Le passé composé

In French, there are several ways to talk about the past.  A very common verb form is called, "le passé composé".  This form is made up of two verbs to describe past events that are finished. We use the verbs "avoir" ( to have) and "être" (to be) along with the action we wish to express.  The second verb is changed from the infinitive (unconjugated verb) to the past participle (past tense of something).

The form for conjugating in "le passé composé" is:

Subject + helping or auxillary verb + past participle

J'ai mangé la dinde.                                    Nous avons entendu de la musique.
Tu as voyagé en Mexique.                         Vous avez dormi chez vos grand-parents.
Il a fini mon livre.                                       Ils ont joué des jeux de vidéo.
Elle a regardé beaucoup de films.              Elles ont fait la grasse matinée.

To create the past participle with the three groups of regular verbs follow these steps.
Group 1 are -ER verbs like,  "manger", "regarder", or "jouer".
Remove the -ER from the infinitive and replace it with É.  "Manger" becomes "mangé".

Group 2 are -IR verbs like, "finir" or "dormir".
Remove the -IR from the infinitive and replace it with I.  "Finir" becomes "fini".
Note: "ouvrir" is irregular and becomes "ouvert".

Group 3 are -RE verbs like "entendre" and "attendre".
Remove the-RE from the infintive and replace it with -U.  "Entendre" becomes "entendu".
Note: "comprendre" is irregular and becomes "compris".

This video shows French Immersion students creating le passé composé.

http://youtu.be/y3ilodytMfY

There are 17 verbs in French that use the verb "être" instead of "avoir" as the helping verb.  They are often remembered using the mnemonic acronym MRS VANDERTRAMP.  Many of these verbs are movement verbs, such as, "aller", "sortir", and "tomber".

This video can help you remember all 17 verbs as you sing along to Rhianna's Umbrella.

http://youtu.be/-TpxOg3jZ9g

When using "être" as the helping verb, the past particple agrees with the subject.  For example:
Je suis allée à Toronto.  "Allée" has an extra "e" because I am female.

When we first learn a language, we often learn the present tense first, but this can limit what you would like to talk about.  If you want to talk about how you spent your holidays, it is best to use the past tense.