French/Grammar/Verbs/Present participle

From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection

Contents 1 Formation 2 Forms and Usage Summary 3 Simple Present Participle Usage 4 Composed Present Participle 4.1 Formation 4.2 Usage 5 Le gérondif 5.1 Formation 5.2 Usage

[edit] Formation

Replace 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.

French Grammar • Present participle • audio (upload) 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

[edit] Forms and Usage Summary

French Grammar • Present participle • audio (upload) 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 progessive 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.

[edit] Simple Present Participle Usage

The present participle is used to express the reason why something has occurred.

• La table étant trop lourde, ils ne pouvaient pas le soulever. - The table being too heavy, they were not able to lift it.

[edit] Composed Present Participle

[edit] Formation

To 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.

[edit] Usage

The 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.

[edit] Le gérondif

[edit] Formation

en + present participle

• en chantant - (while) singing
• en courant - (while) running

[edit] Usage

Le 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.

(edit template)

Grammar • Appendices • Texts • About • Q&A • Planning

(discussion)