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

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb achever

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The English translation of the French verb achever is “to finish” or “to complete.” It is pronounced “ah-sheh-vay” in its infinitive form.

The word achever comes from the Old French word “achever,” which itself comes from the Latin word “adcapitare” meaning “to seize.” In modern French, it is most commonly used to indicate the completion of an action, task, or goal.

In the Passé Composé tense, which is the French equivalent of the Present Perfect tense in English, achever is conjugated using the auxiliary verb “avoir” and the past participle “achevé.” The past participle does not change for different subjects, so the conjugation is: j’ai achevé (I finished), tu as achevé (you finished), il/elle/on a achevé (he/she/one finished), nous avons achevé (we finished), vous avez achevé (you finished), ils/elles ont achevé (they finished).

Here are three simple examples of using achever in the Passé Composé tense with the English translations:

  1. J’ai achevé mon projet hier soir. (I finished my project last night.)
  2. Nous avons achevé notre voyage en France. (We completed our trip to France.)
  3. Ils ont achevé leur repas avant de partir. (They finished their meal before leaving.)

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

Pronoun Conjugation Short Example English Translation
je ai achevé J’ai achevé mes devoirs. I finished my homework.
tu as achevé Tu as achevé ta lecture. You finished your reading.
il a achevé Il a achevé son repas. He finished his meal.
elle a achevé Elle a achevé sa présentation. She finished her presentation.
on a achevé On a achevé le projet. We finished the project.
nous avons achevé Nous avons achevé le travail. We finished the work.
vous avez achevé Vous avez achevé le film. You finished the movie.
ils ont achevé Ils ont achevé leur cours. They finished their class.
elles ont achevé Elles ont achevé leur réunion. They finished their meeting.

Other Conjugations for Achever.

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

    Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb achever
   

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

    Passé Composé (Present Perfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb achever    (this article)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Struggling with French verbs or the language in general? Why not use our free French Grammar Checker – no registration required!
   

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

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