The past (using “have”)
I .................................................... Je
have ..............................................ai
I have ...........................................J’ai
NOTE! Notice that, as there would be two vowels touching in "Je ai",
it contracts instead to "J’ai" – this is a common occurrence in French and one that you will quickly get used to.
visited ..........................................visité
the Louvre ...................................le Louvre
I have visited the Louvre. ............................J’ai visité le Louvre.
the park ........................................le parc
I have visited the park. ................................ J’ai visité le parc.
prepared ......................................préparé
I have prepared .............................................J’ai préparé
the coffee .....................................le café
I have prepared the coffee. .....................J’ai préparé le café.
for you ..........................................pour vous
I have prepared the coffee for you. .... J’ai préparé le café pour vous.
English words which end in “ion” came into English through French. There are 1250 of them. If you know them in English, then you can use them in French.
reservation ..................................réservation
invitation ......................................invitation
decoration ....................................décoration
If you take an “ion” word, such as préparation, cut off the “ation” on the end and add a café “é” in its place, you will have a word like préparé, which means prepared.
This means you can now say: I have prepared, I have visited, I have decorated etc.
Try the example below:
preparation .......préparation
Now, cut off the “ation”, which leaves you with “prépar”, and then add a café “é”. You will end up with préparé, which means prepared.
