What level is Passé Composé: The Regular Avoir Framework?

This lesson is designed for A2 learners and can still help a learner revising the topic at another level.

Can I open the interactive lesson?

Yes. Use the lesson button to practise the topic with interactive exercises and progress tracking.

French Conjugation

Passé Composé: The Regular Avoir Framework

Forming the passé composé with avoir and regular past participles to narrate completed past events.

Level A2 Category Conjugation

Start Interactive Lesson

Lesson Summary

Forming the passé composé with avoir and regular past participles to narrate completed past events.

Conjugation

The Past Tense of Completed Actions

The passé composé is the most frequently used tense for reporting finished events in the past. It is formed with an auxiliary verb — usually avoir — and the past participle of the main verb. For the present‑tense conjugation of avoir, see the verb avoir.

Past Participle Endings for Regular Verbs

Verb Group	Infinitive Ending	Past Participle	Example
‑ER verbs	-er	-é	parler → parlé
‑IR verbs (like finir)	-ir	-i	finir → fini
‑RE verbs	-re	-u	vendre → vendu

Conjugation with Avoir

Subject	Avoir (present)	Past Participle	Passé Composé
je (j')	ai	parlé	J'ai parlé.
tu	as	fini	Tu as fini.
il / elle / on	a	vendu	Il a vendu.
nous	avons	mangé	Nous avons mangé.
vous	avez	choisi	Vous avez choisi.
ils / elles	ont	attendu	Ils ont attendu.

Negation and Questions

In negative sentences, ne…pas surrounds the auxiliary: Je n’ai pas parlé. Tu n’as pas fini. For the general rules of negation, see basic negation.

Yes/no questions are formed either by intonation or with est-ce que: As-tu mangé ? Est-ce que tu as compris ? (see yes/no questions).

With avoir as auxiliary, the past participle does not agree with the subject. Agreement with a preceding direct object will be treated in a later lesson.

Use in Context

The passé composé reports completed actions, often accompanied by past time expressions: Hier, j’ai acheté un billet de train. Nous avons attendu le bus. Elle a fini son livre.

Examples

J'ai acheté un aller-retour pour Nice.
The auxiliary ai and the past participle acheté form the passé composé of acheter.
Nous avons raté le train !
The verb rater (‑ER) gives raté; the auxiliary is avons.

Related searches

These are the main phrases this lesson covers:

Passé Composé: The Regular Avoir FrameworkForming the passé composé with avoir and regular past participles to narrate completed past events.Construct the passé composé of regular -er, -ir, and -re verbs by combining the present tense of avoir with the appropriate past participle.ConjugationA2conjugationLearn French ConjugationFrench ConjugationThe Past Tense of Completed ActionsThe passé composé is the most frequently used tense for reporting finished events in the past. It is formed with an auxiliary verb — usually avoir — and the past participle of the main verb. For the present‑tense conjugation of avoir, see the verb avoir.