Why is "Using avoir for an être verb (writing *j'ai allé* instead of *je suis allé*)" a common mistake in Perfect tense?

Why it happens: English uses 'have' for every past ('I have gone'), so learners reach for avoir for all verbs. How to avoid it: Memorise the être set (MRS VANDERTRAMP) and all reflexives. When the verb is movement or change of state — go, come, arrive, leave, stay, be born, die — use être: *je suis allé(e)*, *elle est venue*. Source: Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing), accuracy

Why is "Forgetting être agreement (a girl writing *je suis allé* instead of *allée*)" a common mistake in Perfect tense?

Why it happens: The agreement endings are usually silent, so they are easy to skip when writing. How to avoid it: With être, treat the participle like an adjective and agree it with the subject: add -e (feminine), -s (plural), -es (feminine plural). *elle est allée*, *ils sont allés*, *elles sont allées*. Source: Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing)

Why is "Inventing a regular participle for an irregular verb (*prendu* for *pris*, *faisé* for *fait*)" a common mistake in Perfect tense?

Why it happens: Learners apply the -er/-ir/-re rule mechanically without checking the irregular list. How to avoid it: Learn the high-frequency irregulars by heart: eu, été, fait, pris, vu, mis, bu, lu, écrit, dit. Always check this list before applying the regular rule. Source: Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Papers 2 & 4

Why is "Dropping the auxiliary altogether (writing *je mangé* for 'I ate')" a common mistake in Perfect tense?

Why it happens: English 'I ate' is one word, so beginners translate it as a single French word. How to avoid it: Remember *passé COMPOSÉ* means 'made of two parts'. Every perfect-tense verb needs a helper: *j'**ai** mangé*, *je **suis** allé(e)*. Never use the participle on its own. Source: Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing)

Why is "Putting *pas* after the participle (*il n'a vu pas* instead of *il n'a pas vu*)" a common mistake in Perfect tense?

Why it happens: Learners copy English word order ('he did not see'). How to avoid it: Wrap *ne … pas* around the **auxiliary only**: *il **n'a pas** vu*. The participle stays outside the negative sandwich. Same for *ne … jamais* and *ne … rien*. Source: Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing)

Why is "Leaving the accent off the -é participle (writing *mange* / *regarde* for *mangé* / *regardé*)" a common mistake in Perfect tense?

Why it happens: The participle sounds the same as the infinitive, and English has no accents, so the é is forgotten. How to avoid it: The accent aigu on the -é participle is part of the spelling. *mangé* (eaten) without the accent becomes *mange* (he eats / eat!) — a different form. Always write the é on -er participles. Source: Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing), accuracy

Cambridge IGCSE French (0520)

Perfect tense

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Detailed Study Notes

Detailed notes on Verb Tenses and Moods for Cambridge IGCSE French, covering key concepts, explanations, examples, and exam-focused revision points.

The French perfect tense (le passé composé) — Cambridge IGCSE French 0520 (2025-2027)

A complete beginner's guide to talking about the past in French: how to build the perfect tense with avoir (to have) or être (to be) plus a past participle, when each auxiliary is used, and how to make the agreements examiners reward. Master the single most-tested tense in the 0520 exam.

At a glance

The perfect tense (le passé composé — passé = past, composé = made of two parts) is how French says "I did / I have done" — one completed action in the past.
It is built from two words: an auxiliary (helper verb) in the present tense + a past participle. Example: j'ai mangé (I ate / I have eaten).
Most verbs use avoir (to have) as the auxiliary: j'ai parlé (I spoke), tu as fini (you finished), il a vendu (he sold).
A small group — movement and 'change of state' verbs plus all reflexives — use être (to be): je suis allé(e) (I went), elle est partie (she left).
Forming the past participle by rule: -er → -é (parlé), -ir → -i (fini), -re → -u (vendu). Several common verbs are irregular (avoir → eu, être → été, faire → fait).
With être, the past participle agrees with the subject like an adjective: elle est allée, ils sont allés, elles sont allées.
To make it negative, wrap ne … pas around the auxiliary only: je n'ai pas mangé (I did not eat).
The perfect tense is everywhere in the exam — describing what you did at the weekend, on holiday, last year — so it is the highest-value tense to get right.

