Talking About Your Holiday in French - Exercises

Practice using the passé composé with irregular verbs

Lesson Transcript

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

J'(pause with a tap of the finger) un petit café charmant près du marché.

ai découvert

J'ai découvert un petit café charmant près du marché.

"I discovered a charming little café near the market."

We use ai découvert in this sentence because J' is the subject pronoun for "I," and ai is the present-tense form of avoir used with je.

Découvert is the past participle of the irregular verb découvrir, meaning "discovered."

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

Ils (pause with a tap of the finger) le train très tôt ce matin.

ont pris

Ils ont pris le train très tôt ce matin.

"They took the train very early this morning."

We use ont pris in this sentence because Ils is the subject pronoun for "they," and ont is the correct form of avoir for ils.

Pris is the irregular past participle of prendre, which means "took."

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

Elle (pause with a tap of the finger) un spectacle incroyable hier soir.

a vu

Elle a vu un spectacle incroyable hier soir.

"She saw an amazing show last night."

We use a vu in this sentence because Elle is the subject pronoun for "she," and a is the form of avoir that goes with it.

Vu is the irregular past participle of voir, which means "saw."

Unscramble the words to make a sentence.

Ready?

Tu as

Tu as fait

Tu as fait un

Tu as fait un gâteau au

Tu as fait un gâteau au chocolat

Tu as fait un gâteau au chocolat pour

Tu as fait un gâteau au chocolat pour l'anniversaire ?

"Did you make a chocolate cake for the birthday?"

Tu as fait un gâteau au chocolat pour l'anniversaire ?

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

Nous (avez or avons) mis les valises dans la voiture.

avons

Nous avons mis les valises dans la voiture.

"We put the suitcases in the car."

Avons is used here because Nous is the subject pronoun for "we," and avons is the present-tense form of avoir used with nous in le passé composé.

Mis is the past participle form of the irregular verb mettre, which translates to "put."

Choose the best answer to complete the sentence. Ready?

Marc (ai or a) écrit une carte postale à ses parents.

Marc a écrit une carte postale à ses parents.

"Marc wrote a postcard to his parents."

A is used here because Marc is a third-person singular subject, and a is the correct form of avoir to match.

Écrit is the past participle of the irregular verb écrire, meaning "wrote."

Let's translate some sentences into French.

Translate "Did you drink fresh orange juice this morning?" into French.

Vous, the subject pronoun meaning "you" (formal or plural),

followed by

avez, the present-tense form of avoir used as the helping verb,

bu, the past participle of the irregular verb boire, meaning "drank,"

followed by

du jus d'orange frais, meaning "fresh orange juice,"

ce matin, meaning "this morning."

Vous is the subject pronoun for "you" (formal or plural), and avez is the correct form of avoir.

Bu is the past participle of the irregular verb boire, meaning "drank."

Vous avez bu du jus d'orange frais ce matin ?

"Did you drink fresh orange juice this morning?"

Translate "We read three chapters of the novel during the flight." into French.

On, an informal subject pronoun meaning "we,"

followed by

a, the present-tense of avoir, used here as the auxiliary verb,

lu, the past participle of the irregular verb lire, meaning "read,"

followed by

trois chapitres du roman, meaning "three chapters of the novel,"

pendant le vol, meaning "during the flight."

On is an informal subject pronoun that means "we," and a is the correct form of avoir.

Lu is the irregular past participle of lire, which means "read."

On a lu trois chapitres du roman pendant le vol.

"We read three chapters of the novel during the flight."

Translate "I received a message from the hotel this morning." into French.

J', the contracted subject pronoun meaning "I,"

followed by

ai, the present-tense form of avoir, used as the helping verb,

reçu, the past participle of the irregular verb recevoir, meaning "received,"

followed by

un message de l'hôtel, meaning "a message from the hotel,"

ce matin, meaning "this morning."

Je is the subject, shortened to J' before a vowel.

Ai is the form of avoir used with je, and reçu is the irregular past participle of recevoir, meaning "received."

J'ai reçu un message de l'hôtel ce matin.

"I received a message from the hotel this morning."

Listen to me as I speak. Which verb form shows le passé composé?

J'ai découvert un petit café charmant près du marché.

Let's listen one more time.

J'ai découvert un petit café charmant près du marché.

Did you hear, ai découvert?

We use ai because it matches je, and découvert is the past participle of the irregular verb découvrir, meaning "discovered."

How about...?

Tu as fait un gâteau au chocolat pour l'anniversaire ?

Let's listen one more time.

Tu as fait un gâteau au chocolat pour l'anniversaire ?

Did you hear, as fait?

As is the form of avoir used with tu, and fait is the past participle of the irregular verb faire, meaning "made" or "did."

Next…

Marc a écrit une carte postale à ses parents.

One more time.

Marc a écrit une carte postale à ses parents.

Did you hear, a écrit?

A is the form of avoir for Marc, and écrit is the past participle of écrire, an irregular verb that means "wrote."

And...

On a lu trois chapitres du roman pendant le vol.

One more time.

On a lu trois chapitres du roman pendant le vol.

Did you hear a lu?

A is the helping verb for on, and lu is the past participle of the irregular verb lire, meaning "read."

Thank you for watching.

Now you know how to simply describe a recent vacation and to use le passé composé with irregular verbs, the tense for completed actions in the past in French.

...and now you can move on to the next lesson in the pathway.

Au revoir !

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