Participes et gérondifs: Participles and Gerunds in French

What are participles and gerunds?

The participe (participle) is a verb form that can work like an adjective or be used to make certain tenses:

Examples:
une porte ferméea closed door
j’ai mangéI’ve eaten

French has three types of participle – the participe présent (present), participe passé (past) and participe composé (perfect). The present and past participles are the most common and useful to know. The perfect participle mostly appears in literary writing.

The gérondif (gerund) is a verb form that describes how or when something happens. In English, gerunds are the ‑ing form of a verb – like “by working” or “while eating”. In French, the gerund is always formed with en + a participle.

Example:
Il parle en mangeant.He talks while eating.

French has two types of gerund – the gérondif présent (present) and gérondif passé (past).

Check out the sections below to learn when to use each form, and you’ll also find links to dedicated pages and lots of practice exercises.

Contents

Le participe présent

The participe présent (present participle) is most often invariable and usually ends in -ant. It’s used to:

  • express time, cause or consequence

    Example:
    Jouant au football, les enfants se préparaient pour le match.Playing football, the children were preparing for the match.
    the participle expresses the simultaneity of the two actions

  • replace a relative subordinate clause

    Example:
    Le temps n’étant pas trop mauvais, Max a pu jouer au foot.The weather not being too bad, Max was able to play football.
    the participle replaces the relative subordinate clause qui n’était pas trop mauvais (“which was not too bad”)

  • describe a noun when it’s used as a participial adjective

    Example:
    L’équipe adverse était surprenante.The opposing team was surprising.
    when the participle is used as an adjective, it agrees in gender and number with the noun

You’ll find more information, as well as many examples and exercises, on our dedicated page about the present participle.

Le participe passé

The participe passé (past participle) can have different endings and is mainly used to:

  • form compound tenses

    Examples:
    j’ai mangé (passé composé)I’ve eaten
    il était parti (plus-que-parfait)he’d left
    nous aurons vendu (futur antérieur)we’ll have sold

  • as an adjective

    Examples:
    une porte ferméea closed door
    un enfant surprisa surprised child

You’ll find more information, as well as many examples and exercises, on our dedicated page about the past participle.

Le participe composé

The participe composé (perfect participle) is formed by combining the present participle of the auxiliary verbs avoir or être with the past participle of the verb.

It’s used to:

  • express an action that happened before the action of the main verb

    Example:
    Ayant fini ses devoirs, Max s’est réuni avec ses amis.Having finished his homework, Max met up with his friends.
    Max finished his homework and then met up with his friends

  • add additional information to a sentence

    Example:
    Étant revenus plus tôt, nous avons regardé un film.Having returned earlier, we watched a film.
    we watched the film because we returned earlier

Visit our page on the perfect participle for more information and lots of practice exercises.

Le gérondif (présent & passé)

The gérondif (gerund) verb form that comes after en, and it’s used to show the relationship between two actions. The gerund has two forms:

  • the gérondif présent (present gerund) describes an action that’s happening at the same time as the main verb

    Example:
    Il parle en mangeant.He speaks while eating.
    present gerund = en + present participle

  • the gérondif passé (past gerund) is less commonly used and expresses an action that occurred before the action of the main verb

    Example:
    En étant arrivé en retard, il avait raté son bus.Having arrived late, he had missed his bus.
    past gerund = en + avoir/être + past participle

On our page about the present and past gerund, you’ll find information on how to form and use the gerund as well as lots of practice exercises to test your knowledge.

Learn more about participles and gerunds 

Click on the different topics below to learn more about participles and gerunds in French grammar. Read the detailed explanations and clear examples then test your knowledge in the practice exercises.