What you’ll learn

Mapped to the Cambridge IGCSE 0520 syllabus (2025-2027).

Explain when the perfect tense is used and map it onto the English 'I did / I have done'.
Form the past participle of regular -er, -ir and -re verbs and the most common irregular verbs.
Choose correctly between avoir and être as the auxiliary, including the MRS VANDERTRAMP / 'house' verbs and reflexives.
Apply past-participle agreement with être (subject) and recognise agreement with a preceding direct object with avoir.
Build affirmative, negative and question forms of the perfect tense with correct word order.
Recognise and produce the perfect tense accurately in connected past-narrative writing and speech.

What the perfect tense is — and when to use it

The passé composé reports a single completed action in the past: 'I did' or 'I have done'.

The perfect tense, called le passé composé in French, is the everyday past tense. You reach for it whenever you talk about one completed action that happened in the past.

It translates two English past forms at once:

the simple past — I ate a sandwich;
the present perfect — I have eaten a sandwich.

So a single French sentence, J'ai mangé un sandwich, covers both "I ate a sandwich" and "I have eaten a sandwich". You do not need to choose between them — context does that work.

Why "composé" (made up)? The name is a gift: composé means "made of more than one part". Every perfect-tense verb is built from two words:

an auxiliary (helper verb) — either avoir (to have) or être (to be) — in the present tense, and
a past participle — the part that carries the meaning (mangé = eaten, fini = finished, allé = gone).

So j'ai mangé literally reads "I have eaten", and je suis allé literally reads "I am gone" (= I went). English uses "have" the same way ("I have eaten"), which makes avoir feel natural; the être verbs need a little more practice.

Worked mini-example. Take "I watched television" → start with the subject je (I), add the auxiliary ai (have), add the past participle regardé (watched): J'ai regardé la télévision. Two parts, one tense.

Use the perfect tense for one completed past action: j'ai mangé = I ate / I have eaten.
Composé = 'made of two parts': auxiliary (avoir/être, present tense) + past participle.
It covers BOTH the English simple past and present perfect — no need to choose.
The auxiliary is the helper; the past participle carries the meaning.

Building the past participle — regular and irregular

Regular endings: -er → -é, -ir → -i, -re → -u. Learn the high-frequency irregulars by heart.

The past participle is the second word in the perfect tense (the "-ed" part in English: walk → walked). For regular verbs there is a simple three-way rule based on the infinitive ending.

The three regular past-participle endings: -er → -é, -ir → -i, -re → -u.

The regular rule.

Verb group	Example infinitive	Remove	Add	Past participle	English
-er	parler (to speak)	-er	-é	parlé	spoken
-ir	finir (to finish)	-ir	-i	fini	finished
-re	vendre (to sell)	-re	-u	vendu	sold

Notice the -er → -é participle sounds exactly like the infinitive (parler and parlé are both "par-LAY"). The accent aigu is what shows you it is the participle in writing — do not leave it off.

High-frequency irregular past participles. Many of the commonest verbs have irregular participles you simply learn by heart. These appear constantly, so memorise them now:

Infinitive	English	Past participle	Example
avoir	to have	eu (uh)	j'ai eu — I had
être	to be	été	j'ai été — I was/have been
faire	to do/make	fait	j'ai fait — I did/made
prendre	to take	pris	j'ai pris — I took
voir	to see	vu	j'ai vu — I saw
mettre	to put	mis	j'ai mis — I put
boire	to drink	bu	j'ai bu — I drank
lire	to read	lu	j'ai lu — I read
écrire	to write	écrit	j'ai écrit — I wrote
dire	to say	dit	j'ai dit — I said

Worked mini-example. "I took the bus" → infinitive prendre (irregular!) → participle pris → with j'ai: J'ai pris le bus. If you wrongly applied the -re → -u rule you'd get prendu, which does not exist — prendre is on the irregular list.

Regular endings: -er → -é (parlé), -ir → -i (fini), -re → -u (vendu).
The -er participle (parlé) sounds like the infinitive (parler) — keep the accent aigu in writing.
Learn the irregulars by heart: eu, été, fait, pris, vu, mis, bu, lu, écrit, dit.
Check the irregular list before applying the regular rule (prendre → pris, NOT 'prendu').

