Passé Composé
The default past tense in spoken and most written French. Use it for completed actions: 'I ate', 'she left', 'they decided'. It's built from two pieces — an auxiliary (avoir or être) conjugated in the present, plus the past participle of the main verb. Most verbs take avoir; a small set of motion and change-of-state verbs (aller, venir, partir, rester, devenir, naître, mourir, the 'house-of-être' list) plus all reflexives take être.
Structure
[SUBJECT] + [avoir/être conjugated] + [PAST PARTICIPLE]
j'ai mangé / je suis allé(e)
How to Think About It
Passé composé is two verbs working as one tense. The auxiliary carries the person and number; the past participle carries the meaning. With avoir, the participle is invariable unless a direct object sits before the verb (then it agrees with that object). With être, the participle agrees with the subject like an adjective — masculine/feminine, singular/plural — every time, no exceptions.
Examples
Peut-être que vous avez roulé dans la boue.
puh-TET kuh vooz ah-VAY roo-LAY dahn lah BOO
Maybe you drove through the mud.
Elle est partie tôt ce matin.
el ay par-TEE TOH suh ma-TAN
She left early this morning.
Nous avons fini le projet hier soir.
nooz ah-VOHN fee-NEE luh pro-ZHAY ee-AIR SWAR
We finished the project last night.
Common Mistake
Learners pick avoir for être-verbs because avoir feels universal. Movement and change-of-state verbs (aller, venir, arriver, partir, monter, descendre, sortir, entrer, rester, tomber, naître, mourir, devenir, retourner, passer) require être, and the participle must agree with the subject.
Elle a allé au marché hier.
Elle est allée au marché hier.
Don't Confuse With
Imparfait
Imparfait describes ongoing past states or repeated past habits ('I used to', 'it was raining'). Passé composé tells what happened at a specific moment. Same past, different focus.
Plus-que-parfait
Plus-que-parfait is the 'past before the past' — formed with imparfait of avoir/être + past participle. Use it for actions completed before another past action.
Passé simple
Same job as passé composé (completed past action) but reserved for literary narrative. You read it; you almost never speak it.
Practice
Fill in the blank with the correct auxiliary: Je ___ mangé une pomme.
Show answer
ai
Fill in the blank with the correct auxiliary: Elles ___ arrivées hier.
Show answer
sont
Arrange: au / je / cinéma / suis / allé (I went to the cinema.)
Show answer
Je suis allé au cinéma.
Translate to French: She has eaten the cake.
Show answer
Elle a mangé le gâteau.
Write one sentence about something you did yesterday using the passé composé.
Show answer
Hier soir, j'ai regardé un film français avec mes amis.
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode:
Related Grammar Patterns
Acquire by listening
Hear Passé Composé in real Chinese, not in a textbook.
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