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

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb bâter

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The English translation of the French verb bâter is “to beat” or “to strike.” It is pronounced as “bah-teh.”

The verb bâter comes from the Latin word “battuere” meaning “to beat or strike.” It is most often used in everyday French in the Passé Composé tense, which is the equivalent of the Present Perfect tense in English.

In this tense, bâter is usually used to express an action that was completed in the past and has an impact on the present. For example:

  1. J’ai bâti une maison l’année dernière. (I built a house last year.)
  2. Elle a bâti sa carrière grâce à son travail acharné. (She built her career through hard work.)
  3. Nous avons bâti notre relation sur la confiance. (We built our relationship on trust.)

In these examples, bâter is used to express the completion of an action (building a house, a career, a relationship) in the past that has an effect on the present (the house still exists, the career is still ongoing, the relationship is still based on trust).

Overall, bâter is a common and versatile verb in French that can be used in various contexts to express different meanings, such as beating, striking, building, and shaping. It is also commonly used in idiomatic expressions, such as “battre le fer tant qu’il est chaud” (to strike while the iron is hot) or “se battre pour une cause” (to fight for a cause).

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

Pronoun Conjugation Short Example English Translation
je ai bâté J’ai bâté le cheval. I harnessed the horse.
tu as bâté Tu as bâté l’âne. You harnessed the donkey.
il a bâté Il a bâté le mulet. He harnessed the mule.
elle a bâté Elle a bâté le poney. She harnessed the pony.
on a bâté On a bâté le cheval de course. We harnessed the racehorse.
nous avons bâté Nous avons bâté le chameau. We harnessed the camel.
vous avez bâté Vous avez bâté le poulain. You harnessed the foal.
ils ont bâté Ils ont bâté le boeuf. They harnessed the ox.
elles ont bâté Elles ont bâté le taureau. They harnessed the bull.

Other Conjugations for Bâter.

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

    Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb bâter
   

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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