Passé composé - French Compound Past Tense

The passé composé is the most common French past tense, often used in conjunction with the imperfect. The passé composé can express any of the following:

1. An Action Completed in the Past

As-tu étudié ce weekend?
Did you study this weekend?

Ils ont déjà mangé.
They have already eaten.

2. An Action Repeated a Number of Times in the Past

Oui, j'ai mangé cinq fois hier.
Yes, I did eat five times yesterday.
Nous avons visité Paris plusieurs fois.

We've visited Paris several times.

3. A Series of Actions Completed in the Past

Quand je suis arrivé, j'ai vu les fleurs.
When I arrived, I saw the flowers.

Samedi, il a vu sa mère, a parlé au médicin et a trouvé un chat.
Saturday he saw his mother, talked to the doctor, and found a cat.

The passé composé has three possible English equivalents. For example, j'ai dansé can mean

1. I danced   (simple past)
2. I have danced   (present perfect)
3. I did dance   (past emphatic)

The passé composé is a compound conjugation, which means it has two parts:

1. present tense of the auxiliary verb (either avoir or être)
2. past participle of the main verb

Note: Like all compound conjugations, the passé composé may be subject to grammatical agreement:

• When the auxiliary verb is être, the past participle must agree with the subject
• When the auxiliary verb is avoir, the past participle may have to agree with its direct objec