Some past participles do not follow this pattern and are irregular. Learn the common irregular past participles by heart. Here are some common irregular past participles with their meanings.
J’ai Tu as Il / elle / on a Nous avons Vous avez Ils / elles ont +
compris couru dit dû
écrit fait lu
mis pris pu
reçu
voulu vu
Verbes irréguliers avec « être » au passé composé
Some irregular verbs in the perfect tense use être instead of avoir. There is a list of irregular verbs using être that you need to learn (see page 143).
When être is used, the past participle must ‘agree with’ who did the action. So if the person was female you must add an -e to the end of the past participle, e.g. elle est partie (she left). If two or more females did the action you must add -es, e.g. elles sont parties (they left). If the person who did the action was male, then the past participle does not change, e.g. il est parti (he left). If two or more males or one or more males and females did the action, add -s, e.g. ils sont partis (they left). If on refers to more than one person, the past participle must be plural, e.g. on est allé(e)s (we went).
Examples: Je suis parti (m.) = I left. Il est allé = He went. Elle est arrivée = She arrived. Es-tu entré (m.) ? = Did you go in? Ils sont retournés = They returned. On est sorti(e)s = We went out. Je suis allée (f.) = I went.