The perfect tense with avoir — the default pattern

Most verbs form the perfect with the present tense of avoir plus the past participle.

The majority of French verbs build the perfect tense with avoir (to have). You only need two things: the present tense of avoir, and the past participle.

The present tense of avoir (your auxiliary):

Person	avoir	+ participle	Example	English
je	ai	mangé	j'ai mangé	I ate
tu	as	mangé	tu as mangé	you ate
il / elle / on	a	mangé	il a mangé	he ate
nous	avons	mangé	nous avons mangé	we ate
vous	avez	mangé	vous avez mangé	you ate
ils / elles	ont	mangé	ils ont mangé	they ate

(Je ai becomes j'ai by elision — the e of je is dropped before the vowel.)

Putting a full sentence together is a three-step routine:

Choose the subject: nous (we).
Add the matching part of avoir: avons (have).
Add the past participle: fini (finished). → Nous avons fini nos devoirs. (We finished our homework.)

Crucially, with avoir the past participle does NOT change to match the subject. J'ai mangé, elle a mangé, ils ont mangé — the participle mangé stays exactly the same whether the subject is masculine, feminine, singular or plural. This makes avoir verbs the easy ones.

Worked mini-example. "They (f.) watched a film." Subject elles → avoir ont → participle regardé (from regarder, to watch) → Elles ont regardé un film. The participle is regardé, unchanged, even though elles is feminine plural — because the auxiliary is avoir, not être.

Most verbs use avoir: ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont + past participle.
Je ai → j'ai (elision).
Routine: subject + correct part of avoir + past participle.
With avoir, the participle does not agree with the subject — elles ont mangé, not 'mangées'.

The perfect tense with être — movement and 'house' verbs

A set of movement / change-of-state verbs (and all reflexives) use être, and the participle agrees with the subject.

A small but very common group of verbs build the perfect tense with être (to be) instead of avoir. Most of them describe movement or a change of state (coming, going, arriving, leaving, being born, dying). All reflexive verbs also use être.

The present tense of être (your auxiliary): je suis, tu es, il/elle est, nous sommes, vous êtes, ils/elles sont.

The être verbs. A classic memory aid is MRS VANDERTRAMP, where each letter is a verb:

Verb	English	Past participle
Monter	to go up	monté
Rester	to stay	resté
Sortir	to go out	sorti
Venir	to come	venu
Aller	to go	allé
Naître	to be born	né
Descendre	to go down	descendu
Entrer	to enter	entré
Retourner	to return	retourné
Tomber	to fall	tombé
Rentrer	to come home	rentré
Arriver	to arrive	arrivé
Mourir	to die	mort
Partir	to leave	parti

(Their opposites pair up neatly: monter/descendre, entrer/sortir, arriver/partir, naître/mourir, aller/venir.)

Past-participle agreement with être — the big rule. When the auxiliary is être, the past participle behaves like an adjective and agrees with the subject in gender and number. You add the same endings you'd add to an adjective:

masculine singular: no change — il est allé (he went)
feminine singular: add -e — elle est allée (she went)
masculine plural: add -s — ils sont allés (they went)
feminine plural: add -es — elles sont allées (they went)

(These endings are usually silent, but you must write them.)

With être, the past participle agrees with the subject: allé / allée / allés / allées.

A note on "je" and "tu". Because je and tu can be male or female, you only add the feminine -e if the speaker/listener is female: a girl writes je suis allée; a boy writes je suis allé. That is why you often see allé(e) written with the optional -e in brackets.

Worked mini-example. "My sisters arrived late." Subject mes sœurs (feminine plural) → être sont → participle arrivé + -es for f.pl. → Mes sœurs sont arrivées en retard. Both -e (feminine) and -s (plural) are added: arrivées.

A set of movement / change-of-state verbs use être, not avoir (MRS VANDERTRAMP).
Common ones: aller (allé), venir (venu), arriver (arrivé), partir (parti), rester (resté), naître (né), mourir (mort).
With être the participle agrees with the subject: allé / allée / allés / allées.
je/tu add -e only if the person is female: je suis allée (f.) vs je suis allé (m.).

Reflexive verbs, negatives and questions

Reflexives always use être; negatives wrap ne … pas around the auxiliary; questions invert the auxiliary.

