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Introduction To The Perfect Tense
Understanding and forming the past tense
Date : 19/03/2021
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).
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