FrenchConjugationPassé Composé

Mettre (to put) · Passé Composé

By TutorLily Editorial Team · Last updated May 29, 2026

Mettre in the French passé composé is: j'ai mis, tu as mis, il/elle/on a mis, nous avons mis, vous avez mis, ils/elles ont mis. The passé composé of mettre uses AVOIR + the irregular short participle 'mis' (not 'mettu'). 'J'ai mis les clés sur la table' = 'I put the keys on the table'.

mettre conjugation in the Passé Composé
To Put	Mettre
I put	j'ai mis
you put	tu as mis
he/she put	il/elle/on a mis
we put	nous avons mis
you put	vous avez mis
they put	ils/elles ont mis

Examples

Mettre (to put) in context

Sentences that use mettre in the passé composé. Tap each to hear it.

J'ai mis les clés sur la table.

I put the keys on the table.

Tu as mis quoi dans la salade?

What did you put in the salad?

Elle a mis du temps à comprendre.

She took time to understand.

Nous avons mis les enfants au lit tôt.

We put the children to bed early.

Vous avez mis trop de pression.

You put too much pressure.

Ils ont mis une heure pour venir.

They took an hour to come.

Tip

Working with the passé composé

The passé composé is French's dominant past tense — used in almost every spoken past reference ("j'ai mangé" = "I ate" or "I have eaten"). It's a COMPOUND tense formed with an auxiliary (avoir for most verbs, être for ~17 motion/state verbs and all reflexives) plus a past participle. Two things to memorise: which verbs take être (aller, venir, partir, sortir, arriver, monter, descendre, naître, mourir, rester, tomber, devenir, retourner, entrer, rentrer, passer, revenir — the so-called "house of être"), and agreement rules (être verbs agree with the subject; avoir verbs only agree with a preceding direct object).

Questions

Frequently asked questions

How do you form the passé composé of mettre?

Use avoir + the irregular past participle 'mis': j'ai mis, tu as mis, il a mis, nous avons mis, vous avez mis, ils ont mis. The participle 'mis' looks identical to the je/tu present 'mets' minus the 't' — but here it's the participle used after the auxiliary.

Why is the participle 'mis' and not 'mettu'?

Mettre's participle 'mis' is irregular — a short form inherited from Latin 'missum' (sent, placed). Following the regular pattern would yield 'mettu' (drop -re, add -u), but mettre preserved the older shorter form. Same irregularity in all compounds: admettre → admis, promettre → promis, remettre → remis.

Does 'mis' agree with the subject?

Since mettre takes avoir, 'mis' is invariable in standard cases. Exception: a preceding direct object triggers agreement ('les clés que j'ai mises' = the keys I put — feminine plural).