offrir Passé composé Tense Conjugation in French

The passé composé of offrir — offer — is the form you need for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. offrir is the verb for giving a present: it comes up whenever you talk about celebrating a birthday or thanking someone. This page gives you the complete passé composé table for offrir, 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 offert des fleurs cette semaine.” — “I have given some flowers this week.”

Passé composé conjugation of offrir

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

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

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

How the passé composé of offrir is formed

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

Because offrir uses avoir as its auxiliary, the participle offert 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 offert.

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

When to use the passé composé of offrir

Completed actions at a specific time

Use the passé composé for an action that started and finished in the past. For example: “J'ai offert des fleurs cette semaine.” — “I have given some flowers this week.”

A sequence of actions

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

Recent events and news

Use the passé composé for something that has just happened. For example: “Il a offert un livre cette semaine.” — “He has given a book this week.”

Life experience

Use the passé composé to talk about things you have done in your life. For example: “J'ai offert du chocolat cette semaine.” — “I have given some chocolate this week.”

Passé composé vs imperfect: offrir finished, offrir in progress

The passé composé and the imperfect are the two tenses learners confuse most with offrir. 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 offert des fleurs cette semaine.” — “I have given some flowers this week.”

  • Imperfect: “J'offrais des fleurs avant.” — “I used to offer some flowers before.”

  • Passé composé: “Il a offert un cadeau cette semaine.” — “He has given a present this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Il offrait un cadeau avant.” — “He used to offer a present before.”

  • Passé composé: “Nous avons offert un livre cette semaine.” — “We have given a book this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Nous offrions un livre avant.” — “We used to offer a book before.”

Example sentences: offrir in the passé composé

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

  • “J'ai offert des fleurs cette semaine.” — “I have given some flowers this week.”
  • “Tu as offert un cadeau cette semaine.” — “You have given a present this week.”
  • “Il a offert un livre cette semaine.” — “He has given a book this week.”
  • “Nous avons offert du chocolat cette semaine.” — “We have given some chocolate this week.”
  • “Vous avez offert des fleurs cette semaine.” — “You have given some flowers this week.”
  • “Ils ont offert un cadeau cette semaine.” — “They have given a present this week.”

Common mistakes in the passé composé of offrir

1. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Je avons offert des fleurs.”

✓ Right: “Je ai offert des fleurs.”

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

2. Using the present for a finished action

✗ Wrong: “Hier, je offre un cadeau.”

✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai offert un cadeau.”

The present offre describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai offert.

3. Forgetting the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Je offert un livre hier.”

✓ Right: “J'ai offert un livre hier.”

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

4. Using the passé composé where the imperfect belongs

✗ Wrong: “Avant, je ai offert du chocolat tous les jours.” (said of a repeated habit)

✓ Right: “Avant, je offrais du chocolat tous les jours.”

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

5. Mixing up tu and je

✗ Wrong: “Tu ai offert des fleurs.”

✓ Right: “Tu as offert des fleurs.”

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

Quiz: test yourself on the passé composé of offrir

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    • A) avons offert
    • B) avez offert
    • C) a offert
    • D) ai offert

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

    • A) as offert
    • B) avez offert
    • C) ont offert
    • D) a offert

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

    • A) as offert
    • B) avons offert
    • C) avez offert
    • D) ont offert

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

    • A) offrons
    • B) offre
    • C) offres
    • D) offrent

  8. What is the gerund of offrir?

    • A) dormant
    • B) offrant
    • C) buvant

  9. What is the past participle of offrir?

    • A) offert
    • B) dormi
    • C) bu

  10. What does offrir mean in English?

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

Answer key

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

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the passé composé of offrir?

Use it for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. For offrir that covers giving a present, celebrating a birthday and thanking someone.

Is the passé composé of offrir regular?

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

What is the past participle of offrir?

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

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

Say “J'ai offert des fleurs cette semaine.” — “I have given some flowers this week.” The je form is ai offert.

Pronunciation

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

Related pages