French simple past conjugations
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Passé simple conjugations are easy to recognize because, quite frankly, most of them look very strange.
Passé simple of -er verbs
All -er verbs use their infinitives minus -er for their passé simple conjugations, including regular -er verbs, stem-changing verbs, and the irregular verb aller. Because most of the passé simple endings start with "a," spelling change verbs require their spelling change in all but the third person plural.
Par exemple…
| endings | donner > donn- | lever > lev- | aller > all- | effacer > effac- | bouger > boug- | |
| je/j’ | -ai | donnai | levai | allai | effaçai | bougeai |
| tu | -as | donnas | levas | allas | effaças | bougeas |
| il | -a | donna | leva | alla | effaça | bougea |
| nous | -âmes | donnâmes | levâmes | allâmes | effaçâmes | bougeâmes |
| vous | -âtes | donnâtes | levâtes | allâtes | effaçâtes | bougeâtes |
| ils | -èrent | donnèrent | levèrent | allèrent | effacèrent | bougèrent |
Passé simple of -ir and -re verbs
Regular and many irregular -ir and -re verbs also use the infinitive minus infinitive ending as their passé simple stems, with a different set of passé simple endings.
Par exemple…
| endings | choisir > chois- | partir > part- | offrir > offr- | vendre > vend- | battre > batt- | |
| je | -is | choisis | partis | offris | vendis | battis |
| tu | -is | choisis | partis | offris | vendis | battis |
| il | -it | choisit | partit | offrit | vendit | battit |
| nous | -îmes | choisîmes | partîmes | offrîmes | vendîmes | battîmes |
| vous | -îtes | choisîtes | partîtes | offrîtes | vendîtes | battîtes |
| ils | -irent | choisirent | partirent | offrirent | vendirent | battirent |
Irregular verbs with regular endings
A dozen irregular verbs have irregular passé simple stems to which the regular -ir/-re endings are attached.
| s’asseoir | s’ass- |
| conduire | conduis- |
| dire | d- |
| écrire | écriv- |
| faire | f- |
| joindre | joign- |
| mettre | m- |
| naître | naqu- |
| peindre | peign- |
| prendre | pr- |
| rire | r- |
| voir | v- |
Par exemple…
| endings | dire > d- | naître > naqu- | prendre > pr- | |
| je | -is | dis | naquis | pris |
| tu | -is | dis | naquis | pris |
| il | -it | dit | naquit | prit |
| nous | -îmes | dîmes | naquîmes | prîmes |
| vous | -îtes | dîtes | naquîtes | prîtes |
| ils | -irent | dirent | naquirent | prirent |
"Past participle with -u" verbs
Most irregular verbs whose past participle ends in -u use that as their passé simple stems.
| avoir | eu- |
| boire | bu- |
| connaître | connu- |
| courir | couru- |
| croire | cru- |
| devoir | du- |
| falloir | fallu- |
| lire | lu- |
| pleuvoir | plu- |
| pouvoir | pu- |
| recevoir | reçu- |
| savoir | su- |
| valoir | valu- |
| vivre | vécu- |
| vouloir | voulu |
These verbs require a third set of passé simple endings.
Par exemple…
| endings | avoir > eu- | devoir > du- | vivre > vécu- | |
| je | -s | eus | dus | vécus |
| tu | -s | eus | dus | vécus |
| il | -t | eut | dut | vécut |
| nous | -^mes | eûmes | dûmes | vécûmes |
| vous | -^tes | eûtes | dûtes | vécûtes |
| ils | -rent | eurent | durent | vécurent |
Completely irregular verbs
Four verbs have irregular stems and take the irregular endings.
| endings | être > fu- | mourir > mouru- | tenir > tin- | venir > vin- | |
| je | -s | fus | mourus | tins | vins |
| tu | -s | fus | mourus | tins | vins |
| il | -t | fut | mourut | tint | vint |
| nous | -^mes | fûmes | mourûmes | tînmes | vînmes |
| vous | -^tes | fûtes | mourûtes | tîntes | vîntes |
| ils | -rent | furent | moururent | tinrent | vinrent |
Related lessons
- Using the passé simple
- Infinitives
- Past participles
- Stem-changing verbs
- Spelling change verbs
- Historical tenses
- Literary tenses and moods
- Introduction to verbs
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