French grammar · Beginner
Passé Composé Conjugations: Full Tables for Avoir, Être, and Reflexive Verbs
Conjugating the passé composé means conjugating only the auxiliary. Avoir or être takes the person and the tense, the past participle stays fixed unless agreement applies, so learning six forms of avoir and six of être gives you the whole tense for every verb in French.
Nous avons choisi et ils sont partis.
We chose and they left.
What it is
A compound tense has nothing new to conjugate. The auxiliary supplies the endings you already know from the present tense of avoir and être, and the participle is a fixed form you look up once per verb. What varies from one paradigm to the next is which auxiliary you pick and whether the participle takes an ending.
j'ai choisi, tu as choisi, il a choisi / je suis resté, tu es resté, elle est restée.
How to spot it
Read the auxiliary to find the person, and read the end of the participle to find out whether agreement is in play. A participle ending in -e or -s is telling you the auxiliary was être.
- Vous avez répondu trop vite. — You answered too quickly.
- Elles sont descendues au sous-sol. — They went down to the basement.
- Je me suis assise près de la fenêtre. — I sat down by the window. (feminine speaker)
- On a eu de la chance. — We were lucky.
None of these agreement endings is audible except after a participle ending in a consonant, such as mort, morte or pris, prise.
Passé Composé Conjugations Quick Reference
Participle endings and the auxiliary that goes with them
| Infinitive | Participle | Auxiliary | First person |
|---|---|---|---|
| donner | donné | avoir | j'ai donné |
| choisir | choisi | avoir | j'ai choisi |
| entendre | entendu | avoir | j'ai entendu |
| arriver | arrivé | être | je suis arrivé(e) |
| naître | né | être | je suis né(e) |
| se souvenir | souvenu | être | je me suis souvenu(e) |
| avoir | eu | avoir | j'ai eu |
| être | été | avoir | j'ai été |
Common Passé Composé Conjugations Examples in French
Each paradigm in a sentence, so you can see the forms in use:
Avoir Paradigms
- J'ai donné mon numéro à la réceptionniste.
- I gave my number to the receptionist.
- Tu as choisi le mauvais moment.
- You picked the wrong moment.
- Vous avez entendu ce bruit ?
- Did you hear that noise?
- Ils ont eu peur.
- They got scared.
The participle is identical in all six persons, which is why avoir verbs are the easy half of this tense.
Être Paradigms With Agreement
- Mon frère est arrivé lundi.
- My brother arrived on Monday.
- Ma sœur est arrivée mardi.
- My sister arrived on Tuesday.
- Mes parents sont arrivés mercredi.
- My parents arrived on Wednesday.
- Mes cousines sont arrivées jeudi.
- My cousins arrived on Thursday. (all female)
One verb, four written forms. The agreement follows the subject exactly as an adjective would.
Reflexive Paradigms
- Je me suis réveillé à six heures.
- I woke up at six.
- Tu t'es habillée en noir.
- You dressed in black. (feminine)
- Nous nous sommes perdus dans le centre.
- We got lost in the centre.
- Elles se sont téléphoné toute la soirée.
- They were on the phone to each other all evening.
The last example has no agreement: téléphoner à quelqu'un takes an indirect object, so se is indirect too.
Questions and Negatives
- As-tu fini tes devoirs ?
- Have you finished your homework?
- Êtes-vous déjà venus ici ?
- Have you been here before?
- Je n'ai pas eu le temps.
- I didn't have time.
- Elle ne s'est pas plainte.
- She didn't complain.
In inversion only the auxiliary moves in front of the subject: as-tu fini, never *fini as-tu.
How to Conjugate a Compound Tense
Four decisions, always in the same order, produce the right written form every time.
Step One: Pick the Auxiliary
Reflexive verbs take être. The sixteen or so verbs of movement and change of state take être. Everything else takes avoir. This single choice determines whether you will need to think about agreement at all.
Il a couru, puis il est tombé.
He ran, then he fell.
Reflexive or movement, être; otherwise avoir.
