The Past Indefinite Tense or Passé Composé



You have learned the present indicative so far, which expresses what happens,
is happening, or does happen now; but if you want to say something happened,
or has happened, you have to use the passé composé.  The
passé composé is used for actions that happened only once,
a specified number of times or during a specified period of time, and as
a result or consequence of another action.  All you need to learn are
the past participles of the verbs.

Regular Verbs: Formation of the Past Participle

-er	-é
-re	-u
-ir	-i

Then conjugate avoir and add the past participle:

J'ai aimé le concert.	I liked the concert.
Tu as habité ici ?	You lived here?
Il a répondu au téléphone.	He answered (or has answered) the telephone.
Nous avons fini le projet.	We finished (or have finished) the project.
Elles ont rempli les tasses.	They filled (or have filled) the cups.

To make it negative, put the ne and pas around the conjugated
form of avoir.

Je n'ai pas aimé le concert.	I didn't like the concert.
Il n'a pas répondu.	He didn't answer (or hasn't answered) .
Elles n'ont pas rempli les tasses.	They didn't fill (or haven't filled)  the glasses.

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This article was used with permission from:
Indo-European Languages