Forming the perfect tense
The present, imperfect, future and conditional tenses in French are made up of just one word, for example, je donne, tu finissais or il attendra. The perfect tense has two parts to it:
In other words, the perfect tense in French is like the form I have done in English.
For more information on forming the present tense of avoir and être, look in the Verb Tables at the back of the book.
Forming the past participle
To form the past participle of regular verbs, you use the infinitive of the verb.
For -er verbs, you replace the -er at the end of the infinitive with é.
| Infinitive | Take off -er | Add -é |
| donner (to give) | donn- | donné |
| tomber (to fall) | tomb- | tombé |
For -ir verbs, you replace the -ir at the end of the infinitive with -i.
| Infinitive | Take off -ir | Add -i |
| finir (to finish) | fin- | fini |
| partir (to leave, to go) | part- | parti |
For -re verbs, you replace the -re at the end of the infinitive with -u.
| Infinitive | Take off -re | Add -u |
| attendre (to wait) | attend- | attendu |
| descendre (to go down, | descend- | descendu |
| to come down, to get off) |
Verbs that form their perfect tense with avoir
Most verbs form their perfect tense with avoir, for example donner:
| Pronoun | avoir | Past participle | Meaning |
| j’ | ai | donné | I gave |
| I have given | |||
| tu | as | donné | you gave |
| you have given | |||
| il/elle/on | a | donné | he/she/it/one gave |
| he/she/it/one has given | |||
| nous | avons | donné | we gave |
| we have given | |||
| vous | avez | donné | you gave |
| you have given | |||
| ils/elles | ont | donné | they gave |
| they have given |
Elle a donné son numéro de téléphone à Claude.
She gave Claude her phone number.
Il a acheté un ordinateur. He’s bought a computer.
Je n’ai pas regardé la télé hier. I didn’t watch TV yesterday.
The perfect tense of -ir verbs like finir is formed in the same way, except for the past participle: j’ai fini, tu as fini and so on.
The perfect tense of -re verbs like attendre is formed in the same way, except for the past participle: j’ai attendu, tu as attendu and so on.
avoir or être?
MOST verbs form their perfect tense with avoir.
There are two main groups of verbs which form their perfect tense with être instead of avoir:
| • | all reflexive verbs |
| • | a group of verbs that are mainly used to talk about movement or a change of some kind, including these ones: |
aller to go
Je suis allé au match defootball hier.
I went to the football match yesterday.
venir to come
arriver to arrive, to happen
partir to leave, to go
descendre to go down, to come down, to get off
Vous êtes descendu à quelle station? Which station did you get off at?
monter to go up, to come up
entrer to go in, to come in
sortir to go out, to come out
Il est sorti acheter un journal. He’s gone out to buy a newspaper.
mourir to die
naître to be born
devenir to become
rester to stay
tomber to fall
Some verbs take avoir when they are used with a direct object, for example:
descendre quelque chose
to get something down, to bring something down, to take something down
Est-ce que tu as descendu les bagages? Did you bring the bags down?
monter quelque chose to go up something, to come up something
Elle a monté les escaliers. She went up the stairs.
sortir quelque chose to take something out
Elle a sorti son porte-monnaie de son sac.
She took her purse out of her handbag.
Verbs that form their perfect tense with être
When a verb takes être, the past participle always agrees with the subject of the verb; that is, the endings change in the feminine and plural forms.
| Masculine | Examples | Feminine | Examples | |
| endings | endings | |||
| Singular | - | tombé | -e | tombée |
| parti | partie | |||
| descendu | descendue | |||
| Plural | -s | tombés | -es | tombées |
| partis | parties | |||
| descendus | descendues |
Est-ce que ton frère est allé à l’étranger? Did your brother go abroad?
Elle est venue avec nous. She came with us.
Ils sont partis à six heures. They left at six o’clock.
Mes cousines sont arrivées hier.
My cousins arrived yesterday. (The cousins are female.)
