How is the perfect tense formed with AVOIR?

The perfect tense in French is formed with the auxiliary verb “avoir” (to have) and the past participle of the main verb.

To form the perfect tense with “avoir,” follow these steps:

1. Take the present tense of “avoir”: j’ai, tu as, il/elle/on a, nous avons, vous avez, ils/elles ont.
2. Add the past participle of the main verb. The past participle for regular verbs is formed by adding -é to the stem of -er verbs (e.g. parler -> parlé) and adding -i to the stem of -ir and -re verbs (e.g. finir -> fini, vendre -> vendu). For irregular verbs, the past participle is formed according to specific rules.

For example:

• J’ai mangé une pomme. (I have eaten an apple.)
• Tu as regardé la télé hier soir. (You watched TV last night.)
• Il a parlé à sa mère ce matin. (He spoke to his mother this morning.)
• Nous avons fini nos devoirs. (We have finished our homework.)
• Vous avez pris le train ce matin. (You took the train this morning.)
• Ils ont vendu leur maison. (They sold their house.)

Remember that the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject when the auxiliary verb “avoir” is used in the compound tense.