bien amusés.
- We had a great time.
- Ils se sont écrit pendant des années.
- They wrote to each other for years.
Every reflexive verb takes être, without exception, whatever auxiliary it would take without the pronoun.
How the Passé Composé Works
Choosing the auxiliary, forming the participle, and deciding whether the participle agrees are three separate questions. Handle them in that order.
Avoir Is the Default Auxiliary
The large majority of French verbs form the passé composé with avoir. If the verb takes a direct object, it is certainly an avoir verb: manger, voir, écrire, prendre, finir all behave this way.
Ils ont acheté une maison en Bretagne.
They bought a house in Brittany.
Object in sight, use avoir.
A Short List of Verbs Takes Être
Verbs describing a change of place or state take être: aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, naître, mourir, rester, tomber, devenir, revenir, retourner, passer. Their participle agrees with the subject in gender and number.
Mes sœurs sont arrivées ce matin.
My sisters arrived this morning.
Movement or change of state, use être.
The Participle Follows Its Group
Verbs in -er give a participle in -é, verbs in -ir give -i, and regular verbs in -re give -u. The irregular participles are a finite list, and many of them repay learning in pairs: fait, dit, écrit; pris, mis, appris.
Nous avons attendu une heure et nous avons compris.
We waited an hour and then we understood.
-é, -i, -u, then the irregulars.
Agreement Depends on the Auxiliary
With être, the participle agrees with the subject: il est parti, elle est partie, ils sont partis. With avoir, it normally does not agree at all — unless a direct object comes before the verb, in which case it agrees with that object.
La lettre que j'ai écrite est partie.
The letter I wrote has gone.
être agrees with the subject, avoir with a preceding object.
Some Verbs Switch Auxiliary and Change Meaning
Monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer, and passer take être when nothing is being moved and avoir when they have a direct object. The auxiliary is what tells you which meaning is intended.
Elle est sortie à huit heures, puis elle a sorti la poubelle.
She went out at eight, then she took the bin out.
No object, être; object, avoir.
Common Mistakes with Passé Composé
Incorrect: Elle a allé au marché. — She went to the market.
Correct: Elle est allée au marché. — She went to the market.
Aller is one of the movement verbs that takes être, and the participle then agrees with the subject, giving allée for a feminine subject.
Incorrect: Je n'ai compris pas. — I didn't understand.
Correct: Je n'ai pas compris. — I didn't understand.
Pas attaches to the conjugated verb, which is the auxiliary. The participle sits outside the negation, not inside it.
Incorrect: Je me suis lavé les mains et je suis brossé les dents. — I washed my hands and brushed my teeth.
Correct: Je me suis lavé les mains et je me suis brossé les dents. — I washed my hands and brushed my teeth.
A reflexive verb keeps its pronoun in every tense. Dropping me leaves être with no reflexive to justify it.
Incorrect: Nous avons été à Bordeaux hier. — We went to Bordeaux yesterday.
Correct: Nous sommes allés à Bordeaux hier. — We went to Bordeaux yesterday.
J'ai été means I was, not I went. You will hear j'ai été au marché in casual speech, but standard French expresses going somewhere with aller, and aller takes être.
Passé Composé Paradigms
Only the auxiliary is conjugated, so once you know avoir and être in the present tense you know every passé composé in the language.
Regular Verbs With Avoir
The participle never changes here. Only the form of avoir moves.
| Pronoun | parler | finir | vendre |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | ai parlé | ai fini | ai vendu |
| tu | as parlé | as fini | as vendu |
| il / elle / on | a parlé | a fini | a vendu |
| nous | avons parlé | avons fini | avons vendu |
| vous | avez parlé | avez fini | avez vendu |
| ils / elles | ont parlé | ont fini | ont vendu |
J'ai parlé translates as I spoke, I have spoken, and I did speak, depending on the English context.
