Key points about the perfect tense with 'êٰ' in French
The The perfect tense is used to talk about an action or a state that has finished, and that is in the past. in French is used to say what you did or what you have done in the past.
To form the perfect tense you need a The person or thing in the sentence that is doing the action. , an Auxiliary verbs support the main verb you want to write in a past tense. The auxiliary verbs in French are ‘avoir’ (to have) and ‘êٰ’ (to be). and a The past participle in English is the form of the verb that usually ends in -ed. For example: I have looked..
Êٰ is an auxiliary verb in French.
Many past participles are A regular verb follows a set pattern., but there are some important An irregular verb does not follow a set pattern. ones.
With verbs that have êٰ as their auxiliary, the past participle has to agree with the subject of the A word used to describe an action or state of being..
What is the perfect tense with 'êٰ'?
The majority of verbs in French use Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to have) as their auxiliary verb in the perfect tense. A small number of important verbs use Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to be) instead. They are usually verbs that involve movement, such as Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to go), Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to arrive), Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to go out) and Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to leave).
Forming the perfect tense with 'êٰ'
There are three key elements needed to form the perfect tense with êٰ:
The subject: This could be a pronoun like je, tu or il, or a name, a person or a thing (eg Marie, ma mère or le livre).
The present tense of êٰ. This is the auxiliary verb and it helps you to form the perfect tense.
| je suis | I am |
| tu es | you are (singular, informal) |
| il est | he is |
| elle est | she is |
| on est | ones is/we are |
| nous sommes | we are |
| vous êtes | you are (singular formal or plural) |
| ils sont | they are (masculine or mixed) |
| elles sont | they are (feminine) |
- The past participle of the verb.
To form the past participle of regular verbs, remove the -er, -ir or -re and add these endings:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to go) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (gone)
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to leave) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (left)
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to go down) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (gone down)
Some of the verbs that have êٰ as their auxiliary verb have irregular past participles:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to come) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (come)
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to be born) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (been born)
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to die) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (died)
The key difference between êٰ verbs and avoir verbs is that when using êٰ, the past participle has to agree with the subject of the verb, in gender and in number:
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | no change | +s |
| feminine | +e | +es |
For example:
Elle est ée à la banque. - She went to the bank.
Ils sont sortis avec leurs copains. – They (masculine, or mixed) went out with their friends.
Which verbs take 'êٰ' to form the perfect tense?
The most common verbs that take êٰ to form the perfect tense can be memorised using the acronym MR VANS TRAMPED, with each letter in the acronym representing the first letter of each verb:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to go up) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (went up)
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to stay) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (ٲ)
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to come) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. ()
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to go) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (ɱԳ)
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to be born) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (was born)
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to go out) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (went out)
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to fall) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (ڱ)
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to return) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (ٳܰԱ)
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to arrive) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. ()
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to die) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (徱)
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to leave) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (ڳ)
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to enter) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (Գٱ)
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (to go down) → Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. (went down)
For example:
Je suis é à Paris. – I was born in Paris.
Elle est ée à onze heures. – She arrived at 11 o’clock.
Nous sommes és au ciéma. – We went to the cinema.
Les enfants sont Գٰés dans la classe. – The children entered the classroom.
Verbs that use 'êٰ' in the perfect tense - Mini quiz
What is the French translation of the following phrase?
I returned (masculine form)
Je suis retouré.
What is the French translation of the following phrase?
We went out (feminine form)
Nous sommes sorties. The extra e is added for feminine, the extra s for plural.
Quiz - The perfect tense with 'êٰ'
Practise what you've learned about using the perfect tense with êٰ with this quiz.
Video: Describing people in French
Watch the video to revise how to use êٰ and avoir in French.
When you’re describing how you or other people look or are - then êٰ - the verb to be is a good place to start.
Je suis - I am or elle est - she is.
Je suis grand - I am tall.
Elle est petite - She is small.
Je suis sportif - I am sporty.
Elle est contente - She is happy.
Then it’s good to be able to say what people have using the verb avoir - to have.
’a - I have
elle a - she has.
J’ai les cheveux longs - I have long hair.
Elle a les yeux bruns - She has brown eyes.
Then you can say what you wear using porter - to wear.
je porte - I wear.
elle porte - she wears.
Je porte des lunettes - I wear glasses.
Elle porte un foulard - She wears a headscarf.
So with êٰ - to be, avoir - to have or porter - to wear you can say a lot about yourself or other people.
Now you’ve learned about using the perfect tense with êٰ, why not explore using the perfect tense with 'avoir'?
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