Formation of the Perfect
The perfect of most verbs is formed by combining the present tense avoir (or être) and the past participle of the verb.
| expliquer (to explain) | réagir (to react) | confondre (to confuse) |
| j'ai expliqué | j'ai réagi | j'ai confondu |
| tu as expliqué | tu as réagi | tu as confondu |
| il/elle a expliqué | il/elle a réagi | il/elle a confondu |
| nous avons expliqué | nous avons réagi | nous avons confondu |
| vous avez expliqué | vous avez réagi | vous avez confondu |
| ils/elles ont expliqué | ils/elles ont réagi | ils/elles ont confondu |
Meaning of the Perfect
The perfect expresses an action or event completed in the past. It does not place any emphasis on the duration of that action or event. In everyday speech, it is used to replace the Past Historic.
Nous sommes allés au magasin et nous avons acheté du
pain.
(We went to the store and bought some bread.)
Some verbs have irregular stems. See Irregular Verbs.
Past participles of verbs conjugated with avoir agree in gender and number with a preceding direct object (usually a pronoun):
Il a cueilli
une pomme et l'a mangée.
(He picked an apple and ate it.)
Il nous a rencontrés en
ville.
(He met us in town.)
The past participle also agrees with an antecedent element which represents a direct object:
Voici les vêtements que nous avons
achetés.
(Here are the clothes that we bought.)
However, it does not agree with preceding indirect objects:
Nous avons téléphoné à
Paul et Marie.Nous leur avons téléphoné.
(We telephoned Paul and Marie. We called them.)
The past participle of a verb conjugated with avoir remains unchanged before an infinitive with its own direct object:
Voici les vêtements que vous avez décidé
d'acheter.
(Here are the clothes you decided to buy.)
Past participles of verbs conjugated with être agree in gender and number with the subject (except for special rules concerning reflexive verbs).
Nous nous sommes enfuis avant
l'orage.
(We ran away before the storm.)
See Also: