The past

The Passé Composé

What is the past tense? It is used to express an action that

occurred in the past.

In English... There are 5 different past tenses.

I worked = simple past I have worked = present perfect I was working = past progressive I used to work = with helping verb “used to” I did work = past emphatic

In French...There are only two!

Passé Composé Imparfait

Simple past vs. compound past Simple past consists of one word

I worked

Compound past consists more than one word an auxiliary (helping verb) and a main verb

I have worked

The passé composé

It is a compound tense It is formed with the auxiliary verb

avoir or être conjugated in the present tense + the past participle of the main verb

auxiliary + past participle = passé composé

avoir/être