Reflexive verbs use être. Reflexive verbs (those with a reflexive pronoun like me, te, se — e.g. se laver = to wash oneself) always form the perfect tense with être, and the pronoun sits before the auxiliary. The participle agrees with the subject as usual.

Person	Reflexive perfect	English
je	je me suis levé(e)	I got up
tu	tu t'es levé(e)	you got up
il / elle	il s'est levé / elle s'est levée	he/she got up
nous	nous nous sommes levé(e)s	we got up
vous	vous vous êtes levé(e)(s)	you got up
ils / elles	ils se sont levés / elles se sont levées	they got up

So "I (a girl) got up early" = Je me suis levée tôt.

Making it negative — wrap ne … pas around the auxiliary only. The two parts ne and pas go around the helper verb, leaving the past participle outside:

J'ai mangé → Je n'ai pas mangé. (I did not eat.)
Elle est partie → Elle n'est pas partie. (She did not leave.)
Je me suis levé → Je ne me suis pas levé. (I did not get up — the reflexive pronoun stays inside with the auxiliary.)

Other negatives work the same way: ne … jamais (never), ne … rien (nothing): Je n'ai jamais vu ce film (I have never seen this film).

Asking a question. The simplest spoken way is just intonation or est-ce que: Est-ce que tu as fini ? (Have you finished?). For a more formal written question you invert the auxiliary and the subject, joined by a hyphen: As-tu fini ? (Have you finished?), Es-tu allé au cinéma ? (Did you go to the cinema?). The participle stays at the end.

Worked mini-example. "He did not see the film." Start from il a vu le film (he saw the film), wrap ne … pas around the auxiliary a: → Il n'a pas vu le film. The participle vu stays put, outside the negative sandwich.

Reflexive verbs always use être; the pronoun (me/te/se…) goes before the auxiliary: je me suis levé(e).
Negative: wrap ne … pas around the auxiliary — je n'ai pas mangé, elle n'est pas partie.
Other negatives the same way: ne … jamais (never), ne … rien (nothing).
Question: est-ce que tu as fini ? or invert the auxiliary — as-tu fini ?

Agreement with avoir — the preceding direct object

With avoir the participle normally stays fixed, but it agrees with a direct object that comes BEFORE the verb.

We said the avoir participle does not agree with the subject — and that is true. But there is one agreement rule with avoir that examiners like to test at the top end: agreement with a preceding direct object (often shortened to PDO).

The rule. With avoir, the past participle agrees (in gender and number) with the direct object only when that object comes before the verb. In normal word order the object comes after, so nothing happens:

J'ai mangé les pommes. (I ate the apples.) — object les pommes is after the verb → no agreement (mangé stays fixed).

But the object can be moved in front of the verb in three common ways, and then the participle agrees:

A direct object pronoun (le, la, les) before the verb: Les pommes ? Je les ai mangées. (The apples? I ate them.) — les (= les pommes, f.pl.) comes before → add -es.
With que in a relative clause: La lettre que j'ai écrite. (The letter that I wrote.) — que stands for la lettre (f.s.) → add -e.
In a question with quel(le)(s): Quelle robe as-tu achetée ? (Which dress did you buy?) — quelle robe (f.s.) is before → add -e.

This is the only avoir agreement. If the object comes after the verb (the normal case), there is no agreement: J'ai acheté une robe.

Worked mini-example. "I saw her." → voir gives vu; "her" is the direct object pronoun la, placed before the auxiliary; la is feminine singular, so vu gains an -e: → Je l'ai vue. Compare J'ai vu Marie (I saw Marie — object after the verb, no agreement: vu).

Normal avoir order = object after the verb = no agreement: j'ai mangé les pommes.
Agreement happens only with a preceding direct object (PDO).
Triggers: object pronoun (le/la/les), que relative clause, or quel(le) question.
Je les ai mangées, la lettre que j'ai écrite, je l'ai vue.

