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French Grammar: Past Tense

PHRASES
Past tense

To form the simple past tense, I gave/I have given, I finished/I have finished, combine the present tense of the verb avoir - to have with the past participle of the verb
(donné, fini, répondu),

e.g.

j'ai donné

I gave/I have given

          

j'ai fini

I finished/I have finished

j'ai répondu

I replied/I have replied

Not all verbs take avoir (j'ai..., il a...) as their auxiliary verb; some verbs take être (je suis..., il est...). These are intransitive verbs (which have no object),

e.g.

je suis allé

I went

je suis né

I was born

When the auxiliary verb être is used, the past participle (allé, , etc.) becomes adjectival and agrees with the subject of the verb,

e.g.

nous sommes allés

we went (plural)

je suis née

I was born (female)


 


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