1.26:_Passe_compose_avec_avoir

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The pass&eacute; compos&eacute; is similar to the English perfect tense in that it contains two major parts. These are the past participle and the auxiliary verb.

Most verbs will be conjugated using avoir as the auxiliary verb.

&#9758; J&rsquo;ai mang&eacute; . I ate; I have eaten

<table class="mt-responsive-table" style="border-collapse:collapse;height:196px;">
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 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">Pr&eacute;sent of avoir + past participle</td>
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 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">j&rsquo;ai mang&eacute;</td>
 </tr>
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 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">tu as mang&eacute;</td>
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 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">il / elle/ on a mang&eacute;</td>
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 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">nous avons mang&eacute;</td>
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 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">vous avez mang&eacute;</td>
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 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-5" style="height:15px;">ils / elles ont mang&eacute;</td>
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Notice that the pass&eacute; compos&eacute; is only used for one-time or completed actions.

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 <th>infinitive ending</th>
 <th>past participle ending</th>
 <th> </th>
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 <td data-th="infinitive ending">-er</td>
 <td data-th="past participle ending">&ndash;&eacute;</td>
 <td>trouver &#10146; trouv&eacute;</td>
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 <td data-th="infinitive ending">-ir</td>
 <td data-th="past participle ending">-i</td>
 <td>r&eacute;ussir &#10146; r&eacute;ussi</td>
 </tr>
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 <td data-th="infinitive ending">-re</td>
 <td data-th="past participle ending">-u</td>
 <td>vendre &#10146; vendu</td>
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</table>

For most verbs, the negative form of the pass&eacute; compos&eacute; is formed as follows:

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 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-10">subject + NEGATIVE of avoir + past participle</td>
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 <td class="mt-noheading mt-column-width-10">Je n&rsquo;ai pas travaill&eacute;</td>
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<h3>Participles</h3>

Many of the participles of irregular verbs are irregular, so it&rsquo;s better to memorize those ones, but regular verbs usually have regular participles that look like this:

<table class="mt-responsive-table" style="border-spacing:0px;">
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 <td class="mt-noheading">avoir</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">j&rsquo;ai eu</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">&nbsp;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">lire</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">j&rsquo;ai lu</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading">boire</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">j&rsquo;ai bu</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">&nbsp;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">pouvoir</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">j&rsquo;ai pu</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading">devoir</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">j&rsquo;ai d&ucirc;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">&nbsp;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">prendre</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">j&rsquo;ai pris</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading">&eacute;crire</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">j&rsquo;ai &eacute;crit</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">&nbsp;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">recevoir</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">j&rsquo;ai re&ccedil;u</td>
 </tr>
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 <td class="mt-noheading">&ecirc;tre</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">j&rsquo;ai &eacute;t&eacute;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">&nbsp;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">voir</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">j&rsquo;ai vu</td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td class="mt-noheading">faire</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">j&rsquo;ai fait</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">&nbsp;</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">vouloir</td>
 <td class="mt-noheading">j&rsquo;ai voulu</td>
 </tr>
 </tbody>
</table>

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