Bonjour! My name is David! Welcome! Follow me on In this tutorial lesson you will learn how to conjugate several irregular verbs in the past tense or passé composé. Just like in the previous lesson that we just did about regular verbs you have to follow the same basic construction: subject + avoir + past participle. First watch the movie then you can read through the verbs written out below as well as several practice sentences. Please note that all of the verbs in this lesson are conjugated with avoir in the past tense. In another lesson we will take a look at verbs which are conjugated with être.
Example Verb – Boire: To Drink
j’ai bu (I drank)
tu as bu (You drank, singular, familiar)
il/elle/on a bu (He/she/one drank)
nous avons bu (We drank)
vous avez bu (You drank)
ils/elles ont bu (They drank)
As you can see the process is quite simple. Simply add the past participle “bu” after this subject and corresponding conjugated form of avoir.
Here are some more regular verbs conjugated in the past tense. Rather than going through all of the different speakers I will just write out the verbs in the first-person singular (je) form. The rest of the speakers follow the standard present tense conjugation of avoir and all you have to do is add the past participle.
Irregular Verbs
être = to be
j’ai été (I was)
avoir = to have
j’ai eu (I had)
faire = to make or do
j’ai fait = I did
pouvoir = can/to be able to
j’ai pu = I was able to
vouloir = to want
j’ai voulu = I wanted to
savoir = to know
j’ai su = I knew
connaître = to know (a person)
j’ai connu = I knew
devoir = must
j’ai dû = I had to
voir = to see
j’ai vu – I saw
Example Sentences
Il a fait froit au Québec.
It was cold in Quebec.
Il a été gentile.
He was nice
Tu as eu de la chance.
You were lucky.
Je n’ai pu pas le faire.
I could not do it.
Est-ce que tu a pu arriver à l’heure?
Were you able to arrive on time?
Qu’est ce que tu a voulu dire?
What did you want to say?
Nous n’avons pas voulu y aller.
We did not want to go there.
Elles n’ont pas voulu le manger.
They (group of women) did not want to eat it.
J’ai connu le président de la France.
I knew the president of France.
Elle n’a pas connu l’homme.
She didn’t know the man.
J’ai du y aller.
I had to go there.
Elle a du le faire.
She had to do it.
Vous avez du vous réveiller de bonne heure.
You (plural or formal) had to wake up early.
Tu a vu l’éléphant?
Did you see the elephant?
Je ne l’ai pas vu.
I did not see it.
On l’a vu.
We saw it.
Nous avons vu la montagne.
We saw the mountain.
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