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

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb déchanter

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The English translation of the French verb déchanter is “to be disappointed” or “to lose hope.” It is pronounced as “day-shon-tay.”

The word déchanter comes from the Old French word “deschanter,” which means “to be out of tune” or “to sing badly.” It is derived from the Latin word “decantare,” which means “to sing off-key.”

In everyday French, déchanter is most often used in the Passé Composé (Present Perfect) tense to describe a past action that has had a lasting effect on the present. It is used to express a feeling of disappointment or loss of hope.

Here are three simple examples of déchanter used in the Passé Composé tense:

  1. J’ai déchanté en apprenant que je n’ai pas été accepté à l’université. (I was disappointed when I found out I didn’t get accepted into university.)

  2. Vous avez déchanté quand vous avez réalisé que votre rêve était impossible à réaliser. (You lost hope when you realized that your dream was impossible to achieve.)

  3. Ils ont déchanté après avoir constaté que le projet n’était pas aussi facile qu’ils le pensaient. (They became disappointed after realizing that the project was not as easy as they thought it would be.)

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

Pronoun Conjugation Short Example English Translation
je ai déchanté J’ai déchanté après le concert. I was disappointed after the concert.
tu as déchanté Tu as déchanté en apprenant la nouvelle. You were let down when you heard the news.
il a déchanté Il a déchanté en voyant le résultat. He was disheartened when he saw the result.
elle a déchanté Elle a déchanté en découvrant la vérité. She was disappointed when she discovered the truth.
on a déchanté On a déchanté après nos vacances. We were disappointed after our vacation.
nous avons déchanté Nous avons déchanté en regardant le film. We were disappointed while watching the movie.
vous avez déchanté Vous avez déchanté en écoutant le discours. You were let down while listening to the speech.
ils ont déchanté Ils ont déchanté après l’événement. They were disappointed after the event.
elles ont déchanté Elles ont déchanté en visitant le musée. They were disappointed while visiting the museum.

Other Conjugations for Déchanter.

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

    Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb déchanter
   

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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