Le passé composé (avec avoir)
Your first past tense: avoir + past participle, for -ER verbs and three common irregulars, plus talking about when and how it was.
LE PASSÉ COMPOSÉ: your first past tense, for things that happened once and are finished
FORMATION: AVOIR (present, see the card above) + PAST PARTICIPLE
-ER PARTICIPLES: remove -ER, add -É: parler → parlé, manger → mangé, visiter → visité, travailler → travaillé: j'ai mangé (I ate/have eaten), tu as visité (you visited), elle a travaillé (she worked)
THREE COMMON IRREGULARS (memorize): faire → fait (to do/make → done/made): j'ai fait (I did). avoir → eu (to have → had): j'ai eu (I had). voir → vu (to see → seen): j'ai vu (I saw)
NEGATION: ne...pas wraps around AVOIR, not the participle: Je n'ai pas mangé (I did not eat). Il n'a pas fait ses devoirs (he did not do his homework)
Common mistake: putting pas after the participle: 'j'ai mangé pas' is wrong: 'je n'ai pas mangé'
- J'ai visité le musée avec des amis. — I visited the museum with friends.
- Nous avons mangé dans un bon restaurant. — We ate at a good restaurant.
- Elle n'a pas travaillé hier. — She did not work yesterday.
- J'ai fait mes devoirs, mais je n'ai pas eu le temps de sortir. — I did my homework, but I didn't have time to go out.
TALKING ABOUT THE PAST: when it happened and how it was
WHEN (time markers): hier (yesterday), hier soir (last night), la semaine dernière (last week), le week-end dernier (last weekend), il y a trois jours (three days ago): J'ai visité Paris la semaine dernière (I visited Paris last week)
HOW IT WAS: c'était + adjective (it was + adjective): a fixed expression to memorize as one chunk, like il faut (it is necessary). Don't try to conjugate it yet: C'était bien (It was good). C'était génial (It was great). C'était nul (It was rubbish). (This comes from a different past tense, l'imparfait, which you'll learn properly at A2. For now, just use c'était as a ready-made phrase for giving your opinion about the past.)
PUTTING IT TOGETHER: Hier, j'ai visité le musée. C'était intéressant ! (Yesterday, I visited the museum. It was interesting!)
- J'ai regardé un film hier soir. C'était génial ! — I watched a film last night. It was great!
- Nous avons mangé au restaurant le week-end dernier. C'était délicieux. — We ate at a restaurant last weekend. It was delicious.
- J'ai eu un examen il y a trois jours. — I had an exam three days ago.