Step Two: Conjugate the Auxiliary in the Present
The person and number live entirely in the auxiliary: ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont or suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont. Nothing else in the verb phrase changes to reflect the subject except agreement.
Vous avez compris et nous sommes rassurés.
You understood and we're reassured.
Person lives in the auxiliary.
Step Three: Add the Fixed Participle
The participle is one form per verb, learned once: donné, choisi, entendu, fait, mis, pris, ouvert. It does not vary with tense, so the same participle serves the passé composé, the plus-que-parfait, and every other compound tense.
Ils ont ouvert le dossier.
They opened the file.
One participle per verb, reused everywhere.
Step Four: Apply Agreement If Needed
With être, add -e for a feminine subject and -s for a plural one, combining both where necessary: allé, allée, allés, allées. With avoir, add nothing unless a direct object stands in front of the verb.
Les clés ? Je les ai perdues.
The keys? I've lost them.
être agrees with the subject, avoir with a preceding object.
Reflexive Agreement Follows the Object, Not the Pronoun
A reflexive participle agrees only when the reflexive pronoun is the direct object. Elle s'est lavée agrees because she washed herself; elle s'est lavé les mains does not, because the direct object is les mains and it comes after the verb.
Elle s'est cassé la jambe.
She broke her leg.
Another object after the verb blocks agreement.
Common Mistakes with Passé Composé Conjugations
Incorrect: Je suis eu un problème. — I had a problem.
Correct: J'ai eu un problème. — I had a problem.
Avoir is conjugated with itself, not with être. The participle eu looks unusual, which tempts learners into treating the whole form as irregular in more ways than it is.
Incorrect: Elle s'est lavée les mains. — She washed her hands.
Correct: Elle s'est lavé les mains. — She washed her hands.
Les mains is the direct object and it follows the verb, so nothing precedes the participle to agree with. The reflexive pronoun here is indirect, meaning to herself.
Incorrect: Nous sommes allé au cinéma. — We went to the cinema.
Correct: Nous sommes allés au cinéma. — We went to the cinema.
Être participles agree with the subject, and nous is plural, so the participle needs -s. The ending is silent, which is why it goes missing in writing.
Incorrect: Tu as te levé tard. — You got up late.
Correct: Tu t'es levé tard. — You got up late.
Reflexive verbs take être, and the reflexive pronoun comes before the auxiliary, where it elides: tu t'es, not tu as te.
Complete Passé Composé Tables
Four paradigms cover every verb in the language: regular verbs with avoir, movement verbs with être, reflexive verbs, and the handful of very frequent irregular participles.
Regular Verbs With Avoir
One participle, six auxiliary forms, no agreement.
| Pronoun | donner | choisir | entendre |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | ai donné | ai choisi | ai entendu |
| tu | as donné | as choisi | as entendu |
| il / elle / on | a donné | a choisi | a entendu |
| nous | avons donné | avons choisi | avons entendu |
| vous | avez donné | avez choisi | avez entendu |
| ils / elles | ont donné | ont choisi | ont entendu |
The three participle endings -é, -i, -u map onto the three infinitive groups -er, -ir, -re.
Movement Verbs With Être
The bracketed letters show the agreement a feminine or plural subject triggers.
| Pronoun | arriver | rester | naître |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | suis arrivé(e) | suis resté(e) | suis né(e) |
| tu | es arrivé(e) | es resté(e) | es né(e) |
| il / elle / on | est arrivé(e) | est resté(e) | est né(e) |
| nous | sommes arrivé(e)s | sommes resté(e)s | sommes né(e)s |
| vous | êtes arrivé(e)(s) | êtes resté(e)(s) | êtes né(e)(s) |
| ils / elles | sont arrivé(e)s | sont resté(e)s | sont né(e)s |
A mixed group of men and women takes the masculine plural: ils sont arrivés.