Verbs With Être
Here the participle carries agreement, shown in brackets for the forms that can be either gender.
| Pronoun | aller | partir | se lever |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | suis allé(e) | suis parti(e) | me suis levé(e) |
| tu | es allé(e) | es parti(e) | t'es levé(e) |
| il / elle / on | est allé(e) | est parti(e) | s'est levé(e) |
| nous | sommes allé(e)s | sommes parti(e)s | nous sommes levé(e)s |
| vous | êtes allé(e)(s) | êtes parti(e)(s) | vous êtes levé(e)(s) |
| ils / elles | sont allé(e)s | sont parti(e)s | se sont levé(e)s |
Vous carries two sets of brackets because it can be one polite person or a whole group.
Irregular Participles With Avoir
These four are among the most frequent verbs in the language, and their participles cannot be predicted from the infinitive.
| Pronoun | faire (fait) | prendre (pris) | voir (vu) | être (été) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | ai fait | ai pris | ai vu | ai été |
| tu | as fait | as pris | as vu | as été |
| il / elle / on | a fait | a pris | a vu | a été |
| nous | avons fait | avons pris | avons vu | avons été |
| vous | avez fait | avez pris | avez vu | avez été |
| ils / elles | ont fait | ont pris | ont vu | ont été |
Être itself takes avoir in the passé composé: j'ai été malade, I was ill.
Where the Other Words Go
The passé composé has two verb slots, and negation, pronouns, and adverbs each have a fixed place among them.
Negation surrounds the auxiliary
Ne goes before the auxiliary and pas after it, leaving the participle outside the sandwich entirely.
- Je n'ai pas compris.
- I didn't understand.
- Elle n'est pas venue.
- She didn't come.
- Nous n'avons rien dit.
- We didn't say anything.
- Il ne s'est jamais excusé.
- He never apologised.
Personne and nulle part are the exceptions that follow the participle: je n'ai vu personne.
Object pronouns sit before the auxiliary
Pronouns attach to the conjugated verb, which is the auxiliary, not the participle. If that pronoun is a direct object, the participle then agrees with it.
- Je l'ai vue hier.
- I saw her yesterday.
- Tu les as achetés où ?
- Where did you buy them?
- Il ne m'en a pas parlé.
- He didn't mention it to me.
- Nous leur avons téléphoné.
- We called them.
Leur is an indirect object, so no agreement follows: nous leur avons téléphoné, not téléphonés.
Short adverbs go between the two verbs
Déjà, encore, bien, mal, trop, and beaucoup normally slip in after the auxiliary rather than after the participle.
- J'ai déjà mangé.
- I've already eaten.
- Tu as bien dormi ?
- Did you sleep well?
- Elle a beaucoup travaillé.
- She worked a lot.
Longer adverbs and time expressions stay at the end: j'ai fini rapidement, il est arrivé ce matin.
Passé Composé FAQs
- How do you form the passé composé?
- Conjugate avoir or être in the present tense, then add the past participle. J'ai regardé, tu as fini, il a vendu with avoir; je suis parti, elle est venue with être. Only the auxiliary changes with the person.
- Which verbs take être in the passé composé?
- Verbs of coming, going, and changing state: aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, rester, tomber, naître, mourir, devenir, revenir, retourner, passer. Every reflexive verb takes être as well, so je me suis assis, never j'ai m'assis.
- Does the passé composé mean I did or I have done?
- Both. J'ai fini can be I finished or I have finished; French does not distinguish the two the way English does. Only the surrounding time expressions tell you which English rendering fits.
- When does the past participle agree?
- Always with être verbs, matching the subject: elle est rentrée, ils sont rentrés. With avoir it agrees only when a direct object precedes the verb, as in les photos que j'ai prises. Otherwise it stays invariable.
- Why do some verbs take avoir sometimes and être other times?
- Because monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer, and passer can be used either intransitively or with an object. Il est monté means he went up; il a monté les valises means he carried the cases up. The presence of a direct object switches the auxiliary to avoir.