Is it J’AI or JE SUIS PASSÉ?

We all make mistakes . . . me more than any, it seems at times. 

With the verb PASSER I DENIED for YEARS the whole possibility of it being one of the verbs of Être in the perfect tense.

Like many, my teacher told me a way to remember the Être verbs with DR.MRS.VANDERTRAMP and it only has one letter P in it. 

It stuck and PASSER was not on the list! 

Then I came to France, made friends with my neighbours and they turned my learning over when one day they called by: “Aww Christine, je suis passé te voir et tu n’étais pas là !”

And I corrected them!  YES, I corrected them! They blinked . . . and answered . . . “Mais non, je suis passé te voir !” Back to the learning sites!

It’s an easy mistake to make and it’s all explained here so I can feel silly all on my own and you don’t make the same error! 

Enjoy the learning and discover:

• The different meanings of the word PASSER using “J’ai passé . . .”
• When to use “Je suis passé”
• How you can accelerate your learning and increase your conversational confidence

How do you translate PASSER?

This French verb has several meanings. In addition, you can combine it with avoir or être…

Let’s start with a false friend. In other words, don’t translate it literally and avoid this trap:

• passer >>> to take

Indeed, when talking about exams, tests…the verb passer refers to take it and NOT to pass it.

• J’ai passé un examen. >>> I took an exam.

If you really meant to succeed, you should switch to another verb:

• J’ai réussi un examen. >>> I passed an exam.

So, be extremely cautious with this one.

Another meaning of the French verb PASSER.

This time, the meaning is closer to English since you can translate it with to pass or hand like this:

• Je t’ai passé l’enveloppe. >>> I handed you the envelope.

Practise it with items on the table (salt, pepper, water…).

How to say spend time in French.

In this case, you wouldn’t think of the verb passer when we describe a period of time. While in English you have to spend, in French, we translate with passer.

Here’s an example:

• J’ai passé une bonne journée, merci. >>> I had (spent) a great day, thank you.

How to use PASSER with ÊTRE.

Before diving into the topic, you should know that the verb être usually goes with movement verbs. In other words, it implies a movement from someone or something.

Let’s see an example:

• Je suis passé devant ta maison sans te voir le jardin, pardon. >>> I passed by the front of your house without seeing you in the garden, sorry.

As you can see, there is a movement involved. With the passé composé, be sure to make the agreement like this:

• Je suis passé. >>> I passed by (masculine singular)
• Je suis passée. >>> I passed by (feminine singular)
• Tu es passé. >>> You passed by (masculine singular)
• Tu es passée. >>> You passed by (feminine singular)
• Il est passé. >>> He passed by (masculine singular)
• Elle est passée. >>> She passed by (feminine singular)
• Nous sommes passés. >>> We passed by (masculine plural)
• Nous sommes  passées. >>> We passed by (feminine plural)
• Vous êtes passés. >>> You passed by (masculine plural)
• Vous êtes  passées. >>> You passed by (feminine plural)
• Ils sont passés. >>> They passed by (masculine plural)
• Elles sont passées. >>> They passed by (feminine plural)

An expression with PASSER and ÊTRE.

In the same idea but now we have an expression

• passer voir quelqu’un. >>> to call by to see someone.

In a full sentence, you would say this:

• Je suis passé te voir mais tu n’étais pas là. >>> I called by to see you but you weren’t here.

2 French expressions with SE PASSER.

In the first place, whenever you see se before a verb, you deal with a reflexive verb. The action is on the person/ object.

The first expression you are going to see works only with the third person (it) because it’s impersonal. No one is doing anything…

• se passer. >>> to happen.

The common question is:

• Que se passe-t-il ? >>> What’s happening?

Another version less formal:

• Qu’est-ce qui se passe ? >>> What’s going on?

Another way to use se passer that you may have never heard of…

• se passer de. >>> to pass on sometihng (refuse).

We usually use it for food like here:

• Tu veux un dessert ? Merci, mais je m’en passe.>>> Do you want a dessert? Thanks, but I’ll pass on that.

Since the conjugation may be tricky, I’m giving it to you:

• Je me passe de… >>> I pass on…
• Tu te passes de… >>> You pass on…
• Il/elle se passe de… >>> S/he passes on…
• Nous nous passons de… >>> We pass on…
• Vous vous passez de… >>> You pass on…
• Ils / elles se passent de… >>> They pass on…

A few verbs derived from PASSER. 

Since you master the verb passer at this stage, you can easily play with others like dépasser.

• dépasser. >>> to go over.

Here’s an illustration:

• Je pense que j’ai dépassé la limite de vitesse. >>> I think I’ve gone over the speed limit.

There are other verbs with the same root of passer:

• repasser. >>> to review / to iron
• surpasser >>> to surpass.

Passer with AVOIR and ÊTRE.

In conclusion, there is a variety of use for the verb PASSER. Not only can you use it in different contexts but it also changes with the vocabulary accompanying it.

It could mean to pass something, to spend time, to pass by or to call by to see.

In addition, with the reflexive version, it signifies to happen or to pass on something.

Finally, with another prefix, you add up other verbs: dépasser, surpasser, repasser…

In case, you want to consolidate the perfect tense, I’m sharing with you this mini-lesson about it:

Speak and understand French better with 5 past participles

https://www.simplyfrenchonline.com/blog/speak-and-understand-french-better-with-5-past-participles

The following FREE masterclass is available to you to guide you through being able to speak French with confidence.  And if you speak with more confidence, you also hear more easily - really.  Take a peek . . .  https://www.simplyfrenchonline.com head for LEARN and then Masterclass. 

Did you know about these agreement rules with AVOIR before this mini-lesson?