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Introduction To The Perfect Tense

Understanding and forming the past tense

Date : 19/03/2021

Author Information

Kate

Uploaded by : Kate
Uploaded on : 19/03/2021
Subject : French

The perfect tense is used to talk about the past, particularly completed actions, such as the following:

I have finished my homework - J`ai fini mes devoirs.

He bought a computer - Il a achet un ordinateur.

To form these sentences in French, we used the verb avoir (to have) J`ai (I have), Tu as (you have), Il/Elle/On a (he/she/we or one has), Nous avons (we have), Vous avez (you have), Ils/Elles ont (they have). After choosing the correct conjugation e.g. j`ai or il a, we then used the past participle e.g. fini or achet to form the perfect tense.

However, some verbs use the verb tre to construct the perfect tense, meaning that we must conjugate the verb tre in place of avoir, e.g. Je suis all (e) au cin ma hier (I went to the cinema yesterday).

The following verbs, known as Mrs Vandertramp verbs use tre to form the perfect tense:

Monter - to go up/to come up

Retourner - to return/go back

Sortir - to go out/to come out

Venir - to come

Arriver - to arrive/to happen

Na tre - to be born

Descendre - to go down/to come down/to get off

Entrer- to go in/to come in

Rester - to stay

Tomber- to fall

Rentrer- to return/to go in/to come in

Aller - to go

Mourir - to die

Partir - to leave

Can you conjugate tre and use the correct past participle to complete the sentences below? Don`t forget to add an e and or s to the past partciple for feminine and or plural e.g. Elle est all (e) aux magasins (she went to the shops). Ils est sorti(s) hier soir (they went out last night).

Je ______ ( tre) ________ (partir) t t ce matin (I left early this morning).

Elle _____ ( tre) ________ (na tre) le premier avril (She was born of the 1st of April).

Vous ______ ( tre)________ (rester) ici l`ann e derni re (You stayed here last year).

Elles ______( tre) ________ (monter) tout en haut de la your (They went all the way up the tower).

This resource was uploaded by: Kate