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

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb dessaouler

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The English translation of the French verb dessaouler is “to sober up.” It is pronounced “deh-soh-lay.”

The word dessaouler is derived from the French prefix “des-” meaning “to undo” or “to reverse” and the noun “saouler” meaning “to get drunk.” Therefore, dessaouler literally means “to undo drunkenness.”

In everyday French, dessaouler is most often used in the Passé Composé (Present Perfect) tense to talk about a past action of sobering up. It is commonly used in situations where someone has had too much alcohol and is now becoming more sober.

Here are three examples of dessaouler in the Passé Composé tense:

  1. Hier soir, j’ai dû dessaouler avant de rentrer chez moi. (Last night, I had to sober up before going home.)

  2. Elle a pris une tasse de café pour se dessaouler un peu après la fête. (She had a cup of coffee to sober up a bit after the party.)

  3. Nous avons eu une longue discussion pour l’aider à dessaouler après sa soirée arrosée. (We had a long discussion to help her sober up after her wild night out.)

English translations:

  1. Last night, I had to sober up before going home.

  2. She had a cup of coffee to sober up a bit after the party.

  3. We had a long discussion to help her sober up after her wild night out.

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

Pronoun Conjugation Short Example English Translation
je ai désaoulé J’ai désaoulé après une nuit de fête. I sobered up after a night of partying.
tu as désaoulé Tu as désaoulé rapidement. You sobered up quickly.
il a désaoulé Il a désaoulé grâce à un café. He sobered up thanks to a coffee.
elle a désaoulé Elle a désaoulé en buvant de l’eau. She sobered up by drinking water.
on a désaoulé On a désaoulé ensemble. We sobered up together.
nous avons désaoulé Nous avons désaoulé avec de la nourriture. We sobered up with food.
vous avez désaoulé Vous avez désaoulé avant de conduire. You sobered up before driving.
ils ont désaoulé Ils ont désaoulé en discutant. They sobered up by talking.
elles ont désaoulé Elles ont désaoulé en dansant. They sobered up by dancing.

Other Conjugations for Dessaouler.

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

    Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb dessaouler
   

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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