Permettre in the Passé composé Tense in French

Introduction

Permettre means “to allow”, and this page covers exactly one thing: permettre 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 permettre, 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 permettre in the passé composé. For example: “J'ai permis à Marie de partir cette semaine.” — “I have allowed Marie to leave this week.” Everything on this page uses the forms of permettre exactly as they are conjugated in the passé composé, so you can trust every form you see here.

Permettre in the Passé composé Tense — full table

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

Gerund: permettant · Past participle: permis

The gerund is permettant, which you use after en for an action happening at the same time as another action. The past participle is permis, which you use with avoir in the perfect tenses: the je form of the present perfect is ai permis, 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 permettre is used.

How the passé composé of permettre is formed

The passé composé of permettre is formed with the auxiliary avoir in the present plus the past participle permis: 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 permis and the ils form is ont permis. The participle permis 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 permettre takes avoir as its auxiliary, the passé composé is built the same way as for most French verbs: avoir in the present, then permis. That is the first thing to check whenever you build a perfect tense with this verb: reach for avoir, and then add permis.

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

When to use the passé composé of permettre

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

1. Allowing Marie to leave — finished

When the action of allowing Marie to leave is finished, the passé composé is the tense to use. It presents the action as complete, with a clear end. Example: “J'ai permis à Marie de partir cette semaine.” — “I have allowed Marie to leave this week.”

2. Allowing my brother to use my book — finished

The same rule applies to allowing my brother to use my book: once the action is done, the passé composé reports it as a completed fact. Example: “Tu as permis à mon frère d'utiliser mon livre cette semaine.” — “You have allowed my brother to use my book this week.”

3. Allowing going out this evening — finished

A third everyday situation is allowing going out this evening, and again the passé composé is right when the action is finished. Example: “Il a permis de sortir ce soir cette semaine.” — “He has allowed going out this evening 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 permis à Marie de partir cette semaine.” — “We have allowed Marie to leave 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 permis à mon frère d'utiliser mon livre cette semaine.” — “You have allowed my brother to use my book 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 permis à Marie de partir cette semaine.” — “I have allowed Marie to leave this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Je permettais à Marie de partir autrefois.” — “I used to allow Marie to leave 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 permis à mon frère d'utiliser mon livre cette semaine.” — “You have allowed my brother to use my book this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Tu permettais à mon frère d'utiliser mon livre autrefois.” — “You used to allow my brother to use my book 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 permis de sortir ce soir cette semaine.” — “We have allowed going out this evening this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Nous permettions de sortir ce soir autrefois.” — “We used to allow going out this evening 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: permettre 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 permis à mon frère d'utiliser mon livre cette semaine.” — “I have allowed my brother to use my book this week.”

  2. “Tu as permis de sortir ce soir cette semaine.” — “You have allowed going out this evening this week.”

  3. “Il a permis à Marie de partir cette semaine.” — “He has allowed Marie to leave this week.”

  4. “Nous avons permis à mon frère d'utiliser mon livre cette semaine.” — “We have allowed my brother to use my book this week.”

  5. “Vous avez permis de sortir ce soir cette semaine.” — “You have allowed going out this evening this week.”

  6. “Ils ont permis à Marie de partir cette semaine.” — “They have allowed Marie to leave this week.”

  7. “J'ai permis à mon frère d'utiliser mon livre cette semaine.” — “I have allowed my brother to use my book this week.”

  8. “Tu as permis de sortir ce soir cette semaine.” — “You have allowed going out this evening this week.”

Common mistakes with permettre 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 permets à Marie de partir hier.” Right: “Je ai permis à Marie de partir hier.” Why: For one finished action yesterday, use the passé composé ai permis, not the present permets. The time word hier points to the past.

  • Wrong: “Je ai permis à Marie de partir tous les jours.” (said of a daily habit) Right: “Je permets à Marie de partir tous les jours.” Why: The passé composé ai permis describes one finished action. For something you do every day, use the present permets.

  • Wrong: “Je avoir à Marie de partir.” — leaving out the participle Right: “Je ai permis à Marie de partir.” Why: The passé composé needs both parts: the auxiliary avoir and the participle permis. The auxiliary alone is not a complete passé composé.

  • Wrong: “Je permettais à Marie de partir hier.” (said of one finished action) Right: “Je ai permis à Marie de partir hier.” Why: The imperfect permettais describes an ongoing past situation. For one finished action yesterday, use the passé composé ai permis.

Quiz: permettre 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 ______ à mon frère d'utiliser mon livre.”

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

2. Complete the sentence: “Tu ______ de sortir ce soir.”

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

3. Complete the sentence: “Il ______ à Marie de partir.”

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

4. Complete the sentence: “Nous ______ à mon frère d'utiliser mon livre.”

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

5. Complete the sentence: “Vous ______ de sortir ce soir.”

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

6. Complete the sentence: “Ils ______ à Marie de partir.”

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

7. What does permettre mean in English?

  • (A) to look for
  • (B) to answer
  • (C) to allow
  • (D) to look at

8. What is the past participle of permettre?

  • (A) permis
  • (B) regardé
  • (C) cherché
  • (D) répondu

Answer key

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

Frequently asked questions

How is the passé composé of permettre formed?

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

When do I use the passé composé of permettre?

Use the passé composé for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French — for example, “J'ai permis à Marie de partir cette semaine.” — “I have allowed Marie to leave 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 permettre?

The passé composé reports one finished action; the imperfect describes background, habit or an action in progress in the past. Compare “J'ai permis à Marie de partir cette semaine.” with “Je permettais à Marie de partir 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 permettre, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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