How do I form the perfect tense in French?

Forming the perfect tense in French is simple: you need to firstly decide whether the verb you want to conjugate is avoir or être. If the verb is avoir, then you must first conjugate avoir in the present tense using the corresponding conjugation (ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont). If the verb is être, then you must conjugate être in the present tense (suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont). Next, you must form the past participle of the verb you want to conjugate. For -er verbs, you chop off the -er and add é. For -ir verbs, you chop off the -ir and add i. For -re verbs, you chop off the -re and add u. You have now formed the perfect tense. Examples: J'ai mangé, tu as vendu. REMEMBER: If the verb is an être verb, then the ending of the past participle must reflect the gender and number of the subject. (Adding an -e for a feminine subject and an -s for a plural subject; such as je suis sortie for a female speaker.)

Answered by Tutor45079 D. French tutor

1944 Views

See similar French GCSE tutors

Related French GCSE answers

All answers ▸

How do I conjugate regular -er verbs in the present tense?


Write about one of your hobbies.


Qu'est-ce que tu aimes faire le week-end?


Which verbs use être in the passé composé?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo
Cookie Preferences