Here are the perfect tense forms of tomber in full:
| Pronoun | avoir | Past participle | Meaning |
| je | suis | tombé (masculine) | I fell/I have fallen |
| tombée (feminine) | |||
| tu | es | tombé (masculine) | you fell/you have fallen |
| tombée (feminine) | |||
| il | est | tombé | he/it fell, |
| he/it has fallen | |||
| elle | est | tombée | she/it fell, she/it has fallen |
| on | est | tombé (singular) | one fell/one has fallen, |
| tombés (masculine plural) | we fell/we have fallen | ||
| tombées (feminine plural) | |||
| nous | sommes | tombés (masculine) | we fell/we have fallen |
| tombées (feminine) | |||
| vous | êtes | tombé (masculine singular) | you fell/you have fallen |
| tombée (feminine singular) | |||
| tombés (masculine plural) | |||
| tombées (feminine plural) | |||
| ils | sont | tombés | they fell/they have fallen |
| elles | sont | tombées | they fell/they have fallen |
When on means we, the past participle can agree with the subject of the sentence, but it is optional.
On est arrivés en retard. We arrived late. (masculine)
On est rentrées toutes les deux à la même heure.
We both came in at the same time. (feminine)
The perfect tense of -ir verbs like partir is formed in the same way, except for the past participle: je suis parti(e), tu es parti(e) and so on.
The perfect tense of -re verbs like descendre is formed in the same way, except for the past participle: je suis descendu(e), tu es descendu(e) and so on.
When a verb takes avoir, the past participle usually stays in the masculine singular form, as shown in the table for donner, and does not change for the feminine or plural forms.
Il a fini sa dissertation. He’s finished his essay.
Elles ont fini leur dissertation. They’ve finished their essay.
In one particular case, however, the past participle of verbs with avoir does change in the feminine and plural forms. In the sentences above, dissertation is the direct object of the verb finir. When the direct object comes AFTER the verb, as it does in the examples above, then the past participle doesn’t change. If the direct object comes BEFORE the verb, however, the past participle has to change to agree with that direct object.
la dissertation qu’il a finie hier the essay that he finished yesterday
la dissertation qu’elles ont finie hier the essay that they finished yesterday
Since object pronouns usually come BEFORE the verb, the past participle changes to agree with the pronoun.
Il a bu son thé? – Oui, il l’a bu. Did he drink his tea? – Yes, he’s drunk it.
Il a bu sa limonade? – Oui, il l’a bue.
Did he drink his lemonade? – Yes, he’s drunk it.
Remember that with verbs taking être, it is the subject of the verb that tells you what ending to add to the past participle. Compare this with the rule for verbs taking avoir that have a direct object; in their case, it is the direct object coming before the verb that tells you what ending to add to the past participle.
The perfect tense of reflexive verbs
Here is the perfect tense of the reflexive verb se laver (meaning to wash (oneself), to have a wash, to get washed) in full. Remember that all reflexive verbs take être, and so the past participle of reflexive verbs usually agrees with the subject of the sentence.
When on means we, the past participle can agree with the subject of the sentence, but it is optional.
On s’est lavées l’une après l’autre.
We washed ourselves one after the other. (feminine)
The past participle of reflexive verbs does not change if the direct object (la jambe in the example below) FOLLOWS the verb.
Elle s’est cassé la jambe. She’s broken her leg.
Irregular verbs in the perfect tense
Some past participles are irregular. There aren’t too many, so try to learn them.
| avoir (meaning to have) | > eu |
| devoir (meaning to have to, must) | > dû |
| dire (meaning to say, to tell) | > dit |
| être (meaning to be) | > été |
| faire (meaning to do, to make) | > fait |
| mettre (meaning to put) | > mis |
| pouvoir (meaning to be able to, can) | > pu |
| prendre (meaning to take) | > pris |
| savoir (meaning to know) | > su |
| tenir (meaning to hold) | > tenu |
| venir (meaning to come) | > venu |
| voir (meaning to see) | > vu |
| vouloir (meaning to want) | > voulu |
J’ai pris le bus pour venir au travail. I took the bus to get in to work.
Elle ne l’a su qu’au dernier moment. She only knew at the last moment.
Tu as vu ce film quatre fois, tu ne veux pas changer?
You’ve seen this movie four times, wouldn’t you like to watch something else?
As-tu fait bon voyage? Did you have a safe journey?
Nous sommes venus à pied. We’ve come on foot.
Ilpleut becomes il a plu (it rained).
Il faut becomes il a fallu (it was necessary).
The most important irregular verbs are shown in full in the Verb Tables at the back of the book.