conduire Passé composé Tense Conjugation in French

The passé composé of conduire — drive — is the form you need for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. conduire is the verb for talking about driving: it comes up whenever you talk about describing the journey to work or learning to drive. This page gives you the complete passé composé table for conduire, 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 conduit la voiture cette semaine.” — “I have driven the car this week.”

Passé composé conjugation of conduire

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

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

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

How the passé composé of conduire is formed

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

Because conduire uses avoir as its auxiliary, the participle conduit 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 conduit.

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

When to use the passé composé of conduire

Completed actions at a specific time

Use the passé composé for an action that started and finished in the past. For example: “J'ai conduit la voiture cette semaine.” — “I have driven the car this week.”

A sequence of actions

Use the passé composé to list one finished action after another. For example: “Nous avons conduit prudemment cette semaine.” — “We have driven carefully this week.”

Recent events and news

Use the passé composé for something that has just happened. For example: “Il a conduit tous les jours cette semaine.” — “He has driven every day this week.”

Life experience

Use the passé composé to talk about things you have done in your life. For example: “J'ai conduit en ville cette semaine.” — “I have driven in town this week.”

Passé composé vs imperfect: conduire finished, conduire in progress

The passé composé and the imperfect are the two tenses learners confuse most with conduire. 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 conduit la voiture cette semaine.” — “I have driven the car this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Je conduisais la voiture avant.” — “I used to drive the car before.”

  • Passé composé: “Il a conduit prudemment cette semaine.” — “He has driven carefully this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Il conduisait prudemment avant.” — “He used to drive carefully before.”

  • Passé composé: “Nous avons conduit tous les jours cette semaine.” — “We have driven every day this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Nous conduisions tous les jours avant.” — “We used to drive every day before.”

Example sentences: conduire in the passé composé

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

  • “J'ai conduit la voiture cette semaine.” — “I have driven the car this week.”
  • “Tu as conduit prudemment cette semaine.” — “You have driven carefully this week.”
  • “Il a conduit tous les jours cette semaine.” — “He has driven every day this week.”
  • “Nous avons conduit en ville cette semaine.” — “We have driven in town this week.”
  • “Vous avez conduit la voiture cette semaine.” — “You have driven the car this week.”
  • “Ils ont conduit prudemment cette semaine.” — “They have driven carefully this week.”

Common mistakes in the passé composé of conduire

1. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Je avons conduit la voiture.”

✓ Right: “Je ai conduit la voiture.”

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

2. Using the present for a finished action

✗ Wrong: “Hier, je conduis prudemment.”

✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai conduit prudemment.”

The present conduis describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai conduit.

3. Forgetting the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Je conduit tous les jours hier.”

✓ Right: “J'ai conduit tous les jours hier.”

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

4. Using the passé composé where the imperfect belongs

✗ Wrong: “Avant, je ai conduit en ville tous les jours.” (said of a repeated habit)

✓ Right: “Avant, je conduisais en ville tous les jours.”

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

5. Mixing up tu and je

✗ Wrong: “Tu ai conduit la voiture.”

✓ Right: “Tu as conduit la voiture.”

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

Quiz: test yourself on the passé composé of conduire

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

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

    • A) ai conduit
    • B) ont conduit
    • C) avez conduit
    • D) a conduit

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

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

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

    • A) ont conduit
    • B) a conduit
    • C) ai conduit
    • D) avons conduit

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

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

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

    • A) ont conduit
    • B) ai conduit
    • C) avez conduit
    • D) a conduit

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

    • A) a conduit
    • B) avez conduit
    • C) ont conduit
    • D) ai conduit

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

    • A) conduisons
    • B) conduisez
    • C) conduit
    • D) conduis

  8. What is the gerund of conduire?

    • A) conduisant
    • B) buvant
    • C) dormant

  9. What is the past participle of conduire?

    • A) conduit
    • B) dormi
    • C) bu

  10. What does conduire mean in English?

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

Answer key

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

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the passé composé of conduire?

Use it for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. For conduire that covers talking about driving, describing the journey to work and learning to drive.

Is the passé composé of conduire regular?

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

What is the past participle of conduire?

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

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

Say “J'ai conduit la voiture cette semaine.” — “I have driven the car this week.” The je form is ai conduit.

Pronunciation

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

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