Great work making it to Lesson 10.2! Today you will take your first real steps into the past tense in French — the passé composé with avoir. This is one of the most important grammar structures in the entire language, and by the end of this lesson you will already be able to say what you did yesterday, last night, and last week. Camille and Lucas are catching up over coffee after a busy day in Paris. Listen closely — every line of the dialog contains a passé composé verb!
Learning tips
- The passé composé with avoir has two parts: a conjugated form of 'avoir' (j'ai, tu as, il/elle a, nous avons, vous avez, ils/elles ont) + the past participle. Think of it like 'I have eaten' in English.
- For regular -er verbs, forming the past participle is simple: just replace -er with -é. Parler → parlé, manger → mangé, visiter → visité. Once you know this rule, you can put any regular -er verb into the past tense instantly.
- The time words 'hier' (yesterday), 'hier soir' (yesterday evening/last night), and 'la semaine dernière' (last week) are your signals that the passé composé is coming. They always appear at the start or end of the sentence.
- When you see 'j'ai' followed by a word ending in -é, you are looking at the passé composé. Recognising this pattern will help you read and listen more fluently from day one.
Warm-up & Active Recall
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| voyager | to travel |
| le voyage | the trip / journey |
| l'aéroport | the airport |
| la valise | the suitcase |
| le vol | the flight |
| le passeport | the passport |
| l'hôtel | the hotel |
| la réservation | the reservation / booking |
| préparer | to prepare |
| organiser | to organise |
Dialog
Camille and Lucas meet at a café and swap stories about what they did yesterday and last week in Paris. The conversation is packed with real passé composé sentences using -er verbs: visited, ate, bought, watched, worked, listened, talked. Notice how naturally the past tense flows once you know the pattern.
Vocabulary
Active words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| hier | /jɛʁ/ | yesterday | Adverb of time. Always goes at the beginning or end of the sentence. 'Hier matin' = yesterday morning. |
| hier soir | /jɛʁ swaʁ/ | last night / yesterday evening | Literally 'yesterday evening'. In French, 'soir' covers the whole evening, not just bedtime. |
| la semaine dernière | /la sə.mɛn dɛʁ.njɛʁ/ | last week | Literally 'the last week'. 'Dernier/dernière' (last / most recent) follows the noun it modifies. |
| j'ai mangé | /ʒe mɑ̃.ʒe/ | I ate / I have eaten | Passé composé of 'manger'. Learn this as a chunk: j'ai mangé = I ate. |
| j'ai visité | /ʒe vi.zi.te/ | I visited / I have visited | Passé composé of 'visiter'. The -er → -é rule at work: visit-er → visit-é. |
| j'ai acheté | /ʒe aʃ.te/ | I bought / I have bought | Passé composé of 'acheter'. Note the accent: achet-er → achet-é. |
| j'ai parlé | /ʒe paʁ.le/ | I spoke / I have spoken | Passé composé of 'parler'. One of the most useful past forms to know: parl-er → parl-é. |
| j'ai regardé | /ʒe ʁə.ɡaʁ.de/ | I watched / I have watched | Passé composé of 'regarder'. Also means 'I looked at'. regard-er → regard-é. |
| j'ai travaillé | /ʒe tʁa.va.je/ | I worked / I have worked | Passé composé of 'travailler'. A slightly longer stem but the rule is the same: travaill-er → travaill-é. |
| j'ai écouté | /ʒe e.ku.te/ | I listened / I have listened | Passé composé of 'écouter'. écout-er → écout-é. 'J'ai écouté de la musique' = I listened to music. |
Passive words
| Word | IPA | Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| avant-hier | /a.vɑ̃.tjɛʁ/ | ||
| l'autre jour | /lɔtʁ ʒuʁ/ | ||
| récemment | /ʁe.sa.mɑ̃/ | ||
| finalement | /fi.nal.mɑ̃/ | ||
| ensuite | /ɑ̃.sɥit/ | ||
| d'abord | /da.bɔʁ/ |
Useful chunks
| Word | Translation |
|---|---|
| hier j'ai... | yesterday I... |
| la semaine dernière j'ai... | last week I... |
| tu as visité... ? | did you visit...? |
Grammar: Introduction to passé composé with 'avoir' — formation: subject + avoir + past participle (-er → -é: parlé, visité, mangé)
| Infinitif | Participe passé | Exemple au passé composé |
|---|---|---|
| manger | mangé | J'ai mangé une quiche. |
| visiter | visité | Tu as visité le musée ? |
| acheter | acheté | Il a acheté un livre. |
| parler | parlé | Elle a parlé avec Lucas. |
| regarder | regardé | Nous avons regardé un film. |
| travailler | travaillé | Vous avez travaillé hier ? |
| écouter | écouté | Ils ont écouté un podcast. |
The passé composé is the main past tense in spoken and written French at A1–B1 level. It describes actions that were completed in the past. To form it, you need two things: the correct form of the auxiliary verb 'avoir' in the present tense, plus the past participle of the main verb. The auxiliary 'avoir' in the present is: j'ai, tu as, il/elle/on a, nous avons, vous avez, ils/elles ont. For regular -er verbs, the past participle is formed by replacing the infinitive ending -er with -é: parler → parlé, manger → mangé, visiter → visité, regarder → regardé, travailler → travaillé, écouter → écouté, acheter → acheté. So the full pattern is: subject + avoir (conjugated) + past participle. Examples: J'ai mangé une quiche (I ate a quiche), Tu as visité le musée ? (Did you visit the museum?), Il a acheté un livre (He bought a book), Nous avons regardé un film (We watched a film). The passé composé with avoir is used for the vast majority of verbs — in a later lesson you will meet the small group of verbs that use 'être' instead.
Exercises
Fill in the Blanks
Complete each sentence with the correct passé composé form of the verb in brackets.
- Hier soir, j' une bonne pizza. (ai mangé)(manger → j'ai ___)
- La semaine dernière, tu le musée du Louvre ? (as visité)(visiter → tu as ___)
- Il un billet de train hier matin. (a acheté)(acheter → il a ___)
- Nous une émission intéressante hier soir. (avons regardé)(regarder → nous avons ___)
- La semaine dernière, elle avec son professeur. (a parlé)(parler → elle a ___)
Grammar Application
Rewrite each present-tense sentence in the passé composé, adding the time word shown.
- Je mange une baguette. → Hier, j' une baguette. (passé composé)(Je mange → Hier, j'ai ___)
- Tu travailles le soir. → Hier soir, tu . (passé composé)(Tu travailles → Hier soir, tu ___)
- Elle écoute de la musique. → La semaine dernière, elle de la musique. (passé composé)(Elle écoute → La semaine dernière, elle ___ de la musique)
- Vous regardez un film. → Hier, vous un film. (passé composé)(Vous regardez → Hier, vous ___ un film)
- Ils parlent français. → La semaine dernière, ils français. (passé composé)(Ils parlent → La semaine dernière, ils ___ français)
Translate into French
Translate each sentence into French using the passé composé.
- Yesterday I visited the Eiffel Tower.
- Last week she bought a new book.
- Last night we watched a film.
- Did you work yesterday?
- He listened to music last week.
Build Your Own Sentence
Write your own French sentence in the passé composé about something you did yesterday or last week.
Takeaway
For regular -er verbs, the passé composé is straightforward: j'ai + verb stem + é — and that pattern covers hundreds of common verbs you already know.