Quick recap

The perfect tense (passé composé) = a completed past action; it covers both 'I did' and 'I have done'.
It is built from auxiliary (avoir or être, present tense) + past participle.
Regular participles: -er → -é (parlé), -ir → -i (fini), -re → -u (vendu); learn irregulars (eu, été, fait, pris, vu, mis, bu, lu, écrit, dit).
Most verbs use avoir; with avoir the participle does NOT agree with the subject.
A movement/change-of-state set (MRS VANDERTRAMP) plus all reflexives use être, and the participle agrees with the subject (allé / allée / allés / allées).
Negative: wrap ne … pas around the auxiliary (je n'ai pas mangé); question: est-ce que… or invert the auxiliary (as-tu fini ?).
With avoir, the participle agrees only with a preceding direct object: je les ai mangées, je l'ai vue.

Memorise this

Verbatim phrases and definitions Cambridge mark schemes credit.

Auxiliary avoir: ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont + participle (j'ai mangé).
Auxiliary être: suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont + participle (je suis allé(e)).
Regular participles: -er → -é, -ir → -i, -re → -u.
Irregulars: avoir → eu, être → été, faire → fait, prendre → pris, voir → vu, mettre → mis, boire → bu, lire → lu, écrire → écrit, dire → dit.
être verbs (MRS VANDERTRAMP): monter, rester, sortir, venir, aller, naître, descendre, entrer, retourner, tomber, rentrer, arriver, mourir, partir.
être agreement: il allé / elle allée / ils allés / elles allées.
Reflexive: je me suis levé(e) (always être).
Negative: je n'ai pas mangé; elle n'est pas partie.
PDO agreement (avoir): je les ai mangées, la lettre que j'ai écrite, je l'ai vue.

How it’s examined

The perfect tense is the most-tested grammar point in Cambridge IGCSE French 0520 — past-narrative tasks appear in every series.

Paper 1 (Listening): Past accounts (what someone did at the weekend, on a trip) rely on hearing perfect-tense verbs. The auxiliary tells you the time-frame, so distinguishing je vais (I go) from je suis allé (I went) is essential.
Paper 2 (Reading): Texts narrate past events; recognising the auxiliary + participle pattern, and irregular participles (pris, vu, fait), unlocks the meaning. The circumflex/irregular forms are common.
Paper 3 (Speaking): You will be asked about past experiences — Qu'est-ce que tu as fait le week-end dernier ? (What did you do last weekend?). Accurate auxiliary choice and être agreement contribute to the language/accuracy marks.
Paper 4 (Writing): This is where the perfect tense earns the most marks and loses the most through error. Examiners reward correct auxiliary choice (avoir vs être), correct past participles (including irregulars), and correct agreement (être with the subject; avoir with a preceding direct object). A reliable past tense is a key marker of the higher accuracy bands.

Examiner reports repeatedly flag wrong auxiliary (using avoir for être verbs), missing être agreement (elle est allé instead of allée), and invented participles (prendu for pris) as the most frequent perfect-tense errors.

Sources: Cambridge IGCSE French 0520 Syllabus 2025-2027; Cambridge 0520 Paper 2 (Reading) & Paper 4 (Writing) Specimen 2025-2027; Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports 2022-2024. Last reviewed 2026-06-02.

Take this whole topic with you

Step-by-step worked examples — Perfect tense

Step-by-step solutions to past-paper-style questions on perfect tense, written exactly the way a tutor would explain them at the board.

