Lesson 25: Past Tense 1 - with avoir
Le passé composé (1) — Talking About Yesterday with AVOIR · A0 → A1 · Part 4 · Past & Future
You will talk about things you did in the past using the passé composé. You will learn the helper verb avoir, build the past participle of regular verbs, and use time words like hier and la semaine dernière.
In this lesson
- passé composé
- avoir + past participle
- regular past participles
- past time markers
Vocabulary
| French | Meaning | Say it | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| hier | yesterday | ee-yehr ای ییر | The h is silent. The final r is a soft French throat r. |
| hier soir | last night / yesterday evening | ee-yehr swar ای ییر سوار | soir = evening. The r of soir is pronounced, softly. |
| la semaine dernière | last week | la suh-men dehr-nyehr لا سُمین ڈیرنیئر | la semaine is feminine, so we say dernière (feminine form). |
| il y a deux jours | two days ago | eel ya duh zhoor ایل یا دُو ژُور | Literally 'there are two days'. This is the fixed way to say 'ago'. |
| déjà | already | day-zha ڈے ژا | The é is a closed 'ay'. The j is like the 's' in the English word 'measure'. |
| jamais | never | zha-meh ژامے | The final s is silent. Usually used with ne: je n'ai jamais… |
| ce matin | this morning | suh ma-tan سُہ ماتاں | The 'in' of matin is nasal — the air goes through the nose, the tongue does not close the n. |
| le passé composé | the passé composé (the past tense) | luh pa-say kon-po-zay لُہ پاسے کومپوزے | The name means 'the composed past' because it is made of TWO parts. |
| le participe passé | the past participle | luh par-tee-seep pa-say لُہ پارٹیسیپ پاسے | The second half of the past tense: parlé, fini, attendu. |
| j'ai mangé | I ate / I have eaten | zhay mahn-zhay ژے مانژے | j'ai = I have, mangé = eaten. Link it all: zhay-mahn-zhay. |
| j'ai parlé | I spoke | zhay par-lay ژے پارلے | -ER verbs make -é in the past participle. |
| j'ai fini | I finished | zhay fee-nee ژے فینی | -IR verbs make -i in the past participle. |
| j'ai attendu | I waited | zhay a-tahn-dü * ژے آتاں دُو * | -RE verbs make -u. The u is the tight rounded French u — Urdu و is not the same. |
| j'ai vendu | I sold | zhay vahn-dü * ژے واں دُو * | vendre → vendu. The final e of vendre disappears completely. |
| j'ai perdu | I lost | zhay pehr-dü * ژے پیر دُو * | perdre → perdu. Same -re → -u pattern. |
| j'ai trouvé | I found | zhay troo-vay ژے ترووے | trouver → trouvé. The 'ou' is a plain 'oo' sound. |
Pronunciation
| Word | Sounds like | Slowly | How to make the sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| j'ai mangé | zhay-mahn-zhay | zhay ... mahn ... zhay | Join all three words into one smooth block. French does not pause between the helper verb and the participle. |
| parlé / parlée | par-lay | par ... lay | These two spellings sound EXACTLY the same. Do not say 'par-lay-ee'. The extra e is completely silent — this is the silent-tail rule from lesson 1 at work. |
| attendu | a-tahn-dü * | a ... tahn ... dü | There is no honest way to write the French u with English or Urdu letters. Say 'ee' while rounding your lips tightly as if you were going to whistle. Urdu و and English 'oo' are both wrong here. |
| il a attendu | ee-la-tahn-dü | eel a ... a-tahn-dü | The two a sounds (a + a) join into one smooth sound. This linking is called liaison, and using it makes you sound natural, not foreign. |
| hier | ee-yehr | ee ... yehr | The h is completely silent — never say 'hee-yer'. Start straight with the 'ee' sound, then finish with a soft French throat r. |
The star of this lesson is the ending -é. It is a clean closed 'ay' — longer than the 'e' in 'bed', with the mouth almost closed. And remember: -é, -ée, -és, -ées never change their sound.
Grammar
The passé composé = AVOIR + past participle (two words, not one!)
To talk about the past, French does not change one verb — it uses TWO words. First the helper verb AVOIR in the present tense (j'ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont), then the past participle of the action verb (parlé, fini, attendu). It is very close to English 'I have eaten'. Almost every verb uses AVOIR as its helper. Only the helper changes with the person; the past participle stays the same for everybody.
