envoyer Passé composé Tense Conjugation in French

The passé composé of envoyer — send — is the form you need for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. envoyer is the verb for sending post: it comes up whenever you talk about writing to a friend or sending a parcel. This page gives you the complete passé composé table for envoyer, 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 envoyé une lettre cette semaine.” — “I have sent a letter this week.”

Passé composé conjugation of envoyer

Every form in the table below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for envoyer. envoyer is regular with a spelling change (yer) (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 — envoyer

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

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

How the passé composé of envoyer is formed

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

Because envoyer uses avoir as its auxiliary, the participle envoyé 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 envoyé.

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

When to use the passé composé of envoyer

Completed actions at a specific time

Use the passé composé for an action that started and finished in the past. For example: “J'ai envoyé une lettre cette semaine.” — “I have sent a letter this week.”

A sequence of actions

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

Recent events and news

Use the passé composé for something that has just happened. For example: “Il a envoyé un colis cette semaine.” — “He has sent a parcel this week.”

Life experience

Use the passé composé to talk about things you have done in your life. For example: “J'ai envoyé un e-mail cette semaine.” — “I have sent an e-mail this week.”

Passé composé vs imperfect: envoyer finished, envoyer in progress

The passé composé and the imperfect are the two tenses learners confuse most with envoyer. 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 envoyé une lettre cette semaine.” — “I have sent a letter this week.”

  • Imperfect: “J'envoyais une lettre avant.” — “I used to send a letter before.”

  • Passé composé: “Il a envoyé un message cette semaine.” — “He has sent a message this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Il envoyait un message avant.” — “He used to send a message before.”

  • Passé composé: “Nous avons envoyé un colis cette semaine.” — “We have sent a parcel this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Nous envoyions un colis avant.” — “We used to send a parcel before.”

Example sentences: envoyer in the passé composé

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

  • “J'ai envoyé une lettre cette semaine.” — “I have sent a letter this week.”
  • “Tu as envoyé un message cette semaine.” — “You have sent a message this week.”
  • “Il a envoyé un colis cette semaine.” — “He has sent a parcel this week.”
  • “Nous avons envoyé un e-mail cette semaine.” — “We have sent an e-mail this week.”
  • “Vous avez envoyé une lettre cette semaine.” — “You have sent a letter this week.”
  • “Ils ont envoyé un message cette semaine.” — “They have sent a message this week.”

Common mistakes in the passé composé of envoyer

1. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Je avons envoyé une lettre.”

✓ Right: “Je ai envoyé une lettre.”

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

2. Using the present for a finished action

✗ Wrong: “Hier, je envoie un message.”

✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai envoyé un message.”

The present envoie describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai envoyé.

3. Forgetting the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Je envoyé un colis hier.”

✓ Right: “J'ai envoyé un colis hier.”

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

4. Using the passé composé where the imperfect belongs

✗ Wrong: “Avant, je ai envoyé un e-mail tous les jours.” (said of a repeated habit)

✓ Right: “Avant, je envoyais un e-mail tous les jours.”

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

5. Mixing up tu and je

✗ Wrong: “Tu ai envoyé une lettre.”

✓ Right: “Tu as envoyé une lettre.”

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

Quiz: test yourself on the passé composé of envoyer

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

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

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

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

    • A) avons envoyé
    • B) ai envoyé
    • C) a envoyé
    • D) as envoyé

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

    • A) as envoyé
    • B) avons envoyé
    • C) ont envoyé
    • D) a envoyé

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

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

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

    • A) as envoyé
    • B) avons envoyé
    • C) ai envoyé
    • D) avez envoyé

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

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

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

    • A) envoyons
    • B) envoient
    • C) envoies
    • D) envoie

  8. What is the gerund of envoyer?

    • A) dormant
    • B) buvant
    • C) envoyant

  9. What is the past participle of envoyer?

    • A) bu
    • B) envoyé
    • C) dormi

  10. What does envoyer mean in English?

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

Answer key

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

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the passé composé of envoyer?

Use it for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. For envoyer that covers sending post, writing to a friend and sending a parcel.

Is the passé composé of envoyer regular?

envoyer is regular with a spelling change (yer). In the passé composé it is regular — copy the forms from the table on this page.

What is the past participle of envoyer?

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

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

Say “J'ai envoyé une lettre cette semaine.” — “I have sent a letter this week.” The je form is ai envoyé.

Pronunciation

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

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