This document provides information on forming the past tense in French. It explains that the past tense is used to talk about actions completed in the past. It is formed by combining the present tense of avoir or être with the past participle. For regular verbs, the past participle ends in é, i, or u depending on the verb ending. Some common irregular past participles are also listed. Examples are provided to demonstrate how to use avoir and être to conjugate verbs into the past tense.

1. LEARNING FRENCH TENSES:
PAST TENSE

2. This learning guide is divided into different
parts with a quick recap after each topic.
1)
WHAT IS THE PAST TENSE?
2)
HOW TO FORM THE PAST TENSE AND PAST PARTICIPLE?
3)
THE IRREGULAR

3. 1. WHAT IS THE PAST TENSE?
PAST TENSE is used to talk about an action that took place and was
fully completed in the past.
It is also used to express something that was true in the past.
For other past events you generally use the imperfect/imperfait
tense.
Example:
I have answered the question.
I answered the question.
Both are sample past tense form in English.
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4. 2. HOW TO FORM THE PAST TENSE
AND PAS PARTICIPLE?
How to form the past tense:
The present tense of the verb avoir or être + the past
participle
How to for the past participle:
 If the infinitive ends with an -er, replace the -er with -é.
 donner becomes donné, tomber becomes tombé
 If the infinitive ends with an -ir, remove the r at the end.
 finir becomes fini, partir becomes parti
 If the infinitive ends with a -re, replace the -re with –u.

attendre becomes attendu, descendre becomesdescendu
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5. Examples in using avoir to form the past tense
PRONOUN +
AVOIR +
PAST
PARTICIPLE =
PAST TENSE
FORMED
MEANING IN
ENGLISH
j'ai
donné
j'ai donné
I have given
Tu as
donné
tu as donné
You have given
Il a
donné
il a donné
He has given
Nous avons
donné
nou avons
donné
We have given
Vous avez
donné
vous avez donné You have given
Ils ont
donné
ils ont donné
They have given
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6. Examples in using être to form the past tense
PRONOUN +
ÊTRE +
PAST
PARTICIPLE =
PAST TENSE
FORMED
MEANING IN
ENGLISH
je me suis
habillé
je me suis
habillé
(I got dressed)
tu t'es
habillé
tu t'es habillé
(you got
dressed)
il s'est
habillé
il s'est habillé
(he got dressed)
elle s'est
habillée
elle s'est
habillée
(she got
dressed)
ils se sont
habillés
ils se sont
habillés
(they got
dressed)
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7. Quick tips:
1.
2.
3.
je is shortened to j’ when it comes before a word that starts with
a vowel, most words that start with h and the French word y.
Avoir is being used more often than être.
Two steps in forming the past participle for verbs that use être:
Step 1: Change the infinitive
If the infinitive ends with an -er, replace the -er with -é.
If the infinitive ends with an -ir, remove the r at the end.
If the infinitive ends with a -re, replace the -re with -u.
Step 2: Add the correct endings
To form a masculine plural past participle, you add -s
To form a feminine singular past participle, you add -e
To form a feminine plural past participle, you add -es
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8. 3. THE IRREGULAR
Here are the irregular past participle forms that you need to be familiar with.
VERB
WHAT IT MEANS
PAST PARTICIPLE
Avoir
To have
eu
Devoir
To have to, must
dû
Dire
To say, to tell
dit
Être
To be
été
Faire
To do, to make
fait
Mettre
To put
mis
Pouvoir
To be able to, can
pu
Prendre
To take
pris
Savoir
To know
su
Tenir
To hold
tenu
Venir
To come
venu
Voir
To see
vu
Vouloir
To want
voulu
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9. Quick recap of this topic:
1. The past tense is used when you talk about an action
that took place and was completed in the past.
2. To form the past tense, you use this formula: present
tense of the verb avoir or être + the past participle.
3. The past participle is obtained through using the
indicative and changing the endings (-er verbs to -é, ir verbs to -i, and -re verbs to -u)
4. Most of the verbs use avoir, but two groups (namely
the reflexive verbs and some verbs that mostly refer
to or involves bodily movement or some kind of
physical activity) use être.
5. To form the past participle when using être, the past
participle has to agree with the subject of the verb
and changes its form for feminine and plural.
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