Mettre in the Passé composé Tense in French

Introduction

Mettre means “to put”, and this page covers exactly one thing: mettre in the passé composé. The passé composé is the tense French speakers reach for when they talk about completed actions in the past — what happened yesterday, last week, or a moment ago. On this page you will find the full passé composé table for mettre, how the tense is formed for this verb, the situations where it is used, how it differs from the imperfect, worked examples, the mistakes learners make most often, an eight-question quiz with explained answers, and answers to the questions students ask about mettre in the passé composé. For example: “J'ai mis un manteau en hiver cette semaine.” — “I have put a coat in winter this week.” Everything on this page uses the forms of mettre exactly as they are conjugated in the passé composé, so you can trust every form you see here.

Mettre in the Passé composé Tense — full table

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

Gerund: mettant · Past participle: mis

The gerund is mettant, which you use after en for an action happening at the same time as another action. The past participle is mis, which you use with avoir in the perfect tenses: the je form of the present perfect is ai mis, used for a completed action. Keep both forms in mind as you read the examples below, because the passé composé is only one part of how mettre is used.

How the passé composé of mettre is formed

The passé composé of mettre is formed with the auxiliary avoir in the present plus the past participle mis: the auxiliary forms are je ai, tu as, il/elle a, nous avons, vous avez, ils/elles ont. Put the two parts together and you get the table above — for example, the je form is ai mis and the ils form is ont mis. The participle mis never changes its spelling in this table: the verified dump gives the participle in the masculine singular form throughout, and agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence.

Because mettre takes avoir as its auxiliary, the passé composé is built the same way as for most French verbs: avoir in the present, then mis. That is the first thing to check whenever you build a perfect tense with this verb: reach for avoir, and then add mis.

The same participle mis appears in the pluperfect, the future perfect and the conditional perfect — only the auxiliary changes tense. Learn the pair “avoir + mis” once and you have the key to all four perfect tenses of mettre.

When to use the passé composé of mettre

The passé composé is not a single-purpose tense. Below are the five situations where you will use mettre in the passé composé most often. Each one comes with a real example, so read the rule, then say the example out loud.

1. Putting a coat in winter — finished

When the action of putting a coat in winter is finished, the passé composé is the tense to use. It presents the action as complete, with a clear end. Example: “J'ai mis un manteau en hiver cette semaine.” — “I have put a coat in winter this week.”

2. Putting the book on the table — finished

The same rule applies to putting the book on the table: once the action is done, the passé composé reports it as a completed fact. Example: “Tu as mis le livre sur la table cette semaine.” — “You have put the book on the table this week.”

3. Putting my shoes before going out — finished

A third everyday situation is putting my shoes before going out, and again the passé composé is right when the action is finished. Example: “Il a mis mes chaussures avant de sortir cette semaine.” — “He has put my shoes before going out this week.”

4. A sequence of completed actions

The passé composé is the tense of the story told step by step: first this happened, then that happened. When you tell someone what you did yesterday, you chain passé composé forms together, one per finished action. Example: “Nous avons mis un manteau en hiver cette semaine.” — “We have put a coat in winter this week.”

5. Recent past and life experience

The passé composé also covers the recent past and things that have happened at some point in your life. With time words such as hier, la semaine dernière or ce matin, the passé composé is the natural choice. Example: “Vous avez mis le livre sur la table cette semaine.” — “You have put the book on the table this week.”

Passé Composé vs Imperfect: how to choose

The closest tense to the passé composé is the imperfect, and learners mix them up constantly. The rule is simple: the imperfect describes an ongoing or habitual past action, while the passé composé describes one finished action. The three pairs below use the same verb, so the only thing that changes is the time frame — and with it, the tense. Notice how the passé composé sentences use words such as tous les jours or hier, while the imperfect sentences use autrefois or quand. Those time words are your best clue when you are choosing a tense.

  • Passé composé: “J'ai mis un manteau en hiver cette semaine.” — “I have put a coat in winter this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Je mettais un manteau en hiver autrefois.” — “I used to put a coat in winter in the past.”

  • The passé composé sentence is about the present moment or one finished action; the imperfect sentence is about the past as it used to be. That difference — now or finished versus ongoing in the past — is the whole decision.

  • Passé composé: “Tu as mis le livre sur la table cette semaine.” — “You have put the book on the table this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Tu mettais le livre sur la table autrefois.” — “You used to put the book on the table in the past.”

  • The passé composé sentence is about the present moment or one finished action; the imperfect sentence is about the past as it used to be. That difference — now or finished versus ongoing in the past — is the whole decision.

  • Passé composé: “Nous avons mis mes chaussures avant de sortir cette semaine.” — “We have put my shoes before going out this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Nous mettions mes chaussures avant de sortir autrefois.” — “We used to put my shoes before going out in the past.”

