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

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb costumer

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The English translation of the French verb costumer is “to dress up” or “to costume.” It is pronounced as “koh-stew-may” in its infinitive form.

The word “costumer” is derived from the Old French word “costume,” which means “custom” or “fashion.” It is most often used in everyday French in the Passé Composé tense, which is the equivalent of the Present Perfect tense in English. This tense is used to talk about actions that were completed in the past but still have an impact on the present.

Three simple examples of using costumer in the Passé Composé tense are:

  1. J’ai costumé mon fils pour la fête d’Halloween. (I dressed up my son for the Halloween party.)

  2. Tu as costumé ta sœur en princesse pour le spectacle de fin d’année. (You dressed up your sister as a princess for the end-of-year show.)

  3. Nous avons costumé nos amis en super-héros pour le carnaval. (We dressed up our friends as superheroes for the carnival.)

In all of these examples, the action of costumer (dressing up) was completed in the past and is not ongoing. However, the impact of the action is still relevant in the present, as the costumes are still being worn or remembered.

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

Pronoun Conjugation Short Example English Translation
je ai costumé J’ai costumé mon fils. I dressed up my son.
tu as costumé Tu as costumé ta fille. You dressed up your daughter.
il a costumé Il a costumé son chien. He dressed up his dog.
elle a costumé Elle a costumé son chat. She dressed up her cat.
on a costumé On a costumé le bébé. We dressed up the baby.
nous avons costumé Nous avons costumé nos amis. We dressed up our friends.
vous avez costumé Vous avez costumé votre famille. You dressed up your family.
ils ont costumé Ils ont costumé leurs enfants. They dressed up their children.
elles ont costumé Elles ont costumé leur chien. They dressed up their dog.

Other Conjugations for Costumer.

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

    Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb costumer
   

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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