For some reason, I love breaking down the past tense. My students learn a few common sayings in the past tense in level 1, but after they build a vocabulary, I do eventually break it down and look at the elements.
Tip #1: Use music
I get a strange thrill when students come to class proclaiming, “That song was stuck in my head all night long!” Likewise when they hum a song during a quiz to recall the concept. I am a big believer in teaching through music and activating that part of the brain, and a fun benefit is that it allows teachers and students the chance to get pretty weird…and LOUD!
Here are two great songs you can use to teach the verbs that use être in the passé composé, and I personally prefer them both to the ol’ Dr. & Mrs. Vandertramp acronym:
TO THE TUNE OF “Hi Ho, Hi Ho”
aller, venir, entrer, sortir
monter, descendre, arriver, partir
retourner, rester, tomber, mourir
et naître avec être
se sont les verbes qui s’accordent avec le sujet!
TO THE TUNE OF “Yankee Doodle”
allé, parti, sorti, venu, descendu et passé
arrivé, resté, entré, monté, mort, né,
et tombé
devenu et revenu, rentré et retourné
Je suis, tu es, il est, elle est
Nous sommes, vous êtes, ils sont!
The first song uses infinitives while the second uses past participles, and a case could be made for teaching either. Whatever Nutellas your crêpe!
It’s possible I have the most off-key voice in the history of language teachers, so what do I do? I steer into the skid. When we sing, we make it as loud as we can. (I say my goal is to have the teacher next door come running to ask if something is wrong.) We sing in different styles and at different speeds, and we have competitions with sides of the room and boys vs. girls.
Tip #2: Use alliteration
Alliteration isn’t my favorite linguistic tool–hello, it’s the Oxford comma–but it sure is up there! With the passé composé, I teach two different sayings using alliteration:
passé composé with AVOIR::
When you use AAAAAAVOIR,
AAAAAAH, you’re done!
passé composé with ETRE:
When you use EEEEEETRE,
there’s an EEEEEEXTRA step!
The first part (aaaaa) alerts students to the fact that after they have a form of avoir plus a past participle, they can relax; they’re done! The second part (eeeee) shows that after they have a form of être plus a past participle, there’s still one more step (agreement), which brings me to….
Tip #3: Remember your MouF SouP
No French class is complete without a healthy helping of MouF SouP:
C’est Masculin ou Féminin? Singulier ou Pluriel?
When we use the passé composé with être, the eeeeeextra step is making the past participle agree with the noun, but saying it that way is far too “grammery”. Instead, the kids to “MouF SouP it!” That simple saying meets students where they are at distinctly better than “How do we make the past participle agree with the noun?”, yet it accomplishes the same thing.
So there you have it: 3 tips to help make the passé composé stick with your students! As you work through the passé composé, feel free to offer up the FREE practice and review activities found on my website here. They are useful study tools for students, as well as a handy place to go for students who have missed class. Happy past tense-ing!
Check out the flash sale on all passé composé items in my Teachers Pay Teachers store here! 20% off through Monday, February 11!