  • The passé composé sentence is about the present moment or one finished action; the imperfect sentence is about the past as it used to be. That difference — now or finished versus ongoing in the past — is the whole decision.

Example sentences: mettre in the passé composé

Read these eight sentences out loud. They cover all six persons, so by the end you will have seen every form in the table used in a real sentence. Pay attention to the words around the verb — the time expressions, the objects, the other words — because those are what make each sentence sound natural.

  1. “J'ai mis le livre sur la table cette semaine.” — “I have put the book on the table this week.”

  2. “Tu as mis mes chaussures avant de sortir cette semaine.” — “You have put my shoes before going out this week.”

  3. “Il a mis un manteau en hiver cette semaine.” — “He has put a coat in winter this week.”

  4. “Nous avons mis le livre sur la table cette semaine.” — “We have put the book on the table this week.”

  5. “Vous avez mis mes chaussures avant de sortir cette semaine.” — “You have put my shoes before going out this week.”

  6. “Ils ont mis un manteau en hiver cette semaine.” — “They have put a coat in winter this week.”

  7. “J'ai mis le livre sur la table cette semaine.” — “I have put the book on the table this week.”

  8. “Tu as mis mes chaussures avant de sortir cette semaine.” — “You have put my shoes before going out this week.”

Common mistakes with mettre in the passé composé

These are the errors learners actually make with this verb in this tense. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.

  • Wrong: “Je mets un manteau en hiver hier.” Right: “Je ai mis un manteau en hiver hier.” Why: For one finished action yesterday, use the passé composé ai mis, not the present mets. The time word hier points to the past.

  • Wrong: “Je ai mis un manteau en hiver tous les jours.” (said of a daily habit) Right: “Je mets un manteau en hiver tous les jours.” Why: The passé composé ai mis describes one finished action. For something you do every day, use the present mets.

  • Wrong: “Je avoir un manteau en hiver.” — leaving out the participle Right: “Je ai mis un manteau en hiver.” Why: The passé composé needs both parts: the auxiliary avoir and the participle mis. The auxiliary alone is not a complete passé composé.

  • Wrong: “Je mettais un manteau en hiver hier.” (said of one finished action) Right: “Je ai mis un manteau en hiver hier.” Why: The imperfect mettais describes an ongoing past situation. For one finished action yesterday, use the passé composé ai mis.

Quiz: mettre in the passé composé

Choose the correct answer for each question, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained, so a wrong answer still teaches you something.

1. Complete the sentence: “Je ______ le livre sur la table.”

  • (A) avons mis
  • (B) ai mis
  • (C) as mis
  • (D) a mis

2. Complete the sentence: “Tu ______ mes chaussures avant de sortir.”

  • (A) ai mis
  • (B) a mis
  • (C) avons mis
  • (D) as mis

3. Complete the sentence: “Il ______ un manteau en hiver.”

  • (A) as mis
  • (B) avons mis
  • (C) a mis
  • (D) ai mis

4. Complete the sentence: “Nous ______ le livre sur la table.”

  • (A) avons mis
  • (B) ai mis
  • (C) as mis
  • (D) a mis

5. Complete the sentence: “Vous ______ mes chaussures avant de sortir.”

  • (A) a mis
  • (B) avez mis
  • (C) ai mis
  • (D) as mis

6. Complete the sentence: “Ils ______ un manteau en hiver.”

  • (A) as mis
  • (B) a mis
  • (C) ont mis
  • (D) ai mis

7. What does mettre mean in English?

  • (A) to put
  • (B) to must, to owe
  • (C) to give
  • (D) to find

8. What is the past participle of mettre?

  • (A) dû
  • (B) donné
  • (C) trouvé
  • (D) mis

Answer key

  1. B) ai mis — The je form is ai mis.
  2. D) as mis — The tu form is as mis.
  3. C) a mis — The il/elle form is a mis.
  4. A) avons mis — The nous form is avons mis.
  5. B) avez mis — The vous form is avez mis.
  6. C) ont mis — The ils/elles form is ont mis.
  7. A) to put — mettre means “to put”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
  8. D) mis — The past participle of mettre is mis; the passé composé is formed with avoir + mis.

Frequently asked questions

How is the passé composé of mettre formed?

With the auxiliary avoir in the present plus the past participle mis: je ai mis, tu as mis, il a mis, nous avons mis, vous avez mis, ils ont mis.

When do I use the passé composé of mettre?

Use the passé composé for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French — for example, “J'ai mis un manteau en hiver cette semaine.” — “I have put a coat in winter this week.” For an ongoing or habitual past action, use the imperfect instead.

What is the difference between the passé composé and the imperfect of mettre?

The passé composé reports one finished action; the imperfect describes background, habit or an action in progress in the past. Compare “J'ai mis un manteau en hiver cette semaine.” with “Je mettais un manteau en hiver autrefois.” — the first is finished, the second is ongoing in the past.

Pronunciation

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

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