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

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb chômer

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The English translation of the French verb chômer is “to be unemployed” or “to be on strike”. It is pronounced as “sho-may” in the infinitive form.

The word chômer comes from the Latin word “caumare” meaning “to rest”. It was originally used to refer to days of rest or holidays. In modern French, it is most commonly used to mean being out of work or on strike.

In the Passé Composé tense, chômer is conjugated with the auxiliary verb “avoir” and the past participle “chômé” to indicate an action that was completed in the past. For example:

  1. J’ai chômé toute la journée hier. (I was out of work all day yesterday.)
  2. Les ouvriers ont chômé pour protester contre les conditions de travail. (The workers went on strike to protest against working conditions.)
  3. Nous avons chômé pendant la grève des transports. (We were unemployed during the transportation strike.)

In these examples, chômer is used to indicate both being out of work and being on strike. However, it can also be used in other contexts, such as referring to a break or pause from work. It is a versatile verb that is commonly used in everyday French to talk about work and labor-related issues.

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

Pronoun Conjugation Short Example English Translation
je ai chômé J’ai chômé hier. I was unemployed yesterday.
tu as chômé Tu as chômé pendant un mois. You were unemployed for a month.
il a chômé Il a chômé la semaine dernière. He was unemployed last week.
elle a chômé Elle a chômé tout l’été. She was unemployed all summer.
on a chômé On a chômé pendant les vacances. We were unemployed during the holidays.
nous avons chômé Nous avons chômé ensemble. We were unemployed together.
vous avez chômé Vous avez chômé trois mois. You were unemployed for three months.
ils ont chômé Ils ont chômé l’année dernière. They were unemployed last year.
elles ont chômé Elles ont chômé pendant la crise. They were unemployed during the crisis.

Other Conjugations for Chômer.

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

    Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb chômer
   

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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