GÉNIAL ! 2
JC GERMAN BOOK (TITLE TBC) Grammaire Le passé composé
You have already learned about the past tense or passé composé in French. You have learned that this tense is made up of two parts: the auxiliary verb (avoir or être in the present tense) + the past participle.
subject auxiliary verb avoir past participle J’
ai joué
Remember that most verbs take the auxiliary verb avoir, but there are a small number of verbs that take the auxiliary verb être. You have already learne that aller is one such verb.
subject auxiliary verb être Je
suis past participle
allé allée
VERBS WITH ÊTRE IN THE PASSÉ COMPOSÉ All the verbs in this story take the verb être. They are made up of two groups:
1. These 14 verbs:
• sortir – to leave: je suis parti •
• retourner – to return: je suis retourné
• partir – to leave (or go on holidays): je suis parti • aller – to go: je suis allé • monter – to go up: je suis monté •
rester – to stay: je suis resté • descendre – to go down: je suis descendu
2. All reflexive verbs, some examples from the story above: • se lever – to get up: je me suis levé • se laver – to wash: je me suis lavé • s’habiller – to get dressed: je me suis habillé • se casser – to break : je me suis cassé le bras • se mettre à – to start: il s’est mis à parler
3. Verbs with être or avoir in the passé composé
Some of the verbs in this list can also be used with avoir when they have a direct object. In this case, their meaning changes. You will learn more about this in Senior Cycle but you need to learn two of them now:
• sortir quelque chose – to take something out: j’ai sorti les poubelles. • passer + time – to spend time: j’ai passé deux semaines en France.
4. When verbs in the passé composé are in their negative forms, ne + pas ‘wrap’ around the auxiliary verb:
Je ne suis pas sorti hier. I didn’t go out yesterday. Je n’ai pas sorti le chien ce matin. I didn’t walk the dog this morning.
5. The past participles of verbs that take être in the passé composé has to agree in gender and number with the subject. Complete the Enquête linguistique to learn more about this.
tomber – to fall: je suis tombé
• passer (par) – to pass by: je suis passé • venir – to come: je suis venu • entrer– to go in: je suis entré • naître – to be born: je suis né • mourir – to die: je suis mort • arriver – to arrive: je suis arrivé
270
deux-cent-soixante-dix
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54
