Suivre in the Passé composé Tense in French

Introduction

Suivre means “to follow”, and this page covers exactly one thing: suivre 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 suivre, 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 suivre in the passé composé. For example: “J'ai suivi le professeur en classe cette semaine.” — “I have followed the teacher in class this week.” Everything on this page uses the forms of suivre exactly as they are conjugated in the passé composé, so you can trust every form you see here.

Suivre in the Passé composé Tense — full table

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

Gerund: suivant · Past participle: suivi

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

How the passé composé of suivre is formed

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

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

When to use the passé composé of suivre

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

1. Following the teacher in class — finished

When the action of following the teacher in class is finished, the passé composé is the tense to use. It presents the action as complete, with a clear end. Example: “J'ai suivi le professeur en classe cette semaine.” — “I have followed the teacher in class this week.”

2. Following a French course — finished

The same rule applies to following a French course: once the action is done, the passé composé reports it as a completed fact. Example: “Tu as suivi un cours de français cette semaine.” — “You have followed a French course this week.”

3. Following my father's advice — finished

A third everyday situation is following my father's advice, and again the passé composé is right when the action is finished. Example: “Il a suivi les conseils de mon père cette semaine.” — “He has followed my father's advice 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 suivi le professeur en classe cette semaine.” — “We have followed the teacher in class 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 suivi un cours de français cette semaine.” — “You have followed a French course 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 suivi le professeur en classe cette semaine.” — “I have followed the teacher in class this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Je suivais le professeur en classe autrefois.” — “I used to follow the teacher in class 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 suivi un cours de français cette semaine.” — “You have followed a French course this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Tu suivais un cours de français autrefois.” — “You used to follow a French course 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 suivi les conseils de mon père cette semaine.” — “We have followed my father's advice this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Nous suivions les conseils de mon père autrefois.” — “We used to follow my father's advice 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: suivre 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 suivi un cours de français cette semaine.” — “I have followed a French course this week.”

  2. “Tu as suivi les conseils de mon père cette semaine.” — “You have followed my father's advice this week.”

  3. “Il a suivi le professeur en classe cette semaine.” — “He has followed the teacher in class this week.”

  4. “Nous avons suivi un cours de français cette semaine.” — “We have followed a French course this week.”

  5. “Vous avez suivi les conseils de mon père cette semaine.” — “You have followed my father's advice this week.”

  6. “Ils ont suivi le professeur en classe cette semaine.” — “They have followed the teacher in class this week.”

  7. “J'ai suivi un cours de français cette semaine.” — “I have followed a French course this week.”

  8. “Tu as suivi les conseils de mon père cette semaine.” — “You have followed my father's advice this week.”

Common mistakes with suivre 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 suis le professeur en classe hier.” Right: “Je ai suivi le professeur en classe hier.” Why: For one finished action yesterday, use the passé composé ai suivi, not the present suis. The time word hier points to the past.

  • Wrong: “Je ai suivi le professeur en classe tous les jours.” (said of a daily habit) Right: “Je suis le professeur en classe tous les jours.” Why: The passé composé ai suivi describes one finished action. For something you do every day, use the present suis.

  • Wrong: “Je avoir le professeur en classe.” — leaving out the participle Right: “Je ai suivi le professeur en classe.” Why: The passé composé needs both parts: the auxiliary avoir and the participle suivi. The auxiliary alone is not a complete passé composé.

  • Wrong: “Je suivais le professeur en classe hier.” (said of one finished action) Right: “Je ai suivi le professeur en classe hier.” Why: The imperfect suivais describes an ongoing past situation. For one finished action yesterday, use the passé composé ai suivi.

Quiz: suivre 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 ______ un cours de français.”

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

2. Complete the sentence: “Tu ______ les conseils de mon père.”

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

3. Complete the sentence: “Il ______ le professeur en classe.”

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

4. Complete the sentence: “Nous ______ un cours de français.”

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

5. Complete the sentence: “Vous ______ les conseils de mon père.”

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

6. Complete the sentence: “Ils ______ le professeur en classe.”

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

7. What does suivre mean in English?

  • (A) to believe
  • (B) to love, to like
  • (C) to follow
  • (D) to think

8. What is the past participle of suivre?

  • (A) suivi
  • (B) pensé
  • (C) cru
  • (D) aimé

Answer key

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

Frequently asked questions

How is the passé composé of suivre formed?

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

When do I use the passé composé of suivre?

Use the passé composé for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French — for example, “J'ai suivi le professeur en classe cette semaine.” — “I have followed the teacher in class 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 suivre?

The passé composé reports one finished action; the imperfect describes background, habit or an action in progress in the past. Compare “J'ai suivi le professeur en classe cette semaine.” with “Je suivais le professeur en classe 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 suivre, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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