Which of the following sentences is correct to say, "I vacuumed"? I see both types online.
1. J'ai passé l'aspirateur.
2. Je suis passé l'aspirateur.
I'll send this to our French expert, SraJMcGin.
Sorry, I just saw this! #1 is the correct one. The second said you went by for it!
Sra (aka Mme)
I"ll flag this to see if you have additional questions when I come back later.
Both options are correct, but they have slightly different meanings and can be used in different contexts.
1. J'ai passé l'aspirateur: This sentence is in the passé composé tense and is the most common way to express "I vacuumed" in French. In this sentence, the verb "passer" (to pass) is used as an auxiliary verb to form the compound past tense. This construction is used to talk about a specific action or event that happened in the past.
To form the passé composé, you conjugate the auxiliary verb "avoir" (to have) in the present tense and add the past participle of the main verb, which in this case is "passer." So, "J'ai passé l'aspirateur" literally translates to "I have vacuumed."
2. Je suis passé l'aspirateur: This sentence is in the passé composé tense as well, but it uses the auxiliary verb "être" (to be) instead of "avoir." The difference here is that "être" is used as the auxiliary verb when the main verb is intransitive and indicates a change of state or location.
The verb "passer" can be used transitively (with a direct object) as well as intransitively (without a direct object). In this case, "Je suis passé l'aspirateur" would suggest that you vacuumed and there was a change of state or location, for example, you moved from one room to another while vacuuming.
So, both sentences are grammatically correct, but "J'ai passé l'aspirateur" is the more commonly used construction to express "I vacuumed" in French.