Verbs: Compound Past 2

Tips and notes

Combining Tenses
The imparfait and pass compos can work together in the same sentence. A verb in theimparfait may be used as
a background for an action given by a verb in the pass compos.

Elle chantait quand elle est arrive. She was singing when she arrived.

Vous m'avez tlphon pendant que je dnais. You called me while I was having dinner.

Il dormait quand il a entendu un bruit. He was sleeping when he heard a noise.

Je marchais quand je suis tomb. I was walking when I fell.

tre Verbs + Direct Objects

There are six tre verbs that switch to using avoir as an auxiliary when they are used transitively with a direct
object. These verbs are monter, descendre, sortir, rentrer,retourner, and passer.

Je suis mont(e). I went up.

J'ai mont les valises. I brought up the suitcases.

Il est sorti. He left.

Il a sorti son portefeuille. He took out his wallet.

Septembre est pass. September has passed.

J'ai pass trois heures ici. I spent three hours here.

Notice that the transitive versions of these verbs have a different meaning than the intransitive versions.

Past Participles as Adjectives

Just like in English, past participles can be used as adjectives in French.

La baguette grille The toasted baguette

Des biens vendus Sold goods

Advanced Participle Agreement

You learned in the first compound verb lesson that participles that follow an avoirauxiliary are invariable unless a
direct object pronoun precedes the verb.

Je les ai achet(e)s. I bought them.

Ils l'ont vendu(e) They sold it.

An avoir participle also agrees with any form of quel + a noun as long as the noun is the object of the compound
verb.

Quelle femme avez-vous vue ? Which woman did you see?

Quels bonbons a-t-il achets ? Which candies did he buy?

This is also true for lequel (plus its other forms) and combien.

Laquelle des filles as-tu vue ? Which of the girls did you see?

Lesquelles de ces chemises a-t-il aimes ? Which of those shirts did he like?

Ta fille combien de robes a-t-elle achetes ? How many dresses did your daughter buy?
Participles do not agree with indirect objects, y, nor en.

Je leur ai parl. I talked to them.

J'y ai pens. I thought about it.

Nous en avons vendu. We have sold some.

NUMBERS 2
Tips and notes
In French, most numbers are structurally similar to their English counterparts. They start as single words.

Number

French

zro

un

deux

trois

quatre

Number

French

cinq

six

sept

huit

neuf

10

dix

11

onze

12

douze

13

treize

14

quatorze

15

quinze

16

seize

17

dix-sept

18

dix-huit

19

dix-neuf

After seize (16), French starts combining a multiple of ten (e.g. dix) with a single digit (e.g.sept) to form a
compound number (e.g. dix-sept). English also does this starting after 20. This pattern remains in French numbers
up to 60, but notice the et in the middle of 21, 31, 41, and 51.

Number

French

20

vingt

21

vingt-et-un

22

vingt-deux

23

vingt-trois

24

vingt-quatre

25

vingt-cinq

26

vingt-six

27

vingt-sept

28

vingt-huit

29

vingt-neuf

30

trente

31

trente-et-un

...

40

quarante

41

quarante-et-un

...

50

cinquante

51

cinquante-et-un

For 60 through 79, French combines soixante (60) with the numbers from 1 to 19. There is no separate word for
70.

Number

French

60

soixante

61

soixante-et-un

62

soixante-deux

63

soixante-trois

64

soixante-quatre

65

soixante-cinq

66

soixante-six

67

soixante-sept

68

soixante-huit

69

soixante-neuf

70

soixante-dix

71

soixante-et-onze

72

soixante-douze

73

soixante-treize

74

soixante-quatorze

75

soixante-quinze

76

soixante-seize

Number

French

77

soixante-dix-sept

78

soixante-dix-huit

79

soixante-dix-neuf

The same thing happens from 80-99, except notice that quatre-vingts (80) has an ending -s while the rest of the
set does not. Also, notice that there is no et in 81.

Number

French

80

quatre-vingts

81

quatre-vingt-un

82

quatre-vingt-deux

83

quatre-vingt-trois

84

quatre-vingt-quatre

85

quatre-vingt-cinq

86

quatre-vingt-six

87

quatre-vingt-sept

88

quatre-vingt-huit

89

quatre-vingt-neuf

90

quatre-vingt-dix

91

quatre-vingt-onze

92

quatre-vingt-douze

Number

French

93

quatre-vingt-treize

94

quatre-vingt-quatorze

95

quatre-vingt-quinze

96

quatre-vingt-seize

97

quatre-vingt-dix-sept

98

quatre-vingt-dix-huit

99

quatre-vingt-dix-neuf

This pattern does not appear in Swiss French, which instead uses septante (70), huitanteor octante (80),
and nonante (90) with the original pattern.
From 100 to 999, put the number of hundreds first, just like in English. Notice that multiples of 100 have an
ending -s, but there is no ending -s if cent is followed by another number.

Number

French

100

cent

108

cent huit

144

cent quarante-quatre

200

deux cents

233

deux cent trente-trois

Numbers in the thousands are also similar to English in structure. Note that French separates every three digits
with a space or period instead of a comma and that mille is never pluralized.

Number

French

1 000

mille

1 597

mille cinq cent quatre-vingt-dix-sept

4 181

quatre mille cent quatre-vingt-un

317 811

trois cent dix-sept mille huit cent onze

Million (million) and milliard (billion) do pluralize, and they keep their ending -s even when followed by other
numbers. Also, unlike cent and mille, million and milliard must be preceded by a number.

Number

French

1 000 000

un million

4 000 000

quatre millions

9 227 465

neuf millions deux cent vingt-sept mille quatre cent

soixante-cinq

1 000 000
000

un milliard

A noun can usually directly follow a number, but de must appear before nouns formillion and milliard.

Il est distant de milliards d'annes-lumires. It is billions of light-years away.

Il y a soixante-cinq millions d'annes Sixty-five million years ago