Reflexive Verbs
The reflexive pronoun goes in front of the auxiliary and elides before a vowel: je me suis, but tu t'es and il s'est.
| Pronoun | se laver | s'habiller | se souvenir |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | me suis lavé(e) | me suis habillé(e) | me suis souvenu(e) |
| tu | t'es lavé(e) | t'es habillé(e) | t'es souvenu(e) |
| il / elle / on | s'est lavé(e) | s'est habillé(e) | s'est souvenu(e) |
| nous | nous sommes lavé(e)s | nous sommes habillé(e)s | nous sommes souvenu(e)s |
| vous | vous êtes lavé(e)(s) | vous êtes habillé(e)(s) | vous êtes souvenu(e)(s) |
| ils / elles | se sont lavé(e)s | se sont habillé(e)s | se sont souvenu(e)s |
Se souvenir has no non-reflexive form at all, so it can only ever appear in this pattern.
Frequent Irregular Participles
All four take avoir, including être itself.
| Pronoun | avoir (eu) | être (été) | devoir (dû) | pouvoir (pu) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je / j' | ai eu | ai été | ai dû | ai pu |
| tu | as eu | as été | as dû | as pu |
| il / elle / on | a eu | a été | a dû | a pu |
| nous | avons eu | avons été | avons dû | avons pu |
| vous | avez eu | avez été | avez dû | avez pu |
| ils / elles | ont eu | ont été | ont dû | ont pu |
Dû carries a circumflex only in the masculine singular; the feminine is due, with no accent.
The Agreement Endings in Detail
Agreement is where written passé composé forms diverge from spoken ones, so this is the part worth practising on paper.
The four written forms of an être participle
Add -e for feminine, -s for plural, and both for feminine plural. The pattern is identical to adjective agreement.
- Paul est parti.
- Paul left.
- Claire est partie.
- Claire left.
- Les garçons sont partis.
- The boys left.
- Les filles sont parties.
- The girls left.
All four are pronounced the same, because the final -e and -s are silent after a vowel.
Agreement with a preceding direct object
With avoir, a direct object placed before the verb — a pronoun, que, or combien de — forces agreement on the participle.
- Cette robe ? Je l'ai mise hier.
- That dress? I wore it yesterday.
- Voici les lettres que j'ai reçues.
- Here are the letters I received.
- Combien de photos as-tu prises ?
- How many photos did you take?
- Je l'ai vue, mais je lui ai parlé.
- I saw her, but I spoke to her.
The last pair is the whole rule in one sentence: la is a direct object and triggers vue, lui is indirect and triggers nothing.
Participles that reveal agreement out loud
When the masculine participle ends in a consonant, adding -e makes that consonant audible, so the agreement can be heard.
- Il est mort en 1943, elle est morte en 1951.
- He died in 1943, she died in 1951.
- Les fleurs que j'ai offertes.
- The flowers I gave.
- La décision a été prise.
- The decision was taken.
Mort, offert, pris, écrit, ouvert, and fait are the participles where agreement is worth listening for.
Passé Composé Conjugations FAQs
- How many forms do I have to learn to conjugate the passé composé?
- Twelve: the six present-tense forms of avoir and the six of être. Everything else is one fixed participle per verb, so once you have those twelve the tense is a matter of assembly rather than memorisation.
- Which auxiliary does a given verb take?
- Avoir unless the verb is reflexive or belongs to the movement group (aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, rester, tomber, naître, mourir, devenir, revenir, retourner, passer). Il est monté au grenier takes être; il a monté les valises takes avoir because of the object.
- How do I write the agreement for vous?
- It depends on who vous is. Addressing one man, vous êtes venu; one woman, vous êtes venue; a group, vous êtes venus or venues. The verb form never changes, only the participle.
- Does the participle agree after a reflexive verb?
- Only when the reflexive pronoun is the direct object. Elle s'est coupée means she cut herself, with agreement; elle s'est coupé le doigt means she cut her finger, with no agreement because le doigt is the direct object.
- Is dû written with an accent in every form?
- No. The circumflex on dû exists only to distinguish it from the article du, so it is dropped as soon as an ending is added: dû, due, dus, dues. Nous avons dû partir keeps the accent; la somme due does not.