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

ByMichael Burns

Introduction to the verb estiver

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The English translation of the French verb estiver is “to be” or “to have been.” It is pronounced as “es-tee-ver.”

The origin of estiver can be traced back to Latin, specifically the verb “stare” meaning “to stand” or “to be.” In French, it is most often used in the Passé Composé (Present Perfect) tense, which indicates 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 été à Paris l’année dernière. (I went to Paris last year.)
  2. Tu as été malade hier. (You were sick yesterday.)
  3. Ils ont été ensemble pendant 10 ans. (They were together for 10 years.)

In these examples, estiver is used as the helping verb with the past participle of the main verb to form the Passé Composé tense. It can also be used alone as the main verb, as in “Je suis été à la plage.” (I went to the beach.) This is a common mistake made by non-native French speakers, as in English the past participle of “to be” is “been,” while in French it is “été.”

Overall, estiver is a versatile verb that is commonly used in everyday French conversation in the Passé Composé tense to talk about past actions or events.

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

Pronoun Conjugation Short Example English Translation
je ai estivé J’ai estivé à la plage. I summered at the beach.
tu as estivé Tu as estivé en Espagne. You summered in Spain.
il a estivé Il a estivé dans les montagnes. He summered in the mountains.
elle a estivé Elle a estivé sur la côte. She summered on the coast.
on a estivé On a estivé au bord du lac. We summered by the lake.
nous avons estivé Nous avons estivé en camping. We summered while camping.
vous avez estivé Vous avez estivé dans un chalet. You summered in a cabin.
ils ont estivé Ils ont estivé à la campagne. They summered in the countryside.
elles ont estivé Elles ont estivé en voyage. They summered while traveling.

Other Conjugations for Estiver.

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

    Imparfait (Imperfect) Tense Conjugation of the French Verb estiver
   

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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