Present Participle

CONTENT
  1. Present Participle - Forming and Usage
  2. Present Participle vs. Other Forms

The present participle in French is mainly used in written texts, but it is an important grammar construction - for example, for forming gerunds. Let's learn more about it.

Native

Translation

J'ai entendu Mark parlant à quelqu'un.

I sam Mark talking to someone.

Present Participle - Forming and Usage

Rule 1: The present participle is formed by taking the nous form of the verb and replacing the -ons ending with -ant.

Native

Translation

Manger - mangeant.

To eat - eating.

There are only three irregular verbs in the present participle:

  • Être (to be): étant
  • Avoir (to have): ayant
  • Savoir (to know): sachant

Rule 2: The present participle is not as common in French as it is in English, but it can be used in several contexts:

- with the preposition en in a form of

Native

Translation

Il regardait la télé en mangeant.

He was watching TV while eating.

- as a verb on its own: in that case, it corresponds to the English -ing form

Native

Translation

Vivant à Paris, je mangeais souvent de la bonne nourriture.

Living in Paris, I ate good food often.

In both cases, the present participle does not with the subject of the sentence or any other noun.

Present Participle vs. Other Forms

Rule 3: In spoken French, instead of the present participle, you can often use:

- a relative sentence with qui

Native

Translation

Il lit un livre racontant la vie d’une star -> Il lit un livre qui raconte la vie d’une star.

He's reading a book that tells the story of a star.

- a regular sentence

Native

Translation

Le temps n’étant pas trop mauvais, Max a pu jouer au foot. -> Comme le temps n’était pas trop mauvais, Max a pu jouer au foot.

Since the weather wasn't too bad, Max could play football.

Quiz

1/3

Translate: Eating ramen, I feel like the happiest person in the world.

0

correct answers.