Passé Composé (Present Perfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb absenter

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The English translation of the French verb “absenter” is “to absent oneself” or “to be absent.” The infinitive form of “absenter” is pronounced as “ab-sahn-tey.”

The verb “absenter” derives from the Latin word “absentare,” which means “to be away” or “to be absent.” In everyday French, “absenter” is used in the Passé Composé tense to express actions or states that have been completed in the past. It is commonly used to describe someone’s absence or to talk about a past event where someone was absent.

Here are three examples of “absenter” in the Passé Composé tense, along with their English translations:

  1. Hier, il s’est absenté de l’école.
    Translation: Yesterday, he was absent from school.

  2. Nous nous sommes absentés pendant le weekend.
    Translation: We were absent during the weekend.

  3. Elle s’est absentée de la réunion importante.
    Translation: She was absent from the important meeting.

In these examples, “absenter” is conjugated in the Passé Composé tense with the respective subject pronouns (il, nous, elle) and the auxiliary verb “être” (s’est). The past participle “absenté” agrees in gender and number with the subject pronoun.

Table of the Passé Composé (Present Perfect) Tense Conjugation of absenter

Pronoun Conjugation Short Example English Translation
je me suis absenté(e) Je me suis absenté(e) hier. I was absent yesterday.
tu t’es absenté(e) Tu t’es absenté(e) ce matin. You were absent this morning.
il s’est absenté Il s’est absenté la semaine dernière. He was absent last week.
elle s’est absentée Elle s’est absentée hier soir. She was absent last night.
on s’est absenté(e) On s’est absenté(e) pour la journée. We were absent for the day.
nous nous sommes absenté(e)s Nous nous sommes absenté(e)s pendant les vacances. We were absent during the holidays.
vous vous êtes absenté(e)(s) Vous vous êtes absenté(e)(s) hier. You were absent yesterday.
ils se sont absentés Ils se sont absentés ce mois-ci. They were absent this month.
elles se sont absentées Elles se sont absentées ce matin. They were absent this morning.

Other Conjugations for Absenter.

Le Present (Present Tense) Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Passé Simple (Simple Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Passé Composé (Present Perfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter (You’re reading it right now!)

Futur Simple (Simple Future) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Futur Proche (Near Future) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Passé Antérieur (Past Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Futur Antérieur (Future Anterior) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Subjonctif Présent (Subjunctive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Subjonctif Passé (Subjunctive Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Subjonctif Imparfait (Subjunctive Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Subjonctif Plus-que-parfait (Subjunctive Pluperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Conditionnel Présent (Conditional Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Conditionnel Passé (Conditional Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Conditionnel Passé II (Conditional Past II) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

L’impératif Présent (Imperative Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

L’impératif Passé (Imperative Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

L’infinitif Présent (Infinitive Present) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

L’infinitif Passé (Infinitive Past) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Le Participe Présent (Present Participle) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

Le Participe Passé (Past Participle) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb absenter

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Absenter – About the French Passé Composé (Present Perfect) Tense

The French Passé Composé is a compound tense used to express actions or events that have been completed in the past. It is one of the most common past tenses in the French language and is typically used in everyday conversation to describe actions that occurred at a specific point in the past. The Passé Composé is constructed using an auxiliary verb (either “être” or “avoir”) and a past participle.

NOTE: To take a deep dive into all the French tenses then see our article on Mastering French Tense Conjugation.

Formation of the Passé Composé

Set the auxiliary verb with either

“être” – used with a select group of verbs (mostly intransitive verbs of motion, reflexive verbs, and some others) or
“avoir” – used with most other verbs. 

Conjugate the auxiliary verb

If using “être,” you must conjugate it in the present tense according to the subject of the sentence. 
Je suis, Tu es, Il est, Nous sommes, Vous êtes, Ils sont 
If using “avoir,” conjugate it according to the subject as well: 
J’ai, Tu as, Elle a, Nous avons, Vous avez, Ils ont.  

Add the past participle

For regular -er verbs, remove the -er ending and add -é (e.g., “parler” becomes “parlé”). 
For regular -ir verbs, remove the -ir ending and add -i (e.g., “finir” becomes “fini”). 
For regular -re verbs, remove the -re ending and add -u (e.g., “vendre” becomes “vendu”). 
For irregular verbs, you’ll need to learn the past participles individually, as they don’t follow a regular pattern.

Common everyday usage patterns

Narrating Past Events

The Passé Composé is used to talk about specific actions or events that took place in the past. For example: “Hier, j’ai mangé une pizza” (Yesterday, I ate a pizza). 

Sequential Actions

When describing a series of actions in the past, the Passé Composé is used. For example: “D’abord, je me suis réveillé, puis je suis allé travailler” (First, I woke up, then I went to work). 

Describing Completed Actions

It’s used to emphasize that an action has been completed, often with a specific time reference. For example: “Elle a terminé son travail à 18 heures” (She finished her work at 6 p.m.). 

Interactions with other tenses

Imperfect Tense

The Passé Composé is often used in conjunction with the imperfect tense when telling a story or describing past events. The Passé Composé is used for specific actions that occurred, while the imperfect is used for background information or ongoing actions. 
For example: “Il pleuvait quand j’ai sorti mon parapluie” (It was raining when I took out my umbrella).

Conditional and Future Tenses

The Passé Composé is used as a reference point in complex sentences to establish the sequence of events in relation to future or conditional actions. 
For example: “Quand il est arrivé, je lui ai donné ton message” (When he arrived, I gave him your message). 

Summary

The French Passé Composé is an essential tense for talking about completed actions in the past in everyday conversation. It’s important to master the choice of auxiliary verb and the past participle conjugation for various verbs to use it effectively.

I hope you enjoyed this article on the verb absenter. Still in a learning mood? Check out another TOTALLY random French verb conjugation!

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