1Build a perfect-tense sentence with a regular -er verb
Getting started
Question
Put into the perfect tense: 'I watched television yesterday.' Use regarder (to watch) and hier (yesterday).
Step-by-step solution
1. Step 1
  Choose the auxiliary. Regarder is an ordinary action verb (not movement, not reflexive), so it uses avoir (to have).
2. Step 2
  Conjugate avoir for 'I'. je + avoir → ai, which elides to j'ai.
3. Step 3
  Form the past participle. regarder is an -er verb, so drop -er and add -é → regardé (watched). Keep the accent aigu.
4. Step 4
  Assemble: subject + auxiliary + participle, then the time word hier. With avoir there is no agreement.
Answer
J'ai regardé la télévision hier. (avoir auxiliary, regarder → regardé, no agreement.)
Examiner tip
The -er → -é participle (regardé) sounds identical to the infinitive (regarder), so candidates often forget the accent in writing. In Paper 4 the accent is part of correct spelling — regarde (no accent) is the present-tense 'he watches', a different verb form.
2Use être and make the participle agree
Building confidence
Question
A girl writes about herself. Put into the perfect tense: 'I went to the cinema.' Use aller (to go) and au cinéma (to the cinema).
Step-by-step solution
1. Step 1
  Spot the être verb. aller (to go) is a movement verb on the MRS VANDERTRAMP list, so it uses être (to be), not avoir.
2. Step 2
  Conjugate être for 'I'. je + être → je suis.
3. Step 3
  Form the participle and agree it. aller → allé. With être the participle agrees with the subject; the writer is female (singular), so add -e → allée.
4. Step 4
  Assemble: je suis allée + au cinéma.
Answer
Je suis allée au cinéma. (être auxiliary; aller → allé; +e for a feminine singular subject → allée.)
Examiner tip
Wrong auxiliary (j'ai allé) and missing agreement (je suis allé from a female candidate) are two of the most common perfect-tense errors in 0520 examiner reports. A boy would correctly write je suis allé; a girl must add the silent -e.
3Form an irregular past participle
Building confidence
Question
Put into the perfect tense: 'We did our homework.' Use faire (to do/make) and nos devoirs (our homework).
Step-by-step solution
1. Step 1
  Choose the auxiliary. faire is an ordinary verb (not movement/reflexive) → avoir.
2. Step 2
  Conjugate avoir for 'we'. nous + avoir → nous avons.
3. Step 3
  Use the irregular participle. faire does NOT follow a regular rule; its participle is fait (learn by heart). It would be wrong to write fais or fairé.
4. Step 4
  Assemble: nous avons fait + nos devoirs. With avoir, no subject agreement.
Answer
Nous avons fait nos devoirs. (avoir auxiliary; faire → fait, irregular; no agreement.)
Examiner tip
faire → fait is one of the ten highest-frequency irregular participles (alongside eu, été, pris, vu, mis, bu, lu, écrit, dit). Inventing a 'regular' participle for an irregular verb is a classic Paper 4 slip — always check the irregular list first.
4Make a perfect-tense sentence negative
Building confidence
Question
Make this negative: Il a vu le film. (He saw the film.) → 'He did not see the film.'
Step-by-step solution
1. Step 1
  Identify the auxiliary. Here the helper verb is a (from avoir). The negative sandwich goes around the auxiliary only.
2. Step 2
  Place ne before the auxiliary. ne + a → n'a (elision before the vowel).
3. Step 3
  Place pas after the auxiliary, before the past participle: n'a pas vu.
4. Step 4
  Leave the participle outside the negative: vu stays at the end.
Answer
Il n'a pas vu le film. (ne … pas wraps the auxiliary a; the participle vu sits outside.)
Examiner tip
The trap is il n'a vu pas (English word order). In the perfect tense the negative hugs the auxiliary: n'a pas vu. This holds for ne … jamais (never) and ne … rien (nothing) too.
5Agree the participle with a preceding direct object
Stretch
Question
Answer using a pronoun, with correct agreement: As-tu acheté les pommes ? (Did you buy the apples?) → 'Yes, I bought them.'
Step-by-step solution
1. Step 1
  Replace 'the apples' with a pronoun. les pommes is the direct object; it becomes les (them), placed before the auxiliary.
2. Step 2
  Recognise the PDO rule. With avoir, the participle agrees when the direct object comes before the verb. Here les (= les pommes) is before, and it is feminine plural.
3. Step 3
  Agree the participle. acheter → acheté; add -es for feminine plural → achetées.
4. Step 4
  Assemble: oui, je les ai achetées. (Without the pronoun, j'ai acheté les pommes would have no agreement — object after the verb.)
Answer
Oui, je les ai achetées. (Preceding direct object les = feminine plural → acheté + -es = achetées.)
Examiner tip
This PDO agreement is usually silent (acheté and achetées sound the same), so it is purely a writing-accuracy point that separates top-band candidates in Paper 4. Note it does NOT apply when the object follows the verb: j'ai acheté les pommes.

Model Answers — Perfect tense

High-scoring sample answers for perfect tense on the Cambridge IGCSE 0520 paper, with examiner-style notes mapping each response to the mark scheme and assessment objectives.

