FR1 9-1
PAST ACTIONS
REGULAR -ER VERBS
In English, there are 3 past tense forms:
I spoke, I have spoken, I did speak
In French, there is only one:
le passé composé = (subject) + helping verb AVOIR + past participle
j'ai parlé
past participles
of regular -er verbs:
|
INFINITIVE |
PAST PARTICIPLE |
|
parler (to speak) |
parlé (spoken) |
|
travailler (to work) |
travaillé (worked) |
|
retrouver (to meet) |
retrouvé (met) |
Here’s the passé composé of the verb PARLER:
j’ai parlé nous-z-avons parlé
tu as parlé vous-z-avez parlé
il/elle/on a parlé ils/elles-z-ont parlé
Each form has 3 English equivalents, for example:
j’ai parlé = I have spoken, I spoke, I did speak
To make a verb in the passé composé negative, put
ne(n’)...pas around the active (conjugated) part of the verb:je n’ai pas parlé = I haven’t spoken, I didn’t speak
To make a verb in the passé composé a question, just put est-ce que in front of the subject:
Est-ce que tu as parlé ...? = Have you spoken ...?
Did you speak...?