rire Passé composé Tense Conjugation in French

The passé composé of rire — laugh — is the form you need for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. rire is the verb for talking about humour: it comes up whenever you talk about describing a funny film or laughing with friends. This page gives you the complete passé composé table for rire, 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 ri beaucoup cette semaine.” — “I have laughed a lot this week.”

Passé composé conjugation of rire

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

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

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

How the passé composé of rire is formed

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

Because rire uses avoir as its auxiliary, the participle ri 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 ri.

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

When to use the passé composé of rire

Completed actions at a specific time

Use the passé composé for an action that started and finished in the past. For example: “J'ai ri beaucoup cette semaine.” — “I have laughed a lot this week.”

A sequence of actions

Use the passé composé to list one finished action after another. For example: “Nous avons ri aux blagues cette semaine.” — “We have laughed at jokes this week.”

Recent events and news

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

Life experience

Use the passé composé to talk about things you have done in your life. For example: “J'ai ri très fort cette semaine.” — “I have laughed very loudly this week.”

Passé composé vs imperfect: rire finished, rire in progress

The passé composé and the imperfect are the two tenses learners confuse most with rire. 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 ri beaucoup cette semaine.” — “I have laughed a lot this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Je risais beaucoup avant.” — “I used to laugh a lot before.”

  • Passé composé: “Il a ri aux blagues cette semaine.” — “He has laughed at jokes this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Il risait aux blagues avant.” — “He used to laugh at jokes before.”

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

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

Example sentences: rire in the passé composé

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

  • “J'ai ri beaucoup cette semaine.” — “I have laughed a lot this week.”
  • “Tu as ri aux blagues cette semaine.” — “You have laughed at jokes this week.”
  • “Il a ri tous les jours cette semaine.” — “He has laughed every day this week.”
  • “Nous avons ri très fort cette semaine.” — “We have laughed very loudly this week.”
  • “Vous avez ri beaucoup cette semaine.” — “You have laughed a lot this week.”
  • “Ils ont ri aux blagues cette semaine.” — “They have laughed at jokes this week.”

Common mistakes in the passé composé of rire

1. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Je avons ri beaucoup.”

✓ Right: “Je ai ri beaucoup.”

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

2. Using the present for a finished action

✗ Wrong: “Hier, je ris aux blagues.”

✓ Right: “Hier, j'ai ri aux blagues.”

The present ris describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé ai ri.

3. Forgetting the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Je ri tous les jours hier.”

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

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

4. Using the passé composé where the imperfect belongs

✗ Wrong: “Avant, je ai ri très fort tous les jours.” (said of a repeated habit)

✓ Right: “Avant, je risais très fort tous les jours.”

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

5. Mixing up tu and je

✗ Wrong: “Tu ai ri beaucoup.”

✓ Right: “Tu as ri beaucoup.”

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

Quiz: test yourself on the passé composé of rire

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    • A) avez ri
    • B) a ri
    • C) avons ri
    • D) ont ri

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

    • A) as ri
    • B) ont ri
    • C) ai ri
    • D) avez ri

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

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

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

    • A) risent
    • B) ris
    • C) risez
    • D) risons

  8. What is the gerund of rire?

    • A) dormant
    • B) risant
    • C) buvant

  9. What is the past participle of rire?

    • A) ri
    • B) dormi
    • C) bu

  10. What does rire mean in English?

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

Answer key

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

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the passé composé of rire?

Use it for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. For rire that covers talking about humour, describing a funny film and laughing with friends.

Is the passé composé of rire regular?

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

What is the past participle of rire?

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

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

Say “J'ai ri beaucoup cette semaine.” — “I have laughed a lot this week.” The je form is ai ri.

Pronunciation

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

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