boire Passé composé Tense Conjugation in French

The passé composé of boire — drink — is the form you need for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. boire is the verb for ordering a drink in a café: it comes up whenever you talk about talking about daily habits at the table or describing what you drank yesterday. This page gives you the complete passé composé table for boire, 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 bu de l'eau cette semaine.” — “I have drunk water this week.”

Passé composé conjugation of boire

Every form in the table below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for boire. boire 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 — boire

Person Form
je ai bu
tu as bu
il/elle a bu
nous avons bu
vous avez bu
ils/elles ont bu

The gerund of boire is en buvant and the past participle is bu. The participle matters here because the passé composé is often confused with the other past tenses — keep them apart.

How the passé composé of boire is formed

The passé composé of boire is formed with the auxiliary avoir in the present plus the past participle bu. The six forms are ai bu, as bu, a bu, avons bu, avez bu and ont bu. The auxiliary is avoir for this verb — do not swap it for the other auxiliary.

Because boire uses avoir as its auxiliary, the participle bu 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 bu.

The passé composé is the everyday spoken past tense in French. Learn these six forms as a set: once you can say ai bu without thinking, you can talk about anything you did yesterday.

When to use the passé composé of boire

Completed actions at a specific time

Use the passé composé for an action that started and finished in the past. For example: “J'ai bu de l'eau cette semaine.” — “I have drunk water this week.”

A sequence of actions

Use the passé composé to list one finished action after another. For example: “Nous avons bu un café cette semaine.” — “We have drunk a coffee this week.”

Recent events and news

Use the passé composé for something that has just happened. For example: “Il a bu du thé cette semaine.” — “He has drunk some tea this week.”

Life experience

Use the passé composé to talk about things you have done in your life. For example: “J'ai bu un verre de jus cette semaine.” — “I have drunk a glass of juice this week.”

Passé composé vs imperfect: boire finished, boire in progress

The passé composé and the imperfect are the two tenses learners confuse most with boire. 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 bu de l'eau cette semaine.” — “I have drunk water this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Je buvais de l'eau avant.” — “I used to drink water before.”

  • Passé composé: “Il a bu un café cette semaine.” — “He has drunk a coffee this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Il buvait un café avant.” — “He used to drink a coffee before.”

  • Passé composé: “Nous avons bu du thé cette semaine.” — “We have drunk some tea this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Nous buvions du thé avant.” — “We used to drink some tea before.”

Example sentences: boire in the passé composé

Six sentences using only the passé composé of boire, with English translations. Read them aloud — saying the forms is the fastest way to fix them in memory.

  • “J'ai bu de l'eau cette semaine.” — “I have drunk water this week.”
  • “Tu as bu un café cette semaine.” — “You have drunk a coffee this week.”
  • “Il a bu du thé cette semaine.” — “He has drunk some tea this week.”
  • “Nous avons bu un verre de jus cette semaine.” — “We have drunk a glass of juice this week.”
  • “Vous avez bu de l'eau cette semaine.” — “You have drunk water this week.”
  • “Ils ont bu un café cette semaine.” — “They have drunk a coffee this week.”

Common mistakes in the passé composé of boire

1. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Je avons bu de l'eau.”

✓ Right: “Je ai bu de l'eau.”

avons bu is the nous form. With je the passé composé form is ai bu.

2. Using the present for a finished action

✗ Wrong: “Hier, je bois un café.”

✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai bu un café.”

The present bois describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai bu.

3. Forgetting the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Je bu du thé hier.”

✓ Right: “J'ai bu du thé hier.”

The passé composé needs its auxiliary: ai bu is avoir + bu. The participle alone is not a finished sentence.

4. Using the passé composé where the imperfect belongs

✗ Wrong: “Avant, je ai bu un verre de jus tous les jours.” (said of a repeated habit)

✓ Right: “Avant, je buvais un verre de jus tous les jours.”

For something you did regularly in the past, use the imperfect buvais.

5. Mixing up tu and je

✗ Wrong: “Tu ai bu de l'eau.”

✓ Right: “Tu as bu de l'eau.”

With tu the passé composé form is as bu, not ai bu. Copy the form for the right person from the table.

Quiz: test yourself on the passé composé of boire

Ten questions on boire. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the je form of boire in the Present perfect?

    • A) ont bu
    • B) as bu
    • C) a bu
    • D) ai bu

  2. What is the tu form of boire in the Present perfect?

    • A) as bu
    • B) avez bu
    • C) a bu
    • D) ai bu

  3. What is the il/elle form of boire in the Present perfect?

    • A) as bu
    • B) ai bu
    • C) a bu
    • D) avez bu

  4. What is the nous form of boire in the Present perfect?

    • A) avez bu
    • B) ont bu
    • C) a bu
    • D) avons bu

  5. What is the vous form of boire in the Present perfect?

    • A) avez bu
    • B) avons bu
    • C) ai bu
    • D) ont bu

  6. What is the ils/elles form of boire in the Present perfect?

    • A) ont bu
    • B) a bu
    • C) ai bu
    • D) as bu

  7. What is the je form of boire in the Present indicative?

    • A) buvez
    • B) boit
    • C) bois
    • D) boivent

  8. What is the gerund of boire?

    • A) ouvrant
    • B) buvant
    • C) dormant

  9. What is the past participle of boire?

    • A) ouvert
    • B) bu
    • C) dormi

  10. What does boire mean in English?

  • A) open
  • B) close
  • C) sleep
  • D) drink

Answer key

  1. D) ai bu — The je form of boire in the present perfect is ai bu.
  2. A) as bu — The tu form of boire in the present perfect is as bu.
  3. C) a bu — The il/elle form of boire in the present perfect is a bu.
  4. D) avons bu — The nous form of boire in the present perfect is avons bu.
  5. A) avez bu — The vous form of boire in the present perfect is avez bu.
  6. A) ont bu — The ils/elles form of boire in the present perfect is ont bu.
  7. C) bois — The je form of boire in the present indicative is bois.
  8. B) buvant — The gerund of boire is en buvant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  9. B) bu — The past participle of boire is bu; perfect tenses use avoir + bu.
  10. D) drink — boire means “drink” in English.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the passé composé of boire?

Use it for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. For boire that covers ordering a drink in a café, talking about daily habits at the table and describing what you drank yesterday.

Is the passé composé of boire regular?

boire is irregular. In the passé composé it is regular — copy the forms from the table on this page.

What is the past participle of boire?

The past participle is bu. The passé composé uses it with avoir for the perfect tenses.

How do I say “I drink” in the passé composé?

Say “J'ai bu de l'eau cette semaine.” — “I have drunk water this week.” The je form is ai bu.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for boire, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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