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Formation
editReplace the -ons ending of a verb conjugated in the first person plural in the present indicative with -ant. There are three verbs with the present participle forming irregularly: avoir, être, and savoir.
Grammar Present Participle Formation · Formation De Participe Présent | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular Formation | ||||
| infinitive | Nous form of the present indicative |
Stem | Ending | Present Participle |
| parler | nous parlons | parl | ant | parlant |
| finir | nous finissons | finiss | finissant | |
| attendre | nous attendons | attend | attendant | |
| prendre | nous prenons | pren | prenant | |
| Irregular Formation | ||||
| avoir | ayant | |||
| être | étant | |||
| savoir | sachant | |||
Forms and Usage Summary
editGrammar Present Participle Usage · Utilisation De Participe Présent | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Form | Formation | Formation Example | Usage | Usage Detail |
| Simple Present Participle | [present participle] | étant - being disant - saying |
cause reason |
expresses the reason why something has occurred |
| Composed Present Participle | [étant or ayant] + [past participle] | ayant fini - having finished étant allé(e)(s) - having gone |
anteriority | expresses that one action occurred before the action of the main verb |
| Le gérondif | en + [present participle] | en chantant - while singing en courant - while running |
simultinaity | expresses that one action is occurring at the same time as a second |
- NOTE: The present progressive tense does not exist in French. The present indicative is used instead.
- To say I am going., you would say Je vais. You would NOT say Je suis allant.
Simple Present Participle Usage
editThe present participle is used to express the reason why something has occurred.
- La table étant trop lourde, ils ne pouvaient pas la soulever. - The table being too heavy, they were not able to lift it.
Composed Present Participle
editFormation
editTo form the composed present participle, conjugate être or avoir in the present participle (étant and ayant) and add the past participle.
- ayant parlé - having spoken
- étant allé(e)(s) - having gone.
Note that both avoir and être translate to having in English. This is the same in all composed tenses.
The past participle may have an -e or -s added in order to agree with other parts of the sentence. All standard agreement rules that composed tenses follow apply to the composed present participle as well.
Usage
editThe composed present participle is used to express that one action occurred before the action of the main verb
- Ayant fini, je suis parti(e). - Having finished, I left.
- Je suis parti(e) ayant entendu la fille. - I left having heard the girl.
The composed present participle is not used after a preposition. To express a similar idea using a preposition, the past infinitive is used.
- Je suis parti(e) sans avoir entendu la fille. - I left without having heard the girl.
- Je suis parti(e) après avoir entendu la fille. - I left after having heard the girl.
Le gérondif
editFormation
editen + present participle
- en chantant - (while) singing
- en courant - (while) running
Usage
editLe gérondif is used to express that one action is occurring at the same time as a second.
- Ils se sont promenés en chantant. - They walked while singing.
- Elle est arrivée en courant. - She arrived running.
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