PASSE COMPOSE AND PLUPERFECT

MEANING
For instance, the passé composé of «travailler » (to work) for the first person is “j’ai travaillé” and it means «I worked » or «I
have worked » and the pluperfect is “j’avais travaillé” and it means «I had worked»

FORMATION
The passé compose and pluperfect are made up of an auxiliary (avoir or être) followed by the past participle of the verb
1. MOST VERBS USE «AVOIR » TO FORM THE PASSE COMPOSE AND PLUPERFECT: il a travaillé (he worked/has worked),
il avait travaillé (he had worked)

AVOIR + HOW TO FORM THE PAST PARTICIPLE OF REGULAR VERBS

PASSÉ COMPOSÉ the «er» of verbs like “travailler” (to work), becomes “é” as in j’ai travaillé (I worked/have worked)
J’ai (I have) the “ir” of verbs like “finir” (to finish), becomes “i” as in tu as fini (you finished/you have finished)
Tu as (you have) the “re” of verbs like “vendre” (to sell), becomes “u” as in il a vendu (he sold/he has sold)
(more formal) + IRREGULAR PAST PARTICIPLES
Vous avez (you have) Avoir (to have) becomes “eu” as in “J’ai eu” (I had/have had) or “j’avais eu” (I had had)
Il/elle a (it/he/she has) Boire (to drink) becomes “bu“ as in “Tu as bu” (you drank/have drunk)
On a (we have)) + Conduire (to drive) becomes “conduit“ as in ”j’ai conduit”(I drove) (I have driven)
Nous avons (we have connaître (to get acquainted with) becomes “connu” as in “il a connu” (he got to know)
Ils/elles ont (they have) Courir (to run) becomes “couru” as in “elle a couru” (she ran/she has run)
Couvrir (to cover) becomes couvert as in “nous avons couvert” (we covered/have covered)
+ Croire (to believe) becomes “cru” (to believe) as in “ils ont cru” (they believed/have believed)
PLUPERFECT Devoir (must, to have to ) becomes “dû“ as in “tu as dû sortir” (you had/have had to go out)
J’avais (I had) Dire (to tell) becomes “dit” as in “j’ai dit (I said/told/have told/said) or “j’avais dit” (I had told)
Tu avais (you had) Écrire (to write) becomes “écrit “as in “tu avais écrit (you had written)
(or more formal) Être (to be) becomes “été as in j’ai été” (I was/have been) or “j’avais été” (I had been)
Vous aviez (you had) Faire (to do, to make) becomes “fait” as in “tu avais fait” (you had done”)
Il/elle avait (he/she had) Lire (to read) becomes “lu “ as in “j’ai lu” (I read/have read) or “j’avais lu” (I had read)
Nous avions (we had) Mettre (to put) becomes “mis” as in “ils ont mis” (they put/have put)
Vous aviez (you had) Offrir (offer, to give) becomes “offert” as in “ils avaient offert “ (they had offered)
Ils/elles avaient (they had) Ouvrir (to open) becomes “ouvert” as in “Elles avaient ouvert” (they had opened)
Peindre (to paint) become “peint” as in “Nous avons peint le vestibule” (we painted the
hall )
Pleuvoir (to rain) becomes “plu“ as in “il a plu” (it rained/has rained)
Plaire (to please) becomes “plu” as in “ce film m’a plu” (I liked/I have liked that film)
Pouvoir (to be able) becomes “pu” as in “J’ai pu voir (I was able to see)
Prendre (to take) becomes “pris” as in “tu as pris” (you took/have taken)
Recevoir (to receive) becomes “reçu“ as in “il a reçu” (he received/have received)
Souffrir (to suffer) becomes “souffert” as in “elle a souffert” (she suffered/have suffered)
Suivre (to follow) becomes “suivi”as in “nous avons suivi” (we followed/we have followed)
Savoir (to know) becomes “su” as in «vous avez su » (here: :you learnt/you have learnt)
Vivre (to live) becomes “vécu“ (to live) as in “ils ont vécu” (they lived/have lived)
Voir (to see) becomes “vu” as in “Elles ont vu” (they saw/have seen)
Vouloir (to want) becomes “voulu” as in “j’ai voulu” I wanted/have wanted)

2. A FEW VERBS USE «ETRE» TO FORM THE PASSE COMPOSE AND THE PLUPERFECT: aller (to go), arriver (to arrive),
entrer (to go in), sortir (to go out), venir (to come), monter (to go up), descendre (to go down), rentrer (to go home),
retourner (to go back), naître (to be born), mourir (to die), passer devant (to go past), rester (to stay), tomber (to fall), venir
(to come)

PASSÉ COMPOSÉ PAST PARTICIPLE PLUPERFECT PAST PARTICIPLE

Je suis allé(e)(s)/arrivé(e)(s)/ descendu(e)(s) j’étais allé(e)(s)/arrivé(e)(s)/descendu(e)(s)
Tu es + entré(e)(s)/monté(e)(s)/ mort(e)(s) Tu étais + entré(e)(s))/monté(e)(s)/mort(e)(s)
Il/elle est né(e)(s)/passé(e)(s) devant/parti(e)(s)/ Il/elle était né(e)(s)/passé(e)(s) devant/parti(e)(s)/
Nous sommes rentré(e)(s)/resté(e)(s)/retourné(e)(s)/ Nous étions rentré(e)(s)/resté(e)(s)/retourné(e)(s)
Vous êtes sorti(e)(s)/tombé(e)(s), (venu(e)(s) Vous étiez sorti(e)(s)/tombé(e)(s), venu(e)(s)
Ils/elles sont Ils/elles étaient

Exemples :
Passé composé : Je suis parti(e)\ (I left, I have left), Tu es arrivé(e) (you arrived, you have arrived), il est entré (he entered/he
has entered), elle est sortie (she went out/he has gone out), nous sommes allé(e)s, (we went/have gone), vous êtes venu(e)
(s), you came/you have come), ils sont rentrés (they came back home/they have come back home)
Pluperfect : J’étais parti(e) (I had left), tu était monté(e) (you had gone up), il était descendu (he had gone down), nous étions
resté(e)s (he had stayed),

3. REFLEXIVE VERBS ALSO REQUIRE "ÊTRE« TO FORM THE PERFECT TENSE AND PLUPERFECT

PASSÉ COMPOSÉ PLUPERFECT

Je me suis Je Je m’étais
Tu t’es + PAST + + tu t’étais
Il/elle s'est PARTICIPLE Il/elle s’était
Nous nous sommes Nous nous étions
Vous vous êtes Vous vous étiez
Ils/elles se sont Ils/elles s’étaient

Examples :
Passé composé : Je me suis levé(e) (I got up), tu t’es levé(e) (you got up), vous vous êtes levé(e)(s) (you got up), il s’est levé (he got
up), elle s’est levée (she got up), nous nous sommes levé(e)s (we got up), ils se sont levés (they got up), elles se sont levées (they got
up)
Pluperfect : Je m’étais levé(e) (I had got up), tu t’étais levé(e) (you had got up), Il s’était levé (he had got up), elle s’était levé) (she
had got up), Nous nous étions levé(e)s (we had got up), Vous vous étiez levé(e)(s) (you had got up), Ils s’étaient levés (they had got
up), elles s’étaient levées (they had got up)