Chapter 3

Pass compos
Usage
To describe an action taking place in the past

Formation

Subject

Auxiliary verb:
avoir

Pronou
n
Name
Object

ai
as
a
avons
avez
ont

Past participle of
the action verb

ER: root +
IR: root + i
RE: root + u

Examples
Elle
Nous
J
Vous

a
avons
ai
tes

mang
grandi
attendu
revenus

Exceptions:
Some verbs take
tre
instead
of
avoir.
They can be
arranged into the acronym
DR. MRS. VANDERTRAMP
Aller
Descendre
Mourir
Passer
Retourner
Tomber

Arriver
Devenir
Natre
Rentrer
Revenir
Venir

Entrer
Monter
Partir
Rester
Sortir

The past participle of these

verbs must agree with the
subject, adding (e) and/or (s)

Irregular verbs
Some verbs have irregular past participles.
Apprendre
Avoir
Boire
Comprendre
Conduire
Connatre
Construire

appris
eu
bu
compris
conduit
connu
construit

Croire
Devoir
Dire
tre
Faire
Lire
Mettre

cru
d
dit
t
fait
lit
mis

Pouvoir
Prendre
Suivre
Tenir
Venir
Voir
Vouloir

Negation
The negation happens to the auxiliary verb, not the past participle
Example: Je nai pas mang, nous ne sommes jamais morts

Imparfait
Usage
Used to describe a habitual action or state of being in the past
For physical or emotional descriptions in the past
Actions or states of unspecified duration
Background information in conjunction with pass compos

pu
pris
suivi
tenu
venu
vu
voulu

Formation
Formation of a verb in the imperfect tense goes as follows:
Take the stem of the
verb in nous form
present indicative
ER: rest
ons
RE: entend
ons
IR: finiss
ons

Endings
-ais

-ais

-ait
+

Examples
Les gens venaient me voir
Je navais pas de jouets
Elle partait pour ne jamais revenir.

-ions
-iez
-aient

Exception
The stem used for tre is
t-
, which is the only exception in the imperfect

Pass compos vs. imparfait

Pass Compos

Imparfait

Describes things that happened in the

foreground
Use if you are asking questions like: What
happened? What happened once? What
happened next? Then what happened?

Describes things that happened in the

background
Use if asking questions like: What were the
conditions at the time?
Use if asking questions like: is the verb
expressed a habitual action? Did it occur
repeatedly?

Hints
Hier, une fois, tout coup
, etc. are all
keywords for pass compos

When used in the past, the verb

venir de
is
always imperfect
Avoir, tre, savoir, connatre, pouvoir
, and
vouloir
are almost always used in the
imperfect tense, since they can change
meaning in pass compos
Souvent, tous les jours, chaque anne, en
gnral
, etc. are all keywords for imparfait

Examples
Je suis partie (I left)
Elles sont restes (They stayed)
Elle lui a parl (She talked to him)

Il pleuvait (It was raining)

Quand jtais petit (When I was young)
Elle attendait (She waited)

Plus que parfait

Usage
Inthepasttense,itisusedtodescribesomethingthathappenedevenbeforethen
Keyword:
had

Formation
Formation is similar to pass compos
Imperfect of the auxiliary (
tre
or
avoir
) + past participle of the action verb
Example: Elle mavait coiff (Trans: she had fixed my hair)

Past infinitives
Usage
Averbthatfollowsthepreposition
aprs

Formation
Formation is similar to pass compos
Infinitive of the auxiliary (
tre
or
avoir
) + past participle of the action verb
Example:
Aprs tre alls
en France, ses parent ont ouvert un restaurant