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

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb enquêter

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The English translation of the French verb enquêter is “to investigate.” It is pronounced “ahn-keh-teh.”

Enquêter comes from the French word “enquête,” which means “inquiry” or “investigation.” It ultimately derives from the Latin word “inquaerere,” meaning “to search” or “to inquire.”

In everyday French, enquêter is commonly used in the Passé Composé (Present Perfect) tense to talk about past investigations or inquiries that have been completed. It is often used in conjunction with other verbs such as “faire” (to do), “mener” (to lead), or “poursuivre” (to pursue).

Three simple examples of enquêter in the Passé Composé tense are:

  1. J’ai enquêté sur l’affaire pendant des mois. (I investigated the case for months.)
  2. La police a enquêté sur le meurtre et a finalement arrêté le suspect. (The police investigated the murder and finally arrested the suspect.)
  3. Nous avons enquêté sur les pratiques commerciales douteuses de cette entreprise. (We investigated the questionable business practices of this company.)

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

Pronoun Conjugation Short Example English Translation
je ai enquêté J’ai enquêté sur l’affaire. I investigated the case.
tu as enquêté Tu as enquêté sur le suspect. You investigated the suspect.
il a enquêté Il a enquêté sur l’incident. He investigated the incident.
elle a enquêté Elle a enquêté sur la disparition. She investigated the disappearance.
on a enquêté On a enquêté sur le crime. We investigated the crime.
nous avons enquêté Nous avons enquêté sur l’affaire. We investigated the case.
vous avez enquêté Vous avez enquêté sur le témoignage. You investigated the testimony.
ils ont enquêté Ils ont enquêté sur les suspects. They investigated the suspects.
elles ont enquêté Elles ont enquêté sur le vol. They investigated the theft.

Other Conjugations for Enquêter.

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

    Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb enquêter
   

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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