Building the past participle: -ER → -é, -IR → -i, -RE → -u
Regular verbs are very easy. Take the infinitive and change the ending: -ER verbs become -é (parler → parlé), -IR verbs become -i (finir → fini), -RE verbs become -u (attendre → attendu). Now the most important pronunciation fact of this lesson: -é, -ée, -és and -ées ALL sound exactly the same, like 'ay'. Learners want to add something at the end of parlée, but they must not. And with avoir the past participle never agrees with the subject, so 'elle a parlé' and 'ils ont parlé' sound identical.
Examples
| French | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Hier, j'ai mangé une pizza. | Yesterday I ate a pizza. | ee-yehr, zhay mahn-zhay ün peet-za |
| J'ai parlé avec ma mère. | I spoke with my mother. | zhay par-lay a-vek ma mehr |
| Tu as fini tes devoirs ? | Did you finish your homework? | tü a fee-nee tay duh-vwar ↗ |
| Il a attendu le bus. | He waited for the bus. | eel a a-tahn-dü luh büs |
| Nous avons regardé un film hier soir. | We watched a film last night. | noo-za-von ruh-gar-day an feelm ee-yehr swar |
| Vous avez travaillé beaucoup. | You worked a lot. | voo-za-vay tra-va-yay bo-koo |
| Ils ont joué au football. | They played football. | eel-zon zhway o foot-bol |
| Elle a écouté de la musique. | She listened to music. | el a ay-koo-tay duh la mü-zeek |
| J'ai déjà acheté le pain. | I have already bought the bread. | zhay day-zha ash-tay luh pan |
| Ce matin, j'ai étudié le français. | This morning I studied French. | suh ma-tan, zhay ay-tü-dyay luh frahn-seh |
| La semaine dernière, nous avons trouvé un petit café. | Last week we found a small café. | la suh-men dehr-nyehr, noo-za-von troo-vay an puh-tee ka-fay |
| Il y a deux jours, j'ai perdu mon téléphone. | Two days ago I lost my phone. | eel ya duh zhoor, zhay pehr-dü mon tay-lay-fon |
| Je n'ai jamais visité Paris. | I have never visited Paris. | zhuh nay zha-meh vee-zee-tay pa-ree |
Dialogue: Monday morning — Tu as passé un bon week-end ?
Two friends, so tu is used. Notice how every past action comes as a small block: j'ai joué, j'ai travaillé, j'ai regardé.
| French | English | Say it | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Salut Karim ! Tu as passé un bon week-end ? | Hi Karim! Did you have a good weekend? | sa-lü ka-reem, tü a pa-say an bon wee-kend ↗ |
| B | Salut ! Oui, très bien. Samedi, j'ai joué au football avec mes cousins. | Hi! Yes, very good. On Saturday I played football with my cousins. | sa-lü, wee, treh byan. sahm-dee, zhay zhway o foot-bol a-vek may koo-zan |
| A | Super ! Et dimanche ? | Great! And on Sunday? | sü-pehr, ay dee-mahnsh ↗ |
| B | Dimanche, j'ai travaillé. J'ai fini un projet. Et toi ? | On Sunday I worked. I finished a project. And you? | dee-mahnsh, zhay tra-va-yay. zhay fee-nee an pro-zhay. ay twa ↗ |
| A | Moi, j'ai regardé un film et j'ai mangé une pizza. Voilà ! | Me, I watched a film and I ate a pizza. That's it! | mwa, zhay ruh-gar-day an feelm ay zhay mahn-zhay ün peet-za. vwa-la |
| B | Pas mal ! Bon, on se voit demain. À plus ! | Not bad! Right, see you tomorrow. See you! | pa mal. bon, on suh vwa duh-man. a plüs |
| A | À plus ! | See you! | a plüs |
Say it out loud
- Hier, j'ai mangé une pizza. — Yesterday I ate a pizza. Say it 3 times. Link zhay-mahn-zhay like one word.
- J'ai parlé avec ma mère. — I spoke with my mother. -er → -é. parlé ends in a clean 'ay'.
- Tu as fini tes devoirs ? — Did you finish your homework? Rise at the end to make it a question.
- Il a attendu le bus. — He waited for the bus. Link il a → ee-la.
- Nous avons regardé un film. — We watched a film. Liaison: nous avons = noo-za-von.
- Vous avez travaillé beaucoup. — You worked a lot. The p of beaucoup is silent.
