GCSE-ready- Home
- Lessons
- GCSE & IGCSE French
- The past tense with avoir
The past tense with avoir
🎬 The doodle video for this lesson is coming soon. Subscribe on YouTube to see it first.
The perfect tense (passé composé) says what you did. Most verbs use avoir plus a past participle.
How to build it
avoir (present) + past participle
J'ai mangé. = I ate / I have eaten.
Nous avons visité Paris. = We visited Paris.
J'ai mangé. = I ate / I have eaten.
Nous avons visité Paris. = We visited Paris.
Regular past participles
-er verbs: -é. manger → mangé, visiter → visité.
-ir verbs: -i. finir → fini, choisir → choisi.
-re verbs: -u. vendre → vendu, attendre → attendu.
-ir verbs: -i. finir → fini, choisir → choisi.
-re verbs: -u. vendre → vendu, attendre → attendu.
Common irregulars
Learn these by heart.
Translate: Yesterday I saw a film.
- Yesterday = hier
- I saw: voir is irregular, past participle vu, so j'ai vu.
- a film = un film
Answer: Hier, j'ai vu un film.
Passé composé = avoir + past participle. -er → -é, -ir → -i, -re → -u. Learn irregulars: fait, vu, bu, pris, eu, été.
The interactive lesson includes the diagrams for this topic.
Check you have got it
Answer 6 quick questions with instant marking. If you get one wrong, GCSE-ready shows you why and gives you another go. It is free, and you do not need an account.