Perfect tense = auxiliary + past participle
The perfect tense (le passé composé) is the main tense for a completed past action: j'ai parlé (I spoke), elle est arrivée (she arrived). It is a two-word compound — present of avoir/être + past participle. Most verbs take avoir; movement and reflexive verbs take être. Regular participles: -er → -é (parlé), -ir → -i (fini), -re → -u (vendu). So j'ai parlé, nous avons fini, elle a vendu. The avoir/être present tables are in the note.
Common irregular past participles to memorise
Many high-frequency verbs have irregular past participles that ignore the -é/-i/-u rules — learn them as a block: avoir → eu, être → été, faire → fait, prendre → pris, voir → vu, vouloir → voulu, devoir → dû, venir → venu, aller → allé. Two traps: devoir → dû keeps a circumflex (separating it from du, the article), and prendre → pris ends in -s, not -u. So j'ai fait, elle a pris, ils ont dû. The full table is in the note.
Drawn from real examiner reports.
Dropping the -é accent on an -er participle
For an -er verb the participle ends in -é, and that accent is the tense: j'ai parlé (perfect) vs je parlais (imperfect, topic 1.5). j'ai parle (no accent) is not a real form; examiners count a meaning-changing missing accent as an error, not a slip. Same trap: préférer (verb) vs préféré (participle). Always write it: mangé, joué, acheté.
Examiner digest (0520): préférer (verb) vs préféré (participle) confused, e.g. writing je prefer, flagged in three separate sittings (s22 41, w22 41, w23 42); the Writing Accuracy note names spelling and elision as scoring-critical every sitting.
Using avoir for an être verb
A small group takes être, not avoir: movement verbs (DR MRS VANDERTRAMP — aller, venir, arriver, partir, sortir, rester, tomber…) and all reflexive verbs (se laver, se doucher). So je suis allé(e), NOT j'ai allé; elle est arrivée, NOT elle a arrivé. The auxiliary choice is examiner-judged; the participle (allé, venu, arrivé…) is regular.
Examiner digest (0520), Verb tense/person errors: j'allé used instead of je suis allé(e) when a perfect was required (s22 Speaking Card 1 & 6; w22 Speaking Card 1).
Forgetting être agreement with the subject
With être the participle agrees with the subject: il est allé, elle est allée (+e), ils sont allés (+s), elles sont allées (+es). So elle est allé is wrong — write elle est allée. Avoir verbs normally do not agree (elle a mangé, not mangée); a preceding direct object is a rarer, separate rule. Examiner-marked, as it depends on the subject.
Examiner digest (0520), Past-participle agreement: manipulating je me suis douché → il s'est douché failed because candidates missed the reflexive/agreement (w23 22 Q4(c)); adjective/participle agreement named in the Writing Accuracy boilerplate every sitting.
Building a reflexive perfect without être
Reflexive verbs (se doucher, se lever) form the perfect with être and keep the reflexive pronoun: je me suis levé(e), il s'est douché. Two failures: dropping the pronoun (je suis levé) or using avoir (je m'ai levé). The pronoun matches the subject. Keep it reflexive when transforming person: je me suis douché → il s'est douché, not il a douché.
Examiner digest (0520), Avoir vs être auxiliary: reflexive verbs in the perfect a named weak point — candidates drop the reflexive pronoun or fail être-agreement (s23 43 Q3(b); w23 22 Q4(c)).
Regularising an irregular past participle
Irregular participles do not follow -é/-i/-u, and forcing the regular rule loses the mark. Slips: prendre → prendu (wrong — it is pris, in -s), faire → fait not fais, plus voir → vu, avoir → eu, être → été. Keep the circumflex on devoir → dû (separating it from du). Compounds match: comprendre → compris. Full table in the note.
Not every perfect uses avoir
A common misconception is that avoir is the only auxiliary, so je suis allé looks wrong for j'ai allé. The reverse is true: movement verbs (DR MRS VANDERTRAMP) and all reflexive verbs take être — je suis allé(e), elle est venue. The participle also changes: after être it agrees with the subject (elle est arrivée, ils sont partis).
Examiner digest (0520): the être/avoir split is a repeated Speaking/Writing weak point — je suis allé(e) substituted with an avoir or imperfect form when a perfect was required (s22 Speaking Cards 1 & 6; w22 Speaking Card 1).
Auxiliary, then participle, then agreement
Build any perfect answer in steps: (1) auxiliary — a movement or reflexive verb → être, else avoir; (2) participle — -er → -é, -ir → -i, -re → -u, else the irregular; (3) with être, agree it with the subject (-e/-s/-es); (4) check the -é accent.
Match the tense; vary tenses for Range marks
In a role play, answer in the question's tense — a perfect question needs a perfect reply, or the mark is capped. In Writing, add a past marker (hier, récemment) and mix a present, a perfect and a near future (je vais + infinitive) for Range.
Proofread the perfect in three quick checks
Audit every past action three ways: is the auxiliary right (movement/reflexive → être)? Is the participle spelled with its -é? Does an être participle agree with the subject (elle est allée)? This catches the marks most often lost in the perfect.
The perfect tense (le passé composé) is the main tense for a completed action in the past — something that happened at a definite time: j'ai parlé (I spoke), elle est arrivée (she arrived), nous avons fini (we finished). It is a compound tense, built from two words: the present of an auxiliary + a past participle.
Step 1: the auxiliary. Most verbs use avoir; a small group uses être. Learn both present tenses cold.
| Person | avoir | être |
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