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Passé composé

Completed past actions

The is the main spoken tense for completed past actions in French. It is built with present or plus a past participle: , .

Many common verbs use : , , , . Some movement verbs and reflexive verbs use : , . At this level, it is best to learn common chunks.

With , the past participle agrees with the learner’s gender when needed: for a man, for a woman; . This agreement is important in this course.

You saw forms like and . These are useful storytelling forms for simple real events.

Hier, j’ai appelé Thomas.Yesterday, I called Thomas.
Vendredi, je suis allé à la répétition.On Friday, I went to rehearsal.
Vendredi, je suis allée à la répétition.On Friday, I went to rehearsal.
Hier, je suis allé à la pharmacie.Yesterday, I went to the pharmacy.
Hier, je suis allée à la pharmacie.Yesterday, I went to the pharmacy.
Cette nuit, j’ai dormi douze heures.Last night, I slept twelve hours.
Le docteur m’a dit : « Au lit ! »The doctor told me: “To bed!”
Julien m’a donné des bouchons d’oreilles.Julien gave me earplugs.
Je me suis levé tard.I got up late.
Je me suis levée tard.I got up late.
Ce matin, je me suis levé à sept heures.This morning, I got up at seven.
Ce matin, je me suis levée à sept heures.This morning, I got up at seven.

Practice 1/6 · Finding words

Tap the form practised in this unit.

Practice 2/6 · The right form

Use the English meaning and the pattern in this unit.

Hier, j’ Thomas.
Yesterday, I called Thomas.
Vendredi, je suis à la répétition.
On Friday, I went to rehearsal.
Vendredi, je suis à la répétition.
On Friday, I went to rehearsal.
Hier, je suis à la pharmacie.
Yesterday, I went to the pharmacy.
Hier, je suis à la pharmacie.
Yesterday, I went to the pharmacy.
Cette nuit, j’ douze heures.
Last night, I slept twelve hours.
Le docteur m’ : « Au lit ! »
The doctor told me: “To bed!”
Julien m’ des bouchons d’oreilles.
Julien gave me earplugs.
Je me suis tard.
I got up late.
Je me suis tard.
I got up late.
Ce matin, je me suis à sept heures.
This morning, I got up at seven.
Ce matin, je me suis à sept heures.
This morning, I got up at seven.

Practice 3/6 · Fill the gaps

Fill the gaps with the words from the box.

Hier, je suis à la pharmacie.
Yesterday, I went to the pharmacy.
Hier, je suis à la pharmacie.
Yesterday, I went to the pharmacy.
Cette nuit, j’ douze heures.
Last night, I slept twelve hours.
Le docteur m’ : « Au lit ! »
The doctor told me: “To bed!”
Julien m’ des bouchons d’oreilles.
Julien gave me earplugs.
Je me suis tard.
I got up late.
Je me suis tard.
I got up late.
Ce matin, je me suis à sept heures.
This morning, I got up at seven.
Ce matin, je me suis à sept heures.
This morning, I got up at seven.

Practice 4/6 · Building sentences

Put the words in order.

Practice 5/6 · In situations

Choose the right words for the situation.

Yesterday, I called Thomas.
You say:
Yesterday, I called Thomas.
You say:
On Friday, I went to rehearsal.
You say:
On Friday, I went to rehearsal.
You say:
Yesterday, I went to the pharmacy.
You say:
Yesterday, I went to the pharmacy.
You say:
Last night, I slept twelve hours.
You say:
Last night, I slept twelve hours.
You say:

Practice 6/6 · Matching

Match the pairs.

Unit complete

6exercises

Keep practising