Question 1
Paper 3 (Speaking) style. The examiner asks: Qu'est-ce que tu as fait le week-end dernier ? (What did you do last weekend?) Give a short model answer using several perfect-tense verbs.
Model answer
Le week-end dernier, j'ai joué au football avec mes amis. (Last weekend, I played football with my friends.) Samedi soir, je suis allé(e) au cinéma et j'ai vu un film super. (On Saturday evening, I went to the cinema and saw a great film.) Dimanche, je suis resté(e) à la maison et j'ai fait mes devoirs. (On Sunday, I stayed at home and did my homework.)
Why this scores
Why this scores. It mixes avoir verbs (j'ai joué, j'ai vu, j'ai fait) with être verbs (je suis allé(e), je suis resté(e)), shows the irregular participles vu and fait, and signals the optional feminine -e correctly. The variety of past actions and time markers (samedi, dimanche) is exactly what the communication and accuracy marks reward.
Question 2
Paper 4 (Writing) style. Write two or three sentences about a past holiday, using the perfect tense correctly. (A female candidate writes.)
Model answer
L'été dernier, je suis allée en France avec ma famille. (Last summer, I went to France with my family.) Nous avons visité Paris et j'ai mangé beaucoup de croissants. (We visited Paris and I ate a lot of croissants.) Un jour, nous sommes montés à la tour Eiffel — c'était magnifique ! (One day, we went up the Eiffel Tower — it was magnificent!)
Why this scores
Why this scores. Correct auxiliary choice throughout: aller and monter take être (with agreement — allée feminine singular, montés masculine plural for a mixed group), while visiter and manger take avoir (no agreement). The accents on été, à and Eiffel are all in place. This control of auxiliary, agreement and accents is what lifts a Paper 4 answer into the higher accuracy bands.
Question 3
Paper 3 (Speaking) style. The examiner asks: Tu as déjà visité l'Espagne ? (Have you already visited Spain?) Give a polite negative answer in the perfect tense.
Model answer
Non, je n'ai jamais visité l'Espagne, mais je suis allé(e) au Portugal l'année dernière. (No, I have never visited Spain, but I went to Portugal last year.)
Why this scores
Why this scores. The negative ne … jamais correctly wraps the auxiliary (je n'ai jamais visité), the elision n'ai is right, and the answer extends naturally with a positive être verb (je suis allé(e)). Examiners reward candidates who give a developed answer rather than a bare 'non', and who handle the negative word order accurately.

Key Definitions and Keywords — Perfect tense

Definitions to memorise and the exact keywords mark schemes credit for perfect tense answers — sharpened from recent examiner reports for the 2026 0520 sitting.

Le passé composé (perfect tense)
Examiner keyword
The French past tense for a single completed action, built from an auxiliary (avoir/être) plus a past participle. It translates both 'I did' and 'I have done'.
Example
j'ai mangé (I ate / I have eaten); je suis allé(e) (I went).
Auxiliaire (auxiliary / helper verb)
Examiner keyword
The present-tense helper verb — either avoir (to have) or être (to be) — that combines with the past participle to make the perfect tense.
Example
j'ai parlé (avoir); elle est partie (être).
Le participe passé (past participle)
Examiner keyword
The form of the verb that carries the meaning in the perfect tense (the English '-ed' part). Regular: -er → -é, -ir → -i, -re → -u.
Example
parlé (spoken), fini (finished), vendu (sold).
avoir (to have)
Examiner keyword
The auxiliary used by most French verbs. Present: ai, as, a, avons, avez, ont. The participle does NOT agree with the subject.
Example
nous avons fini (we finished); ils ont vu (they saw).
être (to be)
Examiner keyword
The auxiliary used by movement / change-of-state verbs and all reflexives. Present: suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont. The participle agrees with the subject.
Example
elle est arrivée (she arrived); ils sont partis (they left).
MRS VANDERTRAMP
Examiner keyword
A memory aid for the main verbs that take être: monter, rester, sortir, venir, aller, naître, descendre, entrer, retourner, tomber, rentrer, arriver, mourir, partir.
Example
aller → je suis allé(e); venir → il est venu; naître → elle est née.
Accord (agreement) with être
Examiner keyword
With the être auxiliary, the past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number, like an adjective: add -e (f.s.), -s (m.pl.), -es (f.pl.).
Example
allé / allée / allés / allées; elles sont rentrées.
Verbe pronominal (reflexive verb)
A verb used with a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se…). In the perfect tense it always uses être and the participle agrees with the subject.
Example
je me suis levé(e) (I got up); elle s'est lavée (she washed).
Participe passé irrégulier (irregular participle)
A past participle that does not follow the regular -é/-i/-u rule and must be learnt by heart.
Example
avoir → eu, être → été, faire → fait, prendre → pris, voir → vu.
Complément d'objet direct antéposé (preceding direct object)
With avoir, the participle agrees in gender/number only when the direct object comes BEFORE the verb (as a pronoun, after que, or in a quel(le) question).
Example
je les ai mangées (them, f.pl.); la lettre que j'ai écrite.

