By the end of this lesson you'll be able to use the past participles of thirteen very common verbs, so you can say what you did, saw, read, ate and drank.
Same structure, different participles
You already know how the passé composé works from the lesson on the passé composé with avoir: the present of avoir, then a participle. Nothing changes in that structure. The only difference is that these verbs have participles you have to learn. Many of them come from the lesson on common irregular verbs.
Luckily, they fall into a few groups by their ending.
Participles ending in -u
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| voir → vu | vew | seen |
| lire → lu | lew | read |
| boire → bu | bew | drunk |
| pouvoir → pu | pew | been able to |
| vouloir → voulu | voo-LEW | wanted |
| devoir → dû | dew | had to |
Tu as vu Julie au parc ?
Did you see Julie in the park?
Nous avons bu du jus d'orange.
We drank some orange juice.
Elle a lu le journal.
She read the newspaper.
The last three are the modal verbs. After pu, voulu and dû, an infinitive follows, just as it does in the present.
Il a dû rentrer.
He had to go home.
Elles ont voulu danser.
They wanted to dance.
Je n'ai pas pu finir.
I wasn't able to finish.
Only the masculine singular dû has a circumflex, which separates it from du (de + le). "Had to" is its main meaning for now, but dû can also mean "must have": Il a dû partir can mean "He had to leave" or "He must have left".
Participles ending in -s or -t
The final letter of these participles is silent, so you'll have to learn the spelling by sight.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| prendre → pris | pree | taken |
| mettre → mis | mee | put |
| dire → dit | dee | said |
| écrire → écrit | ay-KREE | written |
| faire → fait | feh | done, made |
J'ai pris le bus à Nantes.
I took the bus in Nantes.
Tu as mis du beurre ?
Did you put any butter in?
Ils ont dit bonsoir.
They said good evening.
Vous avez écrit à Paul ?
Did you write to Paul?
Faire gives you the question you'll use most in this tense: Qu'est-ce que tu as fait ? (What did you do?).
Nous avons fait les courses.
We did the food shopping.
Avoir and être
The two most important verbs of all have the most surprising participles.
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| avoir → eu | ew | had |
| être → été | ay-TAY | been |
Eu is a single short vowel, the same one as in tu. Été looks like the word for summer, but it has nothing to do with it here.
Both form their passé composé with avoir, including être.
J'ai eu froid.
I was cold.
Nous avons été contents.
We were happy.
Questions and negatives
These participles work exactly like the regular ones you've already practised. In a question, the participle stays after avoir: Tu as lu le journal ? (Did you read the newspaper?), Est-ce que vous avez bu du café ? (Did you drink any coffee?) In a negative, ne…pas wraps around avoir, and the participle comes after pas: Je n'ai pas fait les courses (I didn't do the shopping), Il n'a pas vu le film (He didn't see the film).
The only new thing to remember is that a modal participle comes before the infinitive, so you can have three verbs in a row: Je n'ai pas voulu lire (I didn't want to read). Only avoir changes with the subject.
Not every irregular verb from the earlier lesson is here. Venir, partir and sortir use être, so they're in the next lesson.
En français
- Qu'est-ce que tu as fait samedi ? (What did you do on Saturday?)
- J'ai pris le train et j'ai vu Paul. (I took the train and saw Paul.)
- Vous avez mangé au restaurant ? (Did you eat at a restaurant?)
- Non, nous avons fait la cuisine, et j'ai bu du thé. (No, we cooked, and I drank some tea.)
- Et dimanche ? (And Sunday?)
- J'ai lu, et j'ai écrit à Marc. Je n'ai pas pu sortir : j'ai dû travailler. (I read and wrote to Marc. I couldn't go out: I had to work.)
What's next
Next, the lesson on the passé composé with être teaches the verbs that use être. Soon you'll be able to chat about your days off in the lesson on talking about your weekend.