Day 26: Past, lightly
Do not try to master this today. The passé composé is normally a multi-week topic. Inside 30 days the goal is only being able to answer "what did you do yesterday?" — that is enough. Regular verbs plus ten common irregulars, and out.
1. ★ The formula
avoir (conjugated) + past participleThe avoir from Day 6 comes back: j'ai · tu as · il a · nous avons · vous avez · ils ont
| French | Respelling | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| J'ai mangé. | zhay mahn-ZHAY | I ate / I have eaten |
| J'ai travaillé. | zhay tra-va-YAY | I worked |
| Tu as parlé. | tew a par-LAY | You spoke |
| Il a regardé un film. | eel a ruh-gar-DAY | He watched a film |
| Nous avons visité Paris. | noo za-vohn vee-zee-TAY | We visited Paris |
★ It looks like the English present perfect ("I have eaten") but it does the job of the simple past too. J'ai mangé is both "I ate" and "I have eaten" — French does not separate them. Stop trying to choose.
Making the past participle — all -er verbs are identical
| Infinitive | Participle | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| parler | parlé | -er → -é |
| manger | mangé | the sound doesn't change |
| travailler | travaillé | |
| regarder | regardé |
★★ The participle of an -er verb sounds exactly like the infinitive.parler (par-LAY) = parlé (par-LAY). Only the spelling moves.Which means speaking is easy today and dictation suddenly gets hard. That is expected.
2. Ten irregular participles you actually need
| Infinitive | Participle | Respelling | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| avoir | eu | ew | had |
| être | été | ay-TAY | was / been |
| faire | fait | feh | did / made |
| prendre | pris | pree | took / had |
| voir | vu | vew | saw |
| boire | bu | bew | drank |
| lire | lu | lew | read |
| vouloir | voulu | voo-LEW | wanted |
| pouvoir | pu | pew | could |
| dire | dit | dee | said |
| Example | Meaning |
|---|---|
| J'ai fait du sport. | I did some exercise |
| J'ai pris le métro. | I took the metro |
| J'ai vu un film. | I saw a film |
| J'ai bu un café. | I had a coffee |
| J'ai eu un problème. | I had a problem |
★ Notice how many end in a bare vowel — eu, vu, bu, lu, pu all rhyme. Learn them as a block and five of the ten are free.
3. ⚠️ Verbs that take être — only six today
Verbs of movement and change of state use être, not avoir.
| French | Respelling | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Je suis allé(e). | zhuh swee za-LAY | I went |
| Je suis venu(e). | zhuh swee vuh-NEW | I came |
| Je suis parti(e). | zhuh swee par-TEE | I left |
| Je suis arrivé(e). | zhuh swee za-ree-VAY | I arrived |
| Je suis resté(e). | zhuh swee res-TAY | I stayed |
| Je suis rentré(e). | zhuh swee rahn-TRAY | I went home |
⚠️ English has no equivalent of this split — you say "I have gone" and "I have eaten"with the same auxiliary. French picks a different one, and picking wrong is very audible.⚠️ With être, the participle agrees with the subject.male: Je suis allé / female: Je suis allée / plural: Nous sommes allés All identical in sound. Only matters when writing.Today, remember only these six — go, come, leave, arrive, stay, return home.Treating everything else as avoir will not cause you a problem in 30 days.
Negative (Day 23's rule)
| French | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Je n'ai pas mangé. | I didn't eat |
| Je ne suis pas allé. | I didn't go |
ne…pas wraps only avoir/être. The participle stays outside.
4. Past time expressions
| French | Respelling | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hier | ee-YAIR | yesterday |
| avant-hier | a-vahn tee-YAIR | the day before yesterday |
| hier soir | ee-yair SWAR | last night |
| la semaine dernière | la suh-men dair-NYAIR | last week |
| le mois dernier | luh mwa dair-NYAY | last month |
| il y a deux jours | eel ya duh ZHOOR | two days ago |
| déjà | day-ZHA | already |
| pas encore | pa zahn-KOR | not yet |
★il y aalso means "ago". Same words as Day 15's "there is" — context decides.Pair it with Day 25'sdans deux jours(in two days) and learn the two together.⚠️ Note it goes before the period, where English puts "ago" after: il y a deux jours = "two days ago".