Common Mistakes and Misconceptions — Perfect tense

The traps other students keep falling into on perfect tense questions — taken from recent Cambridge IGCSE 0520 examiner reports and mark schemes — and how to avoid them.

✕Using avoir for an être verb (writing j'ai allé instead of je suis allé)
Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing), accuracy
Why it happens
English uses 'have' for every past ('I have gone'), so learners reach for avoir for all verbs.
How to avoid it
Memorise the être set (MRS VANDERTRAMP) and all reflexives. When the verb is movement or change of state — go, come, arrive, leave, stay, be born, die — use être: je suis allé(e), elle est venue.
✕Forgetting être agreement (a girl writing je suis allé instead of allée)
Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing)
Why it happens
The agreement endings are usually silent, so they are easy to skip when writing.
How to avoid it
With être, treat the participle like an adjective and agree it with the subject: add -e (feminine), -s (plural), -es (feminine plural). elle est allée, ils sont allés, elles sont allées.
✕Inventing a regular participle for an irregular verb (prendu for pris, faisé for fait)
Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Papers 2 & 4
Why it happens
Learners apply the -er/-ir/-re rule mechanically without checking the irregular list.
How to avoid it
Learn the high-frequency irregulars by heart: eu, été, fait, pris, vu, mis, bu, lu, écrit, dit. Always check this list before applying the regular rule.
✕Dropping the auxiliary altogether (writing je mangé for 'I ate')
Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing)
Why it happens
English 'I ate' is one word, so beginners translate it as a single French word.
How to avoid it
Remember passé COMPOSÉ means 'made of two parts'. Every perfect-tense verb needs a helper: j'ai mangé, je suis allé(e). Never use the participle on its own.
✕Putting pas after the participle (il n'a vu pas instead of il n'a pas vu)
Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing)
Why it happens
Learners copy English word order ('he did not see').
How to avoid it
Wrap ne … pas around the auxiliary only: il n'a pas vu. The participle stays outside the negative sandwich. Same for ne … jamais and ne … rien.
✕Leaving the accent off the -é participle (writing mange / regarde for mangé / regardé)
Cambridge 0520 Examiner Reports — Paper 4 (Writing), accuracy
Why it happens
The participle sounds the same as the infinitive, and English has no accents, so the é is forgotten.
How to avoid it
The accent aigu on the -é participle is part of the spelling. mangé (eaten) without the accent becomes mange (he eats / eat!) — a different form. Always write the é on -er participles.

Perfect tense

Detailed Study Notes

At a glance

What you’ll learn

Quick recap

Memorise this

How it’s examined

Take this whole topic with you

1Build a perfect-tense sentence with a regular -er verb

2Use être and make the participle agree

3Form an irregular past participle

4Make a perfect-tense sentence negative

5Agree the participle with a preceding direct object

Le passé composé (perfect tense)

Auxiliaire (auxiliary / helper verb)

Le participe passé (past participle)

avoir (to have)

être (to be)

MRS VANDERTRAMP

Accord (agreement) with être

Verbe pronominal (reflexive verb)

Participe passé irrégulier (irregular participle)

Complément d'objet direct antéposé (preceding direct object)

✕Using avoir for an être verb (writing j'ai allé instead of je suis allé)

✕Forgetting être agreement (a girl writing je suis allé instead of allée)

✕Inventing a regular participle for an irregular verb (prendu for pris, faisé for fait)

✕Dropping the auxiliary altogether (writing je mangé for 'I ate')

✕Putting pas after the participle (il n'a vu pas instead of il n'a pas vu)

✕Leaving the accent off the -é participle (writing mange / regarde for mangé / regardé)