J'ai
commencé par faire la technique.
I started on the
technical side.
J'ai
participé à la mise en route.
I took part in the
starting up.
J'ai fait la
production.
I worked in (literally I did)
production.
Nous avons
doublé nos profits.
We've doubled our
profits.
Nous avons pu
étendre notre réseau de distribution.
We've been able to
extend our distribution network.
When you
want to talk about something you've done or something that has happened,
you need to use in most cases avoir, 'to have',
and the past participle of the verb as exemplified above. This is called the
passé composé because it is
'composed' of 2 verbs: avoir used as an
auxiliary (not as a full verb) and the past participle of other
verbs.
Note
that:
- The
passé composé is by far the most common past tense in French. You
use it to express something that took place once in the
past.
- The past
participle of regular verbs like participer
and doubler (ie:
-er verbs) is always -é . The other two past participles
fait (infinitive: faire) and pu
(infinitive: pouvoir) are irregular and
must be learnt by heart.
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