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

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb discerner

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The English translation of the French verb discerner is “to discern” or “to distinguish.” The infinitive form of the verb is pronounced as “dee-sair-neh.”

The word “discerner” comes from the Latin word “discernere,” meaning “to separate” or “to distinguish.” It entered the French language in the 14th century.

In everyday French, discerner is most often used in the Passé Composé (Present Perfect) tense to talk about a past action that has been completed. This tense is formed with the auxiliary verb “avoir” (to have) followed by the past participle of the main verb.

Here are three simple examples of discerner in the Passé Composé tense, with their English translations:

  1. J’ai discerné le bon du mauvais dans cette situation. (I discerned the good from the bad in this situation.)

  2. Tu as discerné la voix de ta mère au téléphone. (You discerned your mother’s voice on the phone.)

  3. Elle a discerné un mensonge dans ses paroles. (She discerned a lie in his words.)

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

Pronoun Conjugation Short Example English Translation
je ai discerné J’ai discerné la vérité. I discerned the truth.
tu as discerné Tu as discerné ses intentions. You discerned his intentions.
il a discerné Il a discerné le mensonge. He discerned the lie.
elle a discerné Elle a discerné la différence. She discerned the difference.
on a discerné On a discerné le bon choix. We discerned the right choice.
nous avons discerné Nous avons discerné le problème. We discerned the problem.
vous avez discerné Vous avez discerné la solution. You discerned the solution.
ils ont discerné Ils ont discerné la stratégie. They discerned the strategy.
elles ont discerné Elles ont discerné la signification. They discerned the meaning.

Other Conjugations for Discerner.

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

    Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb discerner
   

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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