The Perfect TenseFor example: J'ai visité meaning: i) I visited ii) I have visited The perfect tense is used to describe something that happened once (however long it lasted) and is now finished. For example: I went to Spain for my holidays (only happened once) Queen Victoria reigned for 64 years (she only reigned once) But not for something that takes place repeatedly. For example: When I was younger, I went to Spain for my holidays [- this happened more than once (= I used to go to Spain for my holidays) so this is Imperfect tense]You have to change (conjugate) the verb ending. You need an auxiliary verb (the appropriate bit of avoir or ê tre ) and the past participle. The past participle is the same in the perfect tense for each person (je, tu, il... etc) but the auxiliary verb has to change. Any ne... pas/ne... rien etc goes either side of the auxiliary verb e. g. je n'ai pas fini. But Ne... personne goes either side of both verbs e. g. je n'ai vu personneTry this exercise: Type in the correct word, then click on the show answer button to show the conjugation of the perfect tense./**/Remember: these endings apply to all regular verbs. Irregular verbs use the same auxiliary (either avoir or ê tre) but have their own past participles. e. g. j'ai mis (METTRE to put) vous avez ouvert (OUVRIR - to open). As well as regular and irregular verbs in the perfect tense, there are those verbs that take ê tre. There are only a few but you need to know: which verbs they are and, that the past participle has to agree with the subject. i. e. add an 'e' if the subject is feminine and an 's' if it is both. Probably the easiest way to remember it is 'MR. DAMP'S TAVERN' - the first letter of all those verbs involved. Verb For Example Monter je suis monté(e) Retourner je suis retourné(e) Descendre je suis descend(u) Arriver je suis arrive(e) Mourir je suis mort(e) Partir je suis parti(e) Sortir je suis sorti(e) Tomber je suis tombé(e) Aller je suis allé(e) Venir je suis venu(e) Entrer je suis entré(e) Rester je suis resté(e) Naî tre je suis né(e) Don't forget the ending on the past participle so: mon frè re est allé en France but ma s'ur est allé e en France. You only put endings on past participles that follow ê tre. All reflexive verbs take ê tre For example: je me suis lavé(e) tu t'es lavé(e) il /on s'est lavé elle s'est lavé e nous nous sommes lavé(e)s vous vous ê tes lavé(e)(s) ils se sont lavé s elles se sont lavé es Type in the two missing parts in the sentences below using the infinitive in brackets:/**//**//**//**//**//**//**//**/The Pluperfect TenseThis is one tense 'back' from perfect, an equivalent of 'I had seen' or 'I had been thinking'. It is formed with the imperfect tense of Avoir or ê tre and past participle. For example: J'avais mangé = I had eaten Il é tait descendu = He had gone down Nous avions acheté = we had been buying Exercise Il ... dans le jardin (TRAVAILLER) Nous ... à Paris (VOYAGER) Ils ... le film (VOIR) Vous ... le paquet? (RECEVOIR) J'... de bonne heure (ARRIVER) Note: arriver takes ê tre in the past. Answers Il avait travailleé dans le jardin Nous avions voyagé à Paris Ils avaient vu le film Vous aviez reç u le pacquet? J'é tais arrivé(e) de bonne heure The Imperfect TenseFor example: Je jouais meaning: i) I was playing ii) I used to play You cannot just use the verb keeping the er/ir/re ending. You have to change (conjugate) the verb ending. The verb ending is the same as the conditional tense for er, ir and re verbs but changes depending on the person ( je, tu, il... etc). The endings are all the same as the imperfect tense endings but go after the last stem of the verb instead. The regular imperfect tense is formed as follows: Start with the nous form of the present tense, remove (just) the 'ons' and then add the endings. Try this exercise: Type in the correct word, then click on show answer button to show the conjugation of the imperfect tense./**/Remember: these endings apply to all regular verbs and are the same for er/ir and re verbs. The rule also works for irregular verbs. As long as you know the 'nous' form of the present, you can do that verb in the imperfect. Type in the missing part in the sentences below using the infinitive in brackets:/**//**//**//**//**//**//**//**/