French Past Tense: Everything You Need to Know
Learn how to use an important tense with this lesson on French Past Tense. Ideal for beginner & intermediate level.
On this page
A Quick Background on the French Past TenseRules on How to Form the Past TenseHow to form the French past participleExamples in using avoir to form the past tenseWhen to use être in forming the past tense in FrenchAdditional rules for using être in the past tenseThe irregular verbs in the past tenseQuick Recap on French Past TenseFrench Past Tense can be a mind-numbing learning task. But when approached with an open mind and willingness to learn, you should be able to grasp it quite easily.
It helps a lot though if you have brushed up on your English grammar. Knowing the tenses in your own language is the key to easily grasping grammar rules in other languages.
Take for example the past tense which is the center of our topic in this discussion. Are you still familiar with how it works in English? If not, here’s a little background.
A Quick Background on the French Past Tense
This lesson focuses on the passé composé, a common French past tense used to present a past action or event as a completed whole. The imparfait often describes past habits, ongoing actions, or background states.
See also: The French Imperfect Tense (Imparfait)
English “I have answered” is present perfect, while “I answered” is simple past. Depending on context, French j’ai répondu can translate either one; the presence of “have” in English does not identify every past tense.
The French passé composé combines a present-tense auxiliary, usually avoir (“to have”) or sometimes être (“to be”), with a past participle. Other French past tenses have different forms.
If you find yourself googling How to say had in French, then read more to learn more rules on how to form past tense in French.
Rules on How to Form the Past Tense
Unlike simple forms such as the imperfect or simple future, the passé composé has two parts:
- The verbs avoir or être, and
- The past participle
In forming the French past tense, use this format:
The present tense of the verb avoir or être
the past
participle
So this here is the meat of the lesson: the correct form of avoir + how to form the past participle.
| Present tense of avoir | (more commonly used than être): | |
| 1st person singular | j’ai | (I’ve or I have) |
| 2nd person singular | tu as | (you’ve or you have) |
| 3rd person singular | il/elle a | (he has / she has) |
| 1st person plural | nous avons | (we have) |
| 2nd person plural | vous avez | (you have) |
| 3rd person plural | ils/elles ont | (they’ve or they have) |
How to form the French past participle
First, you start with the infinitive of the verb, and then proceed to the following changes in the ending.
- For regular -er verbs, replace -er with -é.
Example: donner (to give) becomes donné, tomber (to fall) becomes tombé
- Many -ir verbs, such as finir and partir, have a participle ending in -i. Other -ir verbs are irregular: venir → venu.
Example: finir (to finish) becomes fini, partir (to leave) becomes parti
- For -re verbs of the attendre type, replace -re with -u. Other -re verbs are irregular: prendre → pris.
Example: attendre (to wait) becomes attendu, descendre (to go down) becomes descendu
Examples in using avoir to form the past tense
So now let’s put to use the formula above and check out these examples.
| 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 | nous avons donné | We have given. |
| Vous avez | donné | vous avez donné | You have given. |
| Ils ont | donné | ils ont donné | They have given. |
Quick tips
- je is shortened to j’ when it comes before a word that (1) starts with a vowel, (2) most words that start with h, and (3) the French word y.
- avoir is being used more often than être.
When to use être in forming the past tense in French
Before we proceed to the usage of être in the past tense, let’s first take a look at its present tense forms.
- Pronounêtre form in Present Tense
- jesuis
- tues
- ilest
- noussommes
- vousêtes
- ilssont
As mentioned previously, être is not used as often as avoir in the past tense. So now the question is, when do you use it?
There are two groups of verbs that make use of être, and these are:
1. Reflexive verbs
Reflexive verbs are a type of pronominal verb, listed with se or s’, in which an action refers back to the subject. All pronominal verbs use être in the passé composé, including those whose meaning is not literally “to do something to oneself.”
Take for example the verb s’habiller which means to get dressed.
| 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) |
2. A selected group of verbs that mostly refer to or involves physical action
Some common examples:
| aller | to go |
| venir | to come |
| arriver | to arrive |
| partir | to leave/go |
| descendre | to go down |
| monter | to go up |
| entrer | to go in/ to come in |
| sortir | to go out |
| mourir | to die |
| naître | to be born |
| devenir | to become |
| rester | to stay |
| tomber | to fall |
| retourner | to go back/ to return |
| rentrer | to come back/ to come home |
Quick tip
Some verbs in this list, such as descendre, monter, sortir, and retourner, use avoir when they take a direct object. For example, il est descendu means “he came down,” while il a descendu l’escalier means “he went down the stairs.” This switch does not apply to every verb in the list.
Additional rules for using être in the past tense
With non-pronominal verbs conjugated with être, the participle agrees with the subject in gender and number. Pronominal verbs need additional agreement rules: elle s’est habillée, but elle s’est lavé les mains, because les mains is the direct object and follows the verb.
See also: French Verb Être: Conjugation and Usage
Here are the two steps in forming the past participle for verbs that use être
Step 1
Change the infinitive
- For regular -er verbs, replace -er with -é.
- For verbs such as finir and partir, the participle ends in -i; other -ir verbs can be irregular.
- For verbs of the attendre type, replace -re with -u; other -re verbs can be irregular.
Step 2
Add the correct endings
- Masculine plural past participle: to form it, you add -s
- Feminine singular past participle: to form it, add -e
- To form the feminine plural past participle, you add -es
Examples:
| Masculine endings | Examples | Feminine Endings | Examples | |
| Singular | – | tombé parti descendu | -e | tombée partie descendue |
| Plural | – s | tombés partis descendus | -es | tombées parties descendues |
The irregular verbs in the past tense
Just like in any other case whether in grammar or in real life, there are always a set of rule-breakers. These irregulars appear in the past tense as well.
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 |
With this article, you won’t have to google the past participle of common verbs in French!
Not sure which verbs to practise first? Start with the 200 French verbs you’ll hear and use most.
Quick Recap on French Past Tense
- The passé composé presents a past action or event as a completed whole.
- To form the past tense, you use this formula: present tense of the verb avoir or être + the past participle.
- Regular -er participles end in -é. Many -ir verbs have -i and attendre-type verbs have -u; irregular participles must be learned separately.
- Most verbs use avoir. Pronominal verbs and a selected group including aller, venir, partir, and rester use être. Physical movement alone does not determine the auxiliary.
- With non-pronominal être verbs, the participle agrees with the subject. Pronominal verbs follow additional rules; see the examples above. With avoir, agreement normally occurs with a direct object placed before the verb: les lettres que j’ai écrites.
Here are some FAQs about the past tense in French
How do you write past tense in French?
For the passé composé, use present-tense avoir or être plus a past participle. French also has other past tenses, including the imparfait.
How do you write the negation of a statement in past tense French?
In the passé composé, put ne (or n’) before the auxiliary and pas after it: Je n’ai pas donné, Elle n’est pas partie. The participle follows pas.
