Participe Passé in French

I. How to divide the past dual tense.

Auxiliary verb “Avoir, Être” in the present tense + Partial past participle (Participe passé).

For example:

– Hier, je suis allé au cinéma. (I went to the cinema yesterday).

 – Vous avez choisi ces chemises? (Which shirts did you choose?).

II. How to use the auxiliary verb “Avoir, Être”.

1. With the auxiliary verb “Être”.

– The reflexive verbs (se lever, se laver, se coucher, …).

– 16 verbs: arriver, aller, sortir, entrer, partir, monter, descendre, venir, Revenir, devenir, tomber, mourir, passer (par), retourner, rentrer, naître.

2. With the auxiliary verb “Avoir”: the remaining verbs.

III. How to divide the past participle.

1. The verb in group 1 ends with “_ER”.

For the verb group 1 ending “_ER” when moving to the past participle will have the ending ending “_É”.

For example: aller → allé, chanter → chanté, dîner → dîné, …

2. The verb group 2 ends with “_IR”.

For the verb group 2 ending “_IR” when moving to the past participle will end with “_I”.

For example: finir → fini, choisir → choisi, réfléchir → réfléchi, …

3. Group 3 verb.

Group 3 verbs are irregular verbs, so they must be memorized.

IV. The conjugate of the past participle with the past tense

+ The past participle always match and match with the subject when the verb is divided with the auxiliary verb “Être”.

For example:

Hier, nous sommes arrivés à l’aéroport à 7h. (Yesterday we went to the airport at 7am).

Elles sont nées en 1986. (She was born in 1986).

+ The past participle does not match with the subject when the verb is divided with the verb “Avoir”.

For example: Ils ont quitté cette ville il ya 2 ans. (They left this city 2 years ago).

+ The past participle must match with COD when the verb is divided with the auxiliary verb “Avoir”.

For example:

Tes livres? Je ne les ai pas vus. (Is your book? I don’t see it).

Sophie? Je ne l’ai pas rencontrée. (Sophie? I have not met her.)

+ The past participle does not match the number with COI

For example:

Marie? Je ne retired ai pas parlé. (Parler à quelqu’un) . (Marie? I didn’t talk to her.)

Ils vous ont donné ces fleures? (Donner à quelqu’un) . Did they give you these flowers?