Le passé récent: the recent past in French
What is the passé récent?
We use le passé récent (the recent past) to talk about completed actions that happened shortly before the moment of speaking (have just done, have just finished …).
The passé récent is formed with the conjugated form of the verb venir + de + infinitive of the main verb.
Learn everything you need to know about the recent past in French with Lingolia’s quick and easy examples, then put your knowledge to the test in the free exercises.
Contents
Example
Paul et Julie venaient de boire un café lorsqu’ils se sont rendu compte qu’ils étaient en retard pour prendre leur train.
Oh non ! Le train vient de partir ! Ils n’ont plus qu’à attendre le prochain.
When to use the passé récent
The passé récent is used to speak about a completed action that took place shortly before the moment of speaking. We can compare the recent past with the English structure have just + past participle (have just done, have just finished …).
- Example:
- Le train vient de partir.The train has just left.
How to form the recent past in French
To form the passé récent we use a conjugated form of the verb venir + de + infinitive.
- Example:
- Je viens de louper le train.I’ve just missed the train.
- If we refer to something that happened just before the present moment, venir is conjugated in the present (le présent).
- Example:
- Le train vient de partir. Nous devons attendre le prochain.The train has just left. We have to wait for the next one.
| Person | venir | de | infinitive |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person singular (I) | je viens | de |
manger |
| 2nd person singular (you) | tu viens | ||
| 3rd person singular (he/she/it) | il/elle/on vient | ||
| 1st person plural (we) | nous venons | ||
| 2nd person plural (you) | vous venez | ||
| 3rd person plural (they) | ils/elles viennent |
- If we refer to something that happened before a moment in the past, venir is conjugated in the imperfect tense (l’imparfait). This can be compared with the English structure had just + past participle.
- Example:
- Ils venaient de boire un café lorsqu’ils se sont rendu compte qu’ils étaient en retard.They had just drunk a coffee when they realised that they were running late.
| Person | venir | de | infinitive |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person singular (I) | je venais | de |
manger |
| 2nd person singular (you) | tu venais | ||
| 3rd person singular (he/she/it) | il/elle/on venait | ||
| 1st person plural (we) | nous venions | ||
| 2nd person plural (you) | vous veniez | ||
| 3rd person plural (they) | ils/elles venaient |