- La semaine dernière, j'ai étudié le français. — Last week I studied French. Say it slowly, then at normal speed.
- Je n'ai jamais visité Paris. — I have never visited Paris. ne + ai = n'ai. jamais already means 'never', so ne…jamais is the full negative.
Listening practice: My weekend — a short diary
Hier soir, j'ai mangé au restaurant avec ma sœur. Nous avons mangé du poulet et du riz. Après, nous avons regardé un film français. Ce matin, j'ai travaillé à la maison. J'ai fini mon travail à midi. Ensuite, j'ai acheté du pain. Le soir, j'ai écouté de la musique.
Last night I ate at a restaurant with my sister. We ate chicken and rice. Afterwards, we watched a French film. This morning I worked at home. I finished my work at noon. Then I bought some bread. In the evening I listened to music.
Questions
- Where did the speaker eat last night? At home / At a restaurant / At a friend's house → At a restaurant
- What did the speaker eat? Chicken and rice / Pizza / Bread and cheese → Chicken and rice
- What did they do after dinner? They listened to music / They watched a French film / They played football → They watched a French film
- What did the speaker do this morning? Worked at home / Bought bread / Ate at a restaurant → Worked at home
- What did the speaker buy? Rice / A film / Bread → Bread
Remember this
- The passé composé has TWO parts: avoir + past participle.
- Present of avoir: j'ai, tu as, il a, nous avons, vous avez, ils ont.
- Regular participles: -ER → -é, -IR → -i, -RE → -u.
- é, ée, és, ées all sound exactly the same ('ay') — the extra letters are silent.
- With avoir the past participle never changes (elle a parlé, elles ont parlé).
- Past time words: hier, hier soir, la semaine dernière, il y a deux jours, ce matin.
- déjà = already; jamais = never (with ne: je n'ai jamais…).
- Core patterns: j'ai mangé / tu as parlé / il a fini / nous avons regardé / vous avez travaillé / ils ont attendu.
Common mistakes
| Instead of | Say | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Je ai mangé une pizza. | J'ai mangé une pizza. | je + ai always contracts to j'ai before a vowel sound. Writing or saying 'je ai' breaks the language. |
| J'ai attendé le bus. | J'ai attendu le bus. | -RE verbs (attendre, vendre, perdre, répondre) take -u, not -é. Only -ER verbs take -é. |
| Elle a parlée. | Elle a parlé. | With the helper avoir, the past participle never agrees with the subject. (And parlée sounds exactly the same anyway.) |
| Hier je mange une pizza. | Hier j'ai mangé une pizza. | hier means yesterday, so the verb must be in the passé composé. The present tense with hier sounds completely wrong. |
| J'ai finir mes devoirs. | J'ai fini mes devoirs. | The second verb is a past participle, not an infinitive. avoir is already the conjugated verb. |
Practice questions
- How do you say 'I ate'? Je mange / J'ai mangé / Je suis mangé / J'ai mange — J'ai mangé
- Which helper verb do almost all French verbs use in the passé composé? être / avoir / aller / faire — avoir
- What is the past participle of 'finir'? fini / finé / finu / finis — fini
- What is the past participle of 'vendre'? vendé / vendi / vendu / vendre — vendu
- With avoir, does the past participle change for a female subject? (Elle a ___.) parlé / parlée / parlés / parles — parlé
- Which sentence is correct for 'She sang'? Elle a chanté. / Elle a chantée. / Elle est chanté. / Elle as chanté. — Elle a chanté.
- What does 'la semaine dernière' mean? next week / last week / this morning / two days ago — last week
- How do you form the past participle of an -IR verb like 'choisir'? choisé / choisi / choisu / choisiré — choisi
- Which sentence is correct for 'We waited'? Nous avons attendu. / Nous avons attendé. / Nous avons attendre. / Nous avons attendi. — Nous avons attendu.
- Which time word means 'already'? jamais / déjà / hier / bientôt — déjà
Homework (15 minutes)
Write a mini diary of 8 sentences about yesterday. Use at least 6 different past participles with avoir (j'ai mangé, j'ai travaillé, j'ai écouté…). Start each sentence with a time word (Hier, Ce matin, Hier soir, Après). Then read your diary out loud twice and record it on your phone.
Lesson 25 of 45 · Part 4 · Past & Future · See the full A0 → A2 roadmap · Français A0 → A2