Past Tenses
Passé composé vs imparfait: formation and usage
Passé composé
Expresses a completed action, a specific past event. The tripwire is usually not the past participle, but whether it takes avoir or être.
Formation: present of avoir / être + past participle
avoir by default (all transitive verbs — anything that can take an object):
| Person | Ex.: manger (to eat) |
|---|---|
| j' | ai mangé |
| tu | as mangé |
| il/elle | a mangé |
| nous | avons mangé |
| vous | avez mangé |
| ils/elles | ont mangé |
Past-participle rules
| Verb group | Rule | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -er | → -é | parlé, mangé, aimé |
| -ir | → -i | fini, choisi, réussi |
| -re | → -u | vendu, attendu, répondu |
| Irregular | memorize | fait, dit, écrit, pris, mis, vu, lu |
Only two categories take être
- All pronominal verbs (the sentence carries a se): je me suis levé(e) · on s'est parlé — the pronoun sits before the auxiliary; see "Pronominal verbs"
- A set of "motion / change-of-state" intransitive verbs (DR MRS VANDERTRAMP)
🇬🇧 Borrow the English tense, not the English structure: the passé composé means roughly what the present perfect means (J'ai parlé ≈ I have spoken), but English always uses have while these two categories switch to être — English has no "reflexive + be" pattern to map onto. Pure rule: a se in the sentence means the auxiliary is être (On s'est parlé, never
on a parlé).
💡 Intuition: if the subject "moves itself" or "changes itself," it takes être. 🏠 Memory aid (La Maison d'Être, "the House of Être"): picture a whole life unfolding in one house — being born (naître) → coming in · going up and down the stairs · staying · falling → going out · leaving · coming home → growing up and becoming → dying (mourir). All of these take être.
| Verb | Past participle | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Devenir | devenu | to become |
| Revenir | revenu | to come back |
| Monter | monté | to go up |
| Rester | resté | to stay |
| Sortir | sorti | to go out |
| Venir | venu | to come |
| Aller | allé | to go |
| Naître | né | to be born |
| Descendre | descendu | to go down |
| Entrer | entré | to enter |
| Rentrer | rentré | to go home |
| Tomber | tombé | to fall |
| Retourner | retourné | to return |
| Arriver | arrivé | to arrive |
| Mourir | mort | to die |
| Partir | parti | to leave |
être verbs: the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject!
- Elle est allée. / Ils sont allés. / Elles sont venues.
- Compare: Elle a mangé (avoir does not agree with the subject).
⚠️ The nastiest one: add an object and it flips back to avoir — and the meaning changes
Six verbs on the list (monter, descendre, sortir, passer, rentrer, retourner) normally take être, but the moment they take a direct object, they switch to avoir — and the meaning changes with it:
| Pure movement (être) | With an object (avoir) |
|---|---|
| Elle est sortie (she went out) | Elle a sorti le chien (she walked the dog) |
| Il est monté (he went upstairs) | Il a monté les valises (he carried the suitcases up) |
| Je suis passé chez toi (I stopped by your place) | J'ai passé une semaine (I spent a week) |
🔑 Can take an object → avoir; pure movement → être.
Imparfait
Expresses past states, habits, and background description.
Formation: present-tense nous stem + endings
| Person | Ending | Ex.: parler (nous parl-ons) |
|---|---|---|
| je | -ais | parlais |
| tu | -ais | parlais |
| il/elle | -ait | parlait |
| nous | -ions | parlions |
| vous | -iez | parliez |
| ils/elles | -aient | parlaient |
The only exception: être → j'étais (the stem does not come from nous sommes)
When to use which?
| Passé composé | Imparfait |
|---|---|
| Specific event / action | Background / state / description |
| Completed | In progress |
| One-time | Habitual |
| "What happened" | "What it was like" |
Contrasting example:
- Quand je suis arrivé (PC), il pleuvait (Imp).
- When I arrived (specific event), it was raining (background state).