The perfect
1 Formation of the perfect 1.1 Avoir
v être verbs The perfect tense is a compound tense, which means that it is made up
of more than one
verb
. With most verbs the perfect tense is formed by
using the
present tense
of avoir as an
auxiliary
followed by the
past participle
of the verb in question.
Table 10.1.1a: -er verbs
aimer to like
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j’ ai aimé tu as aimé il / elle a aimé nous avons aimé vous avez aimé ils / elles ont aimé
Aujourd'hui nous avons visité
le musée du Louvre
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Today we visited the Louvre museum
Il a reconnu son erreur dès que nous lui avons montré les chiffres.
He recognized his error as sson as we showed him the figures.
Il a gelé la nuit dernière et tous mes géraniums sont morts.
There was a frost last night and all my geraniums have died.
Est-ce que tu as écrit ton adresse au dos de l’enveloppe?
Did you write your address on the back of the envelope?
Guillaume le Conquérant a envahi l’Angleterre en 1066.
William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066.
J’ai mis deux heures pour rentrer à la maison.
It took me two hours to get back home.
Some verbs having the sense of "coming" or "going" generally take être
in the perfect.
Table 10.1.1b: -er verbs
venir to come
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je suis venu tu es venu il / elle est venu(e) nous sommes venus vous êtes venus ils / elles sont venu(e)s
The full list verbs taking être
in the perfect is:
Table 10.1.1c: Verbs taking être as an auxiliary
infinitive past participle English arriver je suis arrivé (e) I arrived partir je suis parti (e) I left descendre je suis descendu (e) I went down monter je suis monté(e) I went up venir je suis venu (e) I came aller je suis allé (e) I went sortir je suis sorti (e) I went out naître je suis né (e) I was born mourir je suis mort (e) I died tomber je suis tombé (e) I fell rester je suis resté (e) I stayed entrer je suis entré (e) I went in passer je suis passé (e) I passed, spent
For example:
Je suis revenu de mes vacances vendredi dernier
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[and not *J'ai revenu...]
I got back from my holiday last Friday
Il est arrivé avec vingt minutes de retard.
He arrived twenty minutes late.
Je suis arrivé par le train de neuf heures trente.
I arrived on the nine-thirty train.
Il est parti en vacances il y a une semaine.
He went on holiday a week ago.
Je suis tombé sur Marie cet après-midi en ville.
I bumped into Marie this afternoon in town.
Je suis sorti par la porte de derrière.
I left by the back door.
In addition, all
pronominal
verbs take être in
the perfect:
Il s'est couché tard hier soir
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He went to bed late last night
Pour se remonter le moral elle s’est acheté une nouvelle robe.
To cheer herself up she bought herself a new dress.
Est-ce que c’est vous qui conduisiez lorsque l’accident s’est produit?
Was it you who was driving when the accident happened?
A la suite de l’accident elle s’est vu obliger de payer une forte amende.
As a result of the accident she was made to pay a big fine.
La soirée s’est terminée avec des feux d’artifices.
The evening finished with fireworks.
Ils se sont assis autour de la cheminée.
They sat down around the fireplace.
1.2 Agreement of past participle Agreement involves adding an ending to a word to indicate a grammatical
link with another word. The endings are:
Table 10.1.2a: Word endings for participle agreements Masc sing Fem sing Masc pl Fem pl - -e -s -es
For avoir verbs used in a
compound tense
such as
the perfect there is generally no agreement unless there is a
preceding direct object
:
Elle a ouvert les rideaux
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She opened the curtains
Ils ont dormi tout l'après-midi
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They slept the whole afternoon
Il a reconnu son erreur dès que nous lui avons montré les chiffres.
He recognized his error as sson as we showed him the figures.
Il a gelé la nuit dernière et tous mes géraniums sont morts.
There was a frost last night and all my geraniums have died.
Est-ce que tu as écrit ton adresse au dos de l’enveloppe?
Did you write your address on the back of the envelope?
Guillaume le Conquérant a envahi l’Angleterre en 1066.
William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066.
J’ai mis deux heures pour rentrer à la maison.
It took me two hours to get back home.
With être verbs the
past participle
always agrees
with the
subject
:
Elle est descendue avec une
valise pleine d'argent
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She went down with a suitcase full of money
Ils sont sortis faire des courses
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They went out to do some shopping
Après sa défaite elle est descendue à la cinquième place dans le classement.
After her defeat she dropped to fifth place in the table.
Ils sont partis avant la nuit.
They left before it got dark.
Afin d’éviter les flammes ils sont montés sur le toit.
In order to avoid the flames they climbed onto the roof.
Elle est venue me demander un service.
She came to ask me for a favour.
Quatre heures plus tard nous sommes arrivés au port de Dieppe.
Four hours later we arrived at the port of Dieppe.
1.3 Etre verbs taking avoir The above être verbs take avoir
when they take a
direct object
. In this case there is no agreement:
Elle a descendu l'escalier
avec une valise
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[l'escalier = direct object
of descendre ]
She went down the stairs with a suitcase
Elle a sorti un carnet pour
prendre des notes
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[un carnet = direct object of
sortir ]
She got a notebook out to make some notes
Pour faire de la place elle a descendu ses jouets d’enfant dans la cave.
To make more room she took her childhood toys down into the cellar.
Elle a passé quelques semaines en France quand elle était jeune.
She spent a few weeks in France when she was young.
Le nouveau président-directeur général a sorti l’entreprise de ses difficultés financières.
The new managing director got the company out of its financial difficulties.
Quand j’étais en France j’ ai passé beaucoup de temps dans des musées.
When I was in France I spent a lot of time in museums.
Comme il faisait chaud j’ ai sorti une glace du congélateur.
As it was hot I got an ice-cream out of the freezer.
1.4 Agreement of pronominal verbsIn the perfect tense of pronominal verbs the
past participle
will often agree with the
reflexive pronoun:
Elle s'est coupée avec le couteau
à pain
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She cut herself with the bread knife
Ils se sont rencontrés à une
soirée
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They met at a party
Maria et sa soeur se sont rendues à Madrid pour voir leur grand-mère.
Maria and her sister went to Madrid to see their grandmother.
Marie et Sophie se sont rencontrées par hasard dans la rue.
Marie and Sophie bumped into each other in the street.
En arrivant à Paris elle s’est installée chez les parents d’une amie.
On arriving in Paris she went to live with the parents of a friend.
Elle s’est tue pendant tout le repas.
She was quiet for the whole meal.
Ils se sont battus avec courage jusqu’à la fin.
They fought courageously till the end.
2 Use of the perfect The perfect tense is used to express an action or state seen as completed.
It is used as follows:
2.1
Describing completed actionsWhen describing completed actions in the past:
Samedi nous sommes allés à la plage avec les enfants
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On Saturday we went to the beach with the children
Paul a travaillé à Paris pendant
longtemps
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Paul worked in Paris for a long time
2.2
Describing sudden new state of affairsWhen describing something new that suddenly happens:
Soudain il a su qu'elle l'avait
trompé
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Suddenly he knew that she had deceived him
Au bout de quelque temps il a vu
que...
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After a certain time he saw that?
2.3
Describing recently completed actionWhen describing something that has recently been completed:
Il a fini ses études
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He has finished his studies
