The Perfect Tense

Is much harder to say

In France it’s called

Passé Composé

The past participle

Of the verb you use

Contains the stem

With Es, Is and Us

To find the stem

You don’t need a brain

Knock off two letters

It’s always the same

ER verbs

Are easy you say

Alongside the stem

You just add é

RE verbs

Are simple too

Alongside the stem

You just add a U

IR verbs

You can see why

To the stem

You just add an I

The majority of verbs

You use every day

Combine with avoir

Which starts with “J’ai”

The thirteen verbs

That are here to see

Combine with être

Which starts with “Je suis”

Naître is the first

Which means to be born

Mourir is the last

And it’s time to mourn

Monter and descendre

Opposite ways to go

Up and down

It’s easy once you know

Aller is ‘to go’

Venir is ‘to come’

Tomber is the odd one out

It’s a fall for some

Arriver, ‘to arrive’ and

Partir means ‘to leave’

Retourner, ‘to return’

Or so we believe

Entrer, ‘to go in

Sortir, ‘to go out’

Rester is ‘to stay’

Let’s finish with a shout

The verbs that go with être

Are not much fun

Because all the endings

Must match the person

Female persons

Always take an ‘e’

Plurals add an ‘s’

We say with glee

If you know this rhyme

And can make it last

You always be able to speak

About the past

©MFL Sunderland 2008 DP http://www.sunderlandschools.org/mfl-sunderland