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

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb distinguer

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The English translation of the French verb distinguer is “to distinguish” or “to differentiate.” The infinitive form is pronounced “dees-tahn-gheh.”

The word distinguer comes from the Latin word “distinguere,” which means “to separate” or “to mark off.” In everyday French, it is most often used in the Passé Composé (Present Perfect) tense to describe an action that has been completed in the past.

Here are three simple examples of its usage in the Passé Composé tense:

  1. J’ai distingué les différentes espèces d’oiseaux dans le parc. (I distinguished the different bird species in the park.)
  2. Elle a du mal à distinguer les couleurs depuis qu’elle a perdu la vue. (She has difficulty distinguishing colors since she lost her sight.)
  3. Nous avons du mal à distinguer les jumeaux, ils se ressemblent tellement. (We have difficulty distinguishing the twins, they look so much alike.)

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

Pronoun Conjugation Short Example English Translation
je ai distingué J’ai distingué les couleurs. I distinguished the colors.
tu as distingué Tu as distingué le mensonge. You distinguished the lie.
il a distingué Il a distingué les voix. He distinguished the voices.
elle a distingué Elle a distingué les parfums. She distinguished the scents.
on a distingué On a distingué les bons des mauvais. We distinguished the good from the bad.
nous avons distingué Nous avons distingué les différents symptômes. We distinguished the different symptoms.
vous avez distingué Vous avez distingué les variétés de fromage. You distinguished the varieties of cheese.
ils ont distingué Ils ont distingué les espèces animales. They distinguished the animal species.
elles ont distingué Elles ont distingué les saveurs du vin. They distinguished the flavors of wine.

Other Conjugations for Distinguer.

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

    Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb distinguer
   

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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