5. Dialogue
A: Qu'est-ce que tu as fait hier ?kess kuh tew a feh ee-YAIR? What did you do yesterday?B: J'ai travaillé le matin, et l'après-midi je suis allé au musée.zhay tra-va-YAY luh ma-TAN, ay la-preh-mee-DEE zhuh swee za-lay oh mew-ZAY.A: C'était bien ? say-TEH byan? Was it good?B: Oui ! J'ai vu une belle exposition. Après, j'ai bu un café avec Marie.wee! zhay vew ewn bell ex-po-zee-SYOHN. a-PREH, zhay bew uhn ka-FAY a-vek ma-REE.A: Tu es rentré à quelle heure ? tew eh rahn-TRAY a kell UR?B: Vers dix heures. Je n'ai pas dîné.vair dee ZUR. zhuh nay pa dee-NAY. Around ten. I didn't have dinner.
★ C'était (say-TEH) = "it was" — the past of C'est. Learn C'était bien ! whole. ★ après (a-PREH) = afterwards · avec (a-VEK) = with
6. Exercises
A. Convert to the passé composé.
- Je mange. → 2. Je travaille. → 3. Il regarde un film. → 4. Nous visitons Paris. →
B. avoir or être?
- J' ___ mangé. 2. Je ___ allé à Paris. 3. Il ___ pris le métro.
- Elle ___ partie. 5. Nous ___ vu un film.
C. Say it in French.
- What did you do yesterday? 2. I worked. 3. I saw a film.
- I went to the museum. 5. I didn't have dinner.
D. ⚠️ Fix the mistake.
- J'ai allé au musée. 2. Deux jours il y a.
E. Write 5 sentences about what you did yesterday.
Answers
A. 1. J'ai mangé. 2. J'ai travaillé. 3. Il a regardé un film. 4. Nous avons visité Paris. B. 1. ai 2. suis 3. a 4. est 5. avons C. 1. Qu'est-ce que tu as fait hier ? 2. J'ai travaillé. 3. J'ai vu un film. 4. Je suis allé au musée. 5. Je n'ai pas dîné. D. 1. aller takes être → Je suis allé 2. il y a comes first → il y a deux jours
7. Today's 10 sentences
- Qu'est-ce que tu as fait hier ? — What did you do yesterday? (kess kuh tew a feh ee-YAIR)
- J'ai travaillé. — I worked (zhay tra-va-YAY)
- J'ai mangé au restaurant. — I ate at a restaurant (zhay mahn-ZHAY oh res-to-RAHN)
- J'ai vu un film. — I saw a film (zhay vew uhn FEELM)
- J'ai pris le métro. — I took the metro (zhay pree luh may-TROH)
- Je suis allé à Paris. — I went to Paris (zhuh swee za-lay a pa-REE)
- Je suis rentré à dix heures. — I got home at ten (zhuh swee rahn-TRAY a dee ZUR)
- Je n'ai pas mangé. — I didn't eat (zhuh nay pa mahn-ZHAY)
- C'était bien ! — It was good! (say-TEH byan)
- Il y a deux jours. — Two days ago (eel ya duh ZHOOR)
8. 📲 Upload to LangNote
All of sections 1–3. There is a lot here, so run the grammar drill before the dictation today. (The -é ending is inaudible, so dictation difficulty jumps sharply — that is normal, not a sign you have fallen behind.)
| Mission | What to do with it today |
|---|---|
| 🔤 Grammar | present → passé composé conversion — today's main mission |
| 🎭 Role-play | The "what did you do yesterday?" conversation |
| 📖 Vocab | The 10 irregular participles |
| ✍️ Dictation | Checking the -é spelling (hard — struggling is expected) |
langNote is a paid subscription and this course recommends it. The 30 lessons are free and complete either way.