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• Auxiliary Verbs:

  • ​Avoir (to have): Most verbs use avoir as the auxiliary.

    • Example: J'ai mangé (I ate).

  • Être (to be): Certain verbs use être.

    • ​Verbs involving movement or a change of state: aller, partir, sortir, rester, venir, descendre, monter, tomber, arriver, entrer, rentrer, retourner, revenir, devenir, mourir, naître.

      • ​​Example: Elle est partie (She left).

    • ​​Reflexive Verbs: Reflexive verbs use être as the auxiliary when forming passé composé.

      • ​Example: Il s'est réveillé (He woke up).

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• Past Participles: what works most of the time is to remove the verb's infinitive ending (-er, -ir, or -re) and replace it with the appropriate ending (respectively -é, -i, or -u) to form the past participle in the passé composé.

  • ​-ER verbs always take the ending “é”

    • ​Example: Parler (to speak) → Parlé (spoken).

  • Most -IR verbs will take “i”

    • Example: Finir (to finish) → Fini (finished).

  • Most -RE verbs will take “u”

    • Example: Attendre (to wait) → Attendu (waited).

  • Irregular past participles:

    • ​Avoir (to have) → Eu (had)

    • Être (to be) → Été (been)

    • Prendre (to take), Comprendre (to understand), Apprendre (to learn)→ Pris, Compris, Appris

    • Mettre (to put), Promettre (to promise), Permettre (to allow) → Mis, Promis, Permis

    • Offrir (to offer), Couvrir (to cover), Ouvrir (to open), Découvrir (to discover), Souffrir (to suffer) → Offert, Couvert, Ouvert, Découvert, Souffert

    • Faire (to do/make), Dire (to say), Écrire (to write) → Fait, Dit, Écrit

    • Apercevoir (to glimpse): Aperçu

    • Pleuvoir (to rain): Plu

    • Pouvoir (to be able to): Pu

    • Boire (to drink): Bu

    • Recevoir (to receive): Reçu

    • Connaître (to know): Connu

    • Croire (to believe): Cru

    • Savoir (to know): Su

    • Devoir (to have to): Dû

    • Tenir (to hold): Tenu

    • Lire (to read): Lu

    • Vivre (to live): Vécu

    • Obtenir (to obtain): Obtenu

    • Voir (to see): Vu

    • Vouloir (to wish, want to): Voulu