E15 How to Talk About the Past in French — Passé Composé Explained Step by Step

Ready to talk about the past in French? The passé composé is the past tense you'll use every day — and it's easier than it looks. In this beginner lesson you'll learn the simple three-part recipe (subject + auxiliary + past participle), how to form past participles for -ER, -IR and -RE verbs (parlé, fini, vendu), and the big question every learner faces: avoir or être? We cover the être verbs of movement and change of state, past-participle agreement (il est allé / elle est allée / ils sont allés), the most common irregular participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu…), how to make it negative (je n'ai pas mangé), and the top mistakes to avoid. By the end you'll be building real French past-tense sentences on your own. Perfect for beginners ready to move beyond the present tense. ⏱️ Chapters 0:00 What is the passé composé? 0:41 When to use it (vs the imparfait) 1:37 The 3-part formula 2:19 Auxiliary 1: avoir 3:01 Past participles: -ER, -IR, -RE 3:48 Avoir in real sentences 4:28 Practice with me 5:15 Auxiliary 2: être (+ agreement) 6:25 How to choose: avoir or être? 7:10 Irregular past participles 8:04 Making it negative 8:47 Top mistakes to avoid 9:32 Recap & what's next 🇫🇷 Subscribe for structured French lessons every week — pronunciation, grammar, and everyday phrases for beginners. #PasseCompose #FrenchPastTense #LearnFrench #FrenchForBeginners #FrenchGrammar #AvoirEtre #FrenchVerbs #SpeakFrench Tags passé composé, french past tense, learn french, french for beginners, avoir vs être, past participle french, french grammar, conjugate passé composé, j'ai mangé, être verbs french, irregular past participles, french negation, beginner french grammar, parlé fini vendu