Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Le Passé Composé - Coggle Diagram
Le Passé Composé
Usage
Completed events in the past
May refer to an action in the past whose effect continues in the present.
"Nous sommes arrivés hier de Dijon"
Simple Past
Completed events which do not give rise to consequences continuing in the present
Compound Past (Passé Composé)
Refers to past events whose consequences continue to have a present relevance
Formation
The appropriate form (in terms of person & number) of the present tense of AVOIR or ETRE
Avoir or Etre?
Most take avoir
Verbs of movement and reflexive verbs take etre
The past participle of the verb
ER - é
IR - i
RE - u
Agreement of the past participle
AVOIR
Agrees not with the subject of the verb, but with any preceding Direct Object that there may be
ETRE
(Leaving reflexive verbs aside) Agrees in number and gender with the subject
ETRE verbs
Aller, arriver, entrer, monter, naitre, retourner, tomber, venir, partir, sortir, descendre, mourir, rester
Compounds (e.g. rentrer, revenir, devenir, ressortir0
Some etre verbs can be used with a direct object, and in that case they use avoir
Il a monté les valises
Elle a passé un examen
The meaning of the verb changes a little
Monter and descendre take avoir in expressions such as:
J'ai descendu l'escalier
Il a monté la rue
Be careful with word order
Negative
Il n'est pas venu
Nous ne l'avpns pas vu
Inverted
L'avex-vous vu?
Ne l'avez-vous pas déjà fait
Reflexive Verbs
3 Types
Real Reflexive Verbs
The action of the subject is reflected back on the subject
Elle se lave
The participle agrees with 'se' which is the preceding Direct Object
Reciprocal Verbs
2 or more people doing something to each other
The participle agrees with 'se' if it's the Direct Object, but not if it's indirect
Ils se sont vus
They saw each other - direct object
Ils se sont écrit
They wrote to each other - indirect object
Pronominal Verbs
Look like reflexive verbs, but the reflexive pronoun has nothing to do with 'oneself'
Se repentir (to repent), se souvenir de (to remember)
The Past Participle agrees with the subject
Elles se sont souvenues de l'histoire