The passé composé is the most common past tense in French. It's used for actions that happened and finished at a specific point in the past — "I ate", "she went", "we watched a movie".
It's a compound tense, built from two parts:
J'ai mangé une pizza. — I ate a pizza.
Elle est allée à Paris. — She went to Paris.
Most verbs use avoir. A small, specific group of verbs — mostly verbs of movement or state change — use être instead. A classic way to remember them is the mnemonic "Dr & Mrs Vandertramp":
All reflexive verbs (se lever, se laver, s'habiller...) also use être.
| Verb group | Ending | Example |
|---|---|---|
| -er verbs | → é | parler → parlé |
| -ir verbs | → i | finir → fini |
| -re verbs | → u | vendre → vendu |
Many common verbs have an irregular past participle you just have to memorize:
With être verbs, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject — just like an adjective:
Il est allé. — Elle est allée. — Ils sont allés. — Elles sont allées.
With avoir verbs, the past participle normally does not agree with the subject: Elle a mangé (not "mangée"). Reflexive verbs usually agree with the reflexive pronoun too — Elle s'est lavée — but not when a direct object follows the verb: Elle s'est lavé les mains (no agreement, because "les mains" is the direct object).
| j' | ai parlé |
| tu | as parlé |
| il / elle | a parlé |
| nous | avons parlé |
| vous | avez parlé |
| ils / elles | ont parlé |
| j' | ai fini |
| tu | as fini |
| il / elle | a fini |
| nous | avons fini |
| vous | avez fini |
| ils / elles | ont fini |
| j' | ai vendu |
| tu | as vendu |
| il / elle | a vendu |
| nous | avons vendu |
| vous | avez vendu |
| ils / elles | ont vendu |
| je | suis allé(e) |
| tu | es allé(e) |
| il / elle | est allé / allée |
| nous | sommes allé(e)s |
| vous | êtes allé(e)(s) |
| ils / elles | sont allés / allées |
The futur proche is the easiest way to talk about the future in French — it works just like English "going to":
Je vais manger. — I'm going to eat.
Elle va partir demain. — She's going to leave tomorrow.
| je | vais |
| tu | vas |
| il / elle | va |
| nous | allons |
| vous | allez |
| ils / elles | vont |
Just conjugate aller to match the subject, then add the infinitive of whatever verb you need — no other changes, no irregular forms to memorize. It's often used for near-future plans, while a separate "futur simple" tense (not covered here) is used for more distant or formal predictions.
Nous allons visiter le musée. — We're going to visit the museum.
Vous allez adorer ce restaurant. — You're going to love this restaurant.