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

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb accentuer

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The English translation of the French verb “accentuer” is “to accentuate” or “to emphasize.” The infinitive form of the verb “accentuer” is pronounced as “ahk-sahn-tew-eh.”

The verb “accentuer” comes from the Latin word “accentuare,” which means “to stress” or “to accentuate.” In everyday French, “accentuer” is most often used in the Passé Composé tense, which is the equivalent of the English Present Perfect tense.

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

  1. J’ai accentué la couleur rouge sur ce tableau. (I accentuated the color red in this painting.)
  2. Elle a accentué son accent français lors de sa présentation. (She emphasized her French accent during her presentation.)
  3. Nous avons accentué nos efforts pour améliorer la situation. (We have accentuated our efforts to improve the situation.)

In these examples, “accentuer” is used to express the action of putting emphasis or highlighting something in the past.

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

Pronoun Conjugation Short Example English Translation
je ai accentué J’ai accentué ma voix. I emphasized my voice.
tu as accentué Tu as accentué le mot. You emphasized the word.
il a accentué Il a accentué la syllabe. He emphasized the syllable.
elle a accentué Elle a accentué la phrase. She emphasized the sentence.
on a accentué On a accentué l’importance. We emphasized the importance.
nous avons accentué Nous avons accentué le problème. We emphasized the problem.
vous avez accentué Vous avez accentué le point. You emphasized the point.
ils ont accentué Ils ont accentué le contraste. They emphasized the contrast.
elles ont accentué Elles ont accentué la différence. They emphasized the difference.

Other Conjugations for Accentuer.

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

Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb accentuer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Accentuer – 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 accentuer. Still in a learning mood? Check out another TOTALLY random French verb conjugation!

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