Mission: tell a friend about your weekend
Passé composé with avoir. Say what you did, and ask what your friend did.
FrenchA2 · Telling storiesAbout 6 min: 2 reading, 4 practiceUpdated
- Say what you did with avoir + past participle
- Make past participles of -er, -ir and -re verbs
- Use the common irregular ones: fait, pris, vu, eu, bu, lu, écrit, dit
- Say what you didn't do: je n'ai pas vu
Telling stories: lesson 1 of 4
- A2 · Telling stories
- Mission: tell a friend about your weekend 6 min
- Mission: tell a colleague about your trip 5 min
- Mission: share a childhood memory 5 min
- Mission: tell your new neighbour how you got here 5 min
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Level Level A2 (around the DELF A2 exam). Real French: the Monday-morning chat about the weekend.
What it is
Your mission: it's Monday. Your French neighbour Léa asks, « Tu as passé un bon week-end ? » Tell her three things you did and one thing you didn't do, then ask her about hers.
To do it you need the passé composé, the everyday past. "I watched", "I have watched" and "I did watch" are all one form in French:
avoir in the present + the past participle
Text description
Present tense of regarder: j' ai regardé (ending -é); tu as regardé (ending -é); il / elle / on a regardé (ending -é); nous avons regardé (ending -é); vous avez regardé (ending -é); ils / elles ont regardé (ending -é).
Making the participle: -er → -é (regarder → regardé); most -ir → -i (finir → fini); many -re → -u (attendre → attendu).
The irregular ones people use all the time: faire → fait, prendre → pris, voir → vu, avoir → eu, être → été, boire → bu, lire → lu, écrire → écrit, dire → dit, mettre → mis.
Quick check
Tap an answer to check it.
Léa says « J'ai fait du vélo. » What did she do?
- That would be je vais faire du vélo
- That would be j'aime le vélo
Show answer
She went cycling.. j'ai fait = I did; faire du vélo = to go cycling.
Why it matters
"What did you do?" comes up in every friendship, every Monday at work, every holiday chat. With avoir + participle you can already talk about most of what you did, because most verbs work this way. (A small group of verbs of movement, such as aller, use être: that's the next mission.)
Worked example
How the chat with Léa really sounds:
- Léa: Salut ! Tu as passé un bon week-end ?
- You: Oui, super ! Samedi, j'ai fait les courses et j'ai préparé un gâteau. Le soir, j'ai regardé un film.
- Léa: Ah, sympa ! Quel film ?
- You: Une comédie. Mais je n'ai pas fini mon livre ! Et toi, qu'est-ce que tu as fait ?
- Léa: Moi, j'ai vu des amis et on a mangé au restaurant.
Real French: in relaxed speech people often drop the ne: J'ai pas fini. You'll hear it everywhere; in writing and in exams, keep ne … pas: Je n'ai pas fini. And on (we) is far more common than nous in conversation: on a mangé.
Common mistake
Putting pas after the participle: wrong: je n'ai fini pas. Ne … pas wraps the small verb avoir: je n'ai pas fini.
And don't drop avoir, as in English "I watched": wrong: je regardé. Both parts are needed: j'ai regardé.
Quick check
Tap an answer to check it.
"We didn't eat." Which is right?
- pas goes straight after avoir
- You need avoir: on a mangé
Show answer
On n'a pas mangé.. ne + avoir + pas + participle.
Key terms
- passé composé
- the everyday past (avoir or être + participle)
- participe passé
- past participle: regardé, fini, attendu, fait
- Tu as passé un bon week-end ?
- Did you have a good weekend?
- qu'est-ce que tu as fait ?
- what did you do?
- sympa
- nice, cool (informal)
Practise the key terms
Tap a card to turn it over. 5 cards.
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| passé composé | the everyday past (avoir or être + participle) |
| participe passé | past participle: regardé, fini, attendu, fait |
| Tu as passé un bon week-end ? | Did you have a good weekend? |
| qu'est-ce que tu as fait ? | what did you do? |
| sympa | nice, cool (informal) |
Practice
Recognition drill
Pick the right answer, as fast as you can.
All pairs
Tap a card to turn it over. 12 cards.
| Front | Back |
|---|---|
| regarder | regardé |
| finir | fini |
| attendre | attendu |
| faire | fait |
| prendre | pris |
| voir | vu |
| avoir | eu |
| être | été |
| boire | bu |
| lire | lu |
| écrire | écrit |
| dire | dit |
Quick quiz
Tap an answer to check it.
« Hier, ils … le train. » (prendre)
- prendre is irregular: pris
- That's nous; ils needs ont
Show answer
ont pris. ils ont + pris.
Léa asks « Tu as vu le match ? ». You didn't. You say:
- You need avoir: je n'ai pas vu
- pas goes before the participle
Show answer
Non, je n'ai pas vu le match.. ne + ai + pas + vu.
Build the sentence
Build "I read a book and I wrote to my sister." (reading first)
Show answer
J'ai lu un livre et j'ai écrit à ma sœur.. Two actions, each avoir + participle.
Practise speaking
Studyfern has no voice tools of its own. To practise out loud, copy this prompt into a voice-capable AI assistant and talk with it.
Mission role-play. You are Léa, my friendly French neighbour, chatting on a Monday morning at level A2. Speak naturally but clearly. Start with « Salut ! Tu as passé un bon week-end ? ». Ask follow-up questions one at a time using the passé composé with avoir: qu'est-ce que tu as fait, tu as vu, tu as mangé, tu as regardé, tu as lu, tu as acheté. Tell me about your own weekend in short sentences too. I will make up my answers. After each of my answers, tell me in English what kind of mistake I made, if any, and let me try again. The mission is complete when I have said three things I did, one thing I didn't do, and asked you about your weekend: then say « Mission accomplie ! » and give me one tip. Keep every reply under 3 sentences.
Listen too. Listen to native speakers before and after: see the free listening and shadowing links.
Good to know. AI feedback on pronunciation is hit and miss, so check yourself against native recordings. Many assistants turn your speech into text first, so a vowel or liaison you got wrong may be silently “heard” as the right word. Don't share personal details: use a made-up name and town.
New to this? Read Practising speaking with an AI.
In short
- Passé composé = avoir (present) + past participle.
- -er → -é, most -ir → -i, many -re → -u.
- Everyday irregulars: fait, pris, vu, eu, été, bu, lu, écrit, dit, mis.
- Negative: ne + avoir + pas + participle; in speech the ne often drops.
- In conversation, on a … is more common than nous avons ….
Mastery check
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Check yourself
Answer in your head first, then open the answer. Nothing is saved.
How do you ask a friend "Did you have a good weekend?"
Show answer
Tu as passé un bon week-end ?
What is the past participle of boire?
Show answer
bu.
Make negative, written style: « J'ai pris le bus. »
Show answer
Je n'ai pas pris le bus.
Further reading
- RFI, Journal en français facile, a free daily news bulletin in simple French with transcripts: listen for the passé composé.
- TV5MONDE, Apprendre le français, free A2 exercises built on real TV clips.
Finished? Mark it done to fill in your leaf on the French map.