Conjugate battre and derivatives (+avoir) in the compound past in French (Le Passé Composé)

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE

Last updated: 2022-05-17

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In Le Passé Composé (Indicatif), the verb battre (to beat) and its derivatives* have the following past participle: -battu.

Learn how to conjugate BATTRE (to beat) in Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) in French

j'	ai battu
tu	as battu
il / elle / on	a battu
nous	avons battu
vous	avez battu
ils/elles	ont battu

Here's the pattern to conjugate battre in Le Passé Composé (Indicatif) :

avoir in Le Présent (Indicatif) + battu

Here are some examples:

J'ai battu Marc aux échecs hier.I beat Marc at chess yesterday.

As-tu enfin battu son score ?Did you finally beat her score?

Elle a battu les œufs avant d'ajouter la farine.She beat the eggs before adding the flour.

Nous avons battu l'autre équipe à la loyale !We beat the other team fair and square!

Vous avez battu tous les records l'année dernière.You beat all the records last year.

Les Chicago Bears ont battu les Buffalo Bills.The Chicago Bears defeated the Buffalo Bills.

Note that with avoir as an auxiliary, past participles never agree with the subject of the verb:

Il a battu les cartes.He shuffled the cards.

Elle a battu les cartes.She shuffled the cards.

*These derivatives follow the same pattern as battre:

abattre (to bring/cut/shoot down ) -> abattu
rabattre (to fold down) -> rabattu
débattre (to debate, to discuss) -> débattu
combattre (to fight) -> combattu

Here are more examples:

Le weekend dernier, j'ai abattu l'arbre derrière notre maison.Last weekend, I cut down the tree behind our house.

Tu as rabattu ton col.You folded down your collar.

La France a combattu aux côtés des États-Unis pendant la Guerre d'Indépendance.France fought alongside America during the War of Independence.

Nous avons combattu cette décision jusqu'au bout.We fought that decision til the end.

Vous avez abattu la victime de sang froid.You shot down the victim in cold blood.

Ils ont débattu toute la nuit.They debated all night long.

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