se souvenir Passé composé Tense Conjugation in French

The passé composé of se souvenir — remember — is the form you need for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. se souvenir is the verb for talking about memories: it comes up whenever you talk about remembering childhood or recalling a name. This page gives you the complete passé composé table for se souvenir, 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: “Je me suis souvenu de mon enfance cette semaine.” — “I have remembered of my childhood this week.”

Passé composé conjugation of se souvenir

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

Person Form
je suis souvenu
tu es souvenu
il/elle est souvenu
nous sommes souvenu
vous êtes souvenu
ils/elles sont souvenu

The gerund of se souvenir is en souvenant and the past participle is souvenu. The participle matters here because the passé composé is often confused with the other past tenses — keep them apart.

How the passé composé of se souvenir is formed

The passé composé of se souvenir is formed with the auxiliary être in the present plus the past participle souvenu. The six forms are suis souvenu, es souvenu, est souvenu, sommes souvenu, êtes souvenu and sont souvenu. The auxiliary is être for this verb — do not swap it for the other auxiliary.

Because se souvenir uses être as its auxiliary, the participle souvenu 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 souvenu.

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

When to use the passé composé of se souvenir

Completed actions at a specific time

Use the passé composé for an action that started and finished in the past. For example: “Je me suis souvenu de mon enfance cette semaine.” — “I have remembered of my childhood this week.”

A sequence of actions

Use the passé composé to list one finished action after another. For example: “Nous nous sommes souvenu de ce jour cette semaine.” — “We have remembered of that day this week.”

Recent events and news

Use the passé composé for something that has just happened. For example: “Il se est souvenu de son nom cette semaine.” — “He has remembered of his name this week.”

Life experience

Use the passé composé to talk about things you have done in your life. For example: “Je me suis souvenu de tout cette semaine.” — “I have remembered of everything this week.”

Passé composé vs imperfect: se souvenir finished, se souvenir in progress

The passé composé and the imperfect are the two tenses learners confuse most with se souvenir. 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: “Je me suis souvenu de mon enfance cette semaine.” — “I have remembered of my childhood this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Je me souvenais de mon enfance avant.” — “I used to remember of my childhood before.”

  • Passé composé: “Il se est souvenu de ce jour cette semaine.” — “He has remembered of that day this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Il se souvenait de ce jour avant.” — “He used to remember of that day before.”

  • Passé composé: “Nous nous sommes souvenu de son nom cette semaine.” — “We have remembered of his name this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Nous nous souvenions de son nom avant.” — “We used to remember of his name before.”

Example sentences: se souvenir in the passé composé

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

  • “Je me suis souvenu de mon enfance cette semaine.” — “I have remembered of my childhood this week.”
  • “Tu te es souvenu de ce jour cette semaine.” — “You have remembered of that day this week.”
  • “Il se est souvenu de son nom cette semaine.” — “He has remembered of his name this week.”
  • “Nous nous sommes souvenu de tout cette semaine.” — “We have remembered of everything this week.”
  • “Vous vous êtes souvenu de mon enfance cette semaine.” — “You have remembered of my childhood this week.”
  • “Ils se sont souvenu de ce jour cette semaine.” — “They have remembered of that day this week.”

Common mistakes in the passé composé of se souvenir

1. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Je sommes souvenu de mon enfance.”

✓ Right: “Je suis souvenu de mon enfance.”

sommes souvenu is the nous form. With je the passé composé form is suis souvenu.

2. Using the present for a finished action

✗ Wrong: “Hier, je souviens de ce jour.”

✓ Right: “Hier, j'suis souvenu de ce jour.”

The present souviens describes now. For something finished yesterday, use the passé composé suis souvenu.

3. Forgetting the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Je souvenu de son nom hier.”

✓ Right: “J'suis souvenu de son nom hier.”

The passé composé needs its auxiliary: suis souvenu is être + souvenu. The participle alone is not a finished sentence.

4. Using the passé composé where the imperfect belongs

✗ Wrong: “Avant, je suis souvenu de tout tous les jours.” (said of a repeated habit)

✓ Right: “Avant, je souvenais de tout tous les jours.”

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

5. Mixing up tu and je

✗ Wrong: “Tu suis souvenu de mon enfance.”

✓ Right: “Tu es souvenu de mon enfance.”

With tu the passé composé form is es souvenu, not suis souvenu. Copy the form for the right person from the table.

Quiz: test yourself on the passé composé of se souvenir

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

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

    • A) sont souvenu
    • B) es souvenu
    • C) êtes souvenu
    • D) suis souvenu

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

    • A) suis souvenu
    • B) êtes souvenu
    • C) es souvenu
    • D) sont souvenu

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

    • A) sommes souvenu
    • B) sont souvenu
    • C) est souvenu
    • D) suis souvenu

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

    • A) est souvenu
    • B) êtes souvenu
    • C) sommes souvenu
    • D) es souvenu

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

    • A) sommes souvenu
    • B) êtes souvenu
    • C) suis souvenu
    • D) es souvenu

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

    • A) est souvenu
    • B) es souvenu
    • C) sont souvenu
    • D) sommes souvenu

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

    • A) souvenez
    • B) souviennent
    • C) souviens
    • D) souvient

  8. What is the gerund of se souvenir?

    • A) buvant
    • B) dormant
    • C) souvenant

  9. What is the past participle of se souvenir?

    • A) dormi
    • B) bu
    • C) souvenu

  10. What does se souvenir mean in English?

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

Answer key

  1. D) suis souvenu — The je form of se souvenir in the present perfect is suis souvenu.
  2. C) es souvenu — The tu form of se souvenir in the present perfect is es souvenu.
  3. C) est souvenu — The il/elle form of se souvenir in the present perfect is est souvenu.
  4. C) sommes souvenu — The nous form of se souvenir in the present perfect is sommes souvenu.
  5. B) êtes souvenu — The vous form of se souvenir in the present perfect is êtes souvenu.
  6. C) sont souvenu — The ils/elles form of se souvenir in the present perfect is sont souvenu.
  7. C) souviens — The je form of se souvenir in the present indicative is souviens.
  8. C) souvenant — The gerund of se souvenir is en souvenant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  9. C) souvenu — The past participle of se souvenir is souvenu; perfect tenses use être + souvenu.
  10. D) remember — se souvenir means “remember” in English.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the passé composé of se souvenir?

Use it for recent past actions and life experience; this is the everyday spoken past tense, the passé composé. For se souvenir that covers talking about memories, remembering childhood and recalling a name.

Is the passé composé of se souvenir regular?

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

What is the past participle of se souvenir?

The past participle is souvenu. The passé composé uses it with être for the perfect tenses.

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

Say “Je me suis souvenu de mon enfance cette semaine.” — “I have remembered of my childhood this week.” The je form is suis souvenu.

Pronunciation

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

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