BASIC GRAMMAR
In French, there are four (04) compound tenses : le passé
composé (the present perfect),
le plus-que-parfait (the past perfect),
le passé antérieur (the past perfect) and le futur antérieur (the future perfect).
The le plus-que-parfait or le
passé antérieur is just one tense in English : past perfect.
Before conjugating the compound tenses, we first need to take a look at the
formation of the past participle of first-group verbs. First-group verbs form their
past participles by changing the ending
from
"er" to "é".
So, to conjugate a verb in the compound tense, we use the auxilary followed by the
past participle of the verb concerned.
In English, compound tenses are only conjugated with the auxiliary to have, whereas
in French, we use the auxiliary to be (être) or
to have. It all depends on the verb. When the verb expresses
movement, we use the auxiliary to be (être), and when
there is no movement, we use the auxiliary to have (avoir).
Let's put their ending and past participle in the following
table :
| 1st group Verbs' Ending | Their Past participle |
|---|---|
| er | é |
Now let's use an auxiliary to conjugate these compound tenses. If
you don't know how to conjugate French auxiliaries, click here: French auxiliary conjugation.
Example
Paler : (to speak).
Affirmative
form :
J ai parlé
: I have
spoken.
tu as parlé
: you have
spoken.
il a parlé
: he has
spoken.
elle a parlé
: she has
spoken.
nous avons parlé
: we have
spoken.
vous parlé
: you have
spoken.
ils ont parlé
: they have
spoken.
elles ont parlé
: they have
spoken.
Negative
form :
Je n'ai pas parlé
: I have not
spoken.
tu n'as pas parlé
: you have not
spoken.
il n'a pas parlé
: he has not
spoken.
elle n'a pas parlé
: she has not
spoken.
nous n'avons pas parlé
: we have not
spoken.
vous n'avez pas parlé
: you have not
spoken.
ils n'ont pas parlé
: they have not
spoken.
elles n'ont pas parlé
: they have not
spoken.
Interrogative
form :
ai-je parlé ?
: have I
spoken ?
as-tu parlé ?
: have you
spoken ?
a-t-il parlé ?
: has he
spoken ?
a-t-elle parlé ?
: has she
spoken ?
avons-nous parlé ?
: have we
spoken ?
avez-vous parlé ?
: have you
spoken ?
ont-ils parlé ?
: have they
spoken ?
ont-elles parlé ?
: have they
spoken ?
Interronegative
form :
n'ai-je pas parlé ?
: have I not
spoken ?
n'as-tu pas parlé ?
: have you not
spoken ?
n'a-t-il pas parlé ?
: has he not
spoken ?
n'a-t-elle pas parlé ?
: has she not
spoken ?
n'avons-nous pas parlé
?
: have we not
spoken ?
n'avez-vous pas parlé
?
: have you not
spoken ?
n'ont-ils pas parlé ?
: have they not
spoken ?
n'ont-elles pas parlé
?
: have they not
spoken ?
Notice :
Most first-group verbs are conjugated with the auxiliary to have, except
for the following: rester (to stay) , tomber (to fall), retourner (to return), arriver (arrive), passer (to walk by).
Example
Je suis tombé
: I have
fallen.
tu es tombé
: you have
fallen.
il est tombé
: he has
fallen.
elle est tombée
: she has
fallen.
You noticed that at "elle", we have just added "e".
This is because in French, in compound tenses, the past participle agrees with the subject
in gender and number. To understand this, click here:
subject-verb agreement.
