apprendre Passé composé Tense Conjugation in French
The passé composé of apprendre — learn — is the form you need for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. apprendre is the verb for talking about learning a language: it comes up whenever you talk about describing school or learning a new skill. This page gives you the complete passé composé table for apprendre, how it is formed, when to use it, the mistakes learners make with it, and a quiz to check yourself. The first example shows it in action: “J'ai appris le français cette semaine.” — “I have learned French this week.”
Passé composé conjugation of apprendre
Every form in the table below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for apprendre. apprendre is irregular (regular in the passé composé), so watch out for the forms that break the pattern — they are the ones learners need to memorise.
Passé composé — apprendre
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai appris |
| tu | as appris |
| il/elle | a appris |
| nous | avons appris |
| vous | avez appris |
| ils/elles | ont appris |
The gerund of apprendre is en apprenant and the past participle is appris. The participle matters here because the passé composé is often confused with the other past tenses — keep them apart.
How the passé composé of apprendre is formed
The passé composé of apprendre is formed with the auxiliary avoir in the present plus the past participle appris. The six forms are ai appris, as appris, a appris, avons appris, avez appris and ont appris. The auxiliary is avoir for this verb — do not swap it for the other auxiliary.
Because apprendre uses avoir as its auxiliary, the participle appris is the same in the table for every person. In real sentences the participle can agree in gender and number with the subject when the auxiliary is être, or with a preceding direct object — that agreement is a sentence-level rule, and the base form in the table stays appris.
The passé composé is the everyday spoken past tense in French. Learn these six forms as a set: once you can say ai appris without thinking, you can talk about anything you did yesterday.
When to use the passé composé of apprendre
Completed actions at a specific time
Use the passé composé for an action that started and finished in the past. For example: “J'ai appris le français cette semaine.” — “I have learned French this week.”
A sequence of actions
Use the passé composé to list one finished action after another. For example: “Nous avons appris une chanson cette semaine.” — “We have learned a song this week.”
Recent events and news
Use the passé composé for something that has just happened. For example: “Il a appris les règles cette semaine.” — “He has learned the rules this week.”
Life experience
Use the passé composé to talk about things you have done in your life. For example: “J'ai appris un métier cette semaine.” — “I have learned a trade this week.”
Passé composé vs imperfect: apprendre finished, apprendre in progress
The passé composé and the imperfect are the two tenses learners confuse most with apprendre. The passé composé is for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé; the imperfect is for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and background description. Compare the pairs below — the passé composé form comes from this page, the imperfect form from the full conjugation table.
Passé composé: “J'ai appris le français cette semaine.” — “I have learned French this week.”
Imperfect: “J'apprenais le français avant.” — “I used to learn French before.”
Passé composé: “Il a appris une chanson cette semaine.” — “He has learned a song this week.”
Imperfect: “Il apprenait une chanson avant.” — “He used to learn a song before.”
Passé composé: “Nous avons appris les règles cette semaine.” — “We have learned the rules this week.”
Imperfect: “Nous apprenions les règles avant.” — “We used to learn the rules before.”
Example sentences: apprendre in the passé composé
Six sentences using only the passé composé of apprendre, with English translations. Read them aloud — saying the forms is the fastest way to fix them in memory.
- “J'ai appris le français cette semaine.” — “I have learned French this week.”
- “Tu as appris une chanson cette semaine.” — “You have learned a song this week.”
- “Il a appris les règles cette semaine.” — “He has learned the rules this week.”
- “Nous avons appris un métier cette semaine.” — “We have learned a trade this week.”
- “Vous avez appris le français cette semaine.” — “You have learned French this week.”
- “Ils ont appris une chanson cette semaine.” — “They have learned a song this week.”
Common mistakes in the passé composé of apprendre
1. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Je avons appris le français.”
✓ Right: “Je ai appris le français.”
avons appris is the nous form. With je the passé composé form is ai appris.
2. Using the present for a finished action
✗ Wrong: “Hier, je apprends une chanson.”
✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai appris une chanson.”
The present apprends describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai appris.
3. Forgetting the auxiliary
✗ Wrong: “Je appris les règles hier.”
✓ Right: “J'ai appris les règles hier.”
The passé composé needs its auxiliary: ai appris is avoir + appris. The participle alone is not a finished sentence.
4. Using the passé composé where the imperfect belongs
✗ Wrong: “Avant, je ai appris un métier tous les jours.” (said of a repeated habit)
✓ Right: “Avant, je apprenais un métier tous les jours.”
For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect apprenais.
5. Mixing up tu and je
✗ Wrong: “Tu ai appris le français.”
✓ Right: “Tu as appris le français.”
With tu the passé composé form is as appris, not ai appris. Copy the form for the right person from the table.
Quiz: test yourself on the passé composé of apprendre
Ten questions on apprendre. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of apprendre in the Present perfect?
- A) ai appris
- B) ont appris
- C) avez appris
- D) a appris
What is the tu form of apprendre in the Present perfect?
- A) ai appris
- B) as appris
- C) ont appris
- D) avons appris
What is the il/elle form of apprendre in the Present perfect?
- A) avons appris
- B) ai appris
- C) ont appris
- D) a appris
What is the nous form of apprendre in the Present perfect?
- A) avons appris
- B) a appris
- C) ont appris
- D) avez appris
What is the vous form of apprendre in the Present perfect?
- A) avez appris
- B) a appris
- C) as appris
- D) ai appris
What is the ils/elles form of apprendre in the Present perfect?
- A) as appris
- B) ont appris
- C) avons appris
- D) a appris
What is the je form of apprendre in the Present indicative?
- A) apprennent
- B) apprenons
- C) apprends
- D) apprenez
What is the gerund of apprendre?
- A) apprenant
- B) buvant
- C) dormant
What is the past participle of apprendre?
- A) bu
- B) appris
- C) dormi
What does apprendre mean in English?
- A) open
- B) learn
- C) drink
- D) sleep
Answer key
- A) ai appris — The je form of apprendre in the present perfect is ai appris.
- B) as appris — The tu form of apprendre in the present perfect is as appris.
- D) a appris — The il/elle form of apprendre in the present perfect is a appris.
- A) avons appris — The nous form of apprendre in the present perfect is avons appris.
- A) avez appris — The vous form of apprendre in the present perfect is avez appris.
- B) ont appris — The ils/elles form of apprendre in the present perfect is ont appris.
- C) apprends — The je form of apprendre in the present indicative is apprends.
- A) apprenant — The gerund of apprendre is en apprenant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
- B) appris — The past participle of apprendre is appris; perfect tenses use avoir + appris.
- B) learn — apprendre means “learn” in English.
Frequently asked questions
When do I use the passé composé of apprendre?
Use it for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. For apprendre that covers talking about learning a language, describing school and learning a new skill.
Is the passé composé of apprendre regular?
apprendre is irregular. In the passé composé it is regular — copy the forms from the table on this page.
What is the past participle of apprendre?
The past participle is appris. The passé composé uses it with avoir for the perfect tenses.
How do I say “I learn” in the passé composé?
Say “J'ai appris le français cette semaine.” — “I have learned French this week.” The je form is ai appris.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for apprendre, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Apprendre Conjugation: Full French Verb Tables
- Apprendre Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French
- Enseigner conjugation
- Étudier conjugation
- Écouter conjugation
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages and tools.
- Verb Conjugator — practise apprendre with the interactive tool.
- Irregular Verb Finder — practise apprendre with the interactive tool.
- Verb Quiz — practise apprendre with the interactive tool.