French grammar · Intermediate
French Past Participles: Formation, Irregular Forms, and Agreement
The past participle is the second half of every compound tense in French. Regular verbs form it predictably — parlé, fini, vendu — and about eighty irregular participles cover the rest. It also works as an adjective, which is why it sometimes takes an ending to agree with a noun.
Les lettres qu'elle a écrites sont parties.
The letters she wrote have gone out.
What it is
A past participle is a verb form that has stopped carrying tense. It says what happened but not when, so it needs an auxiliary to place it in time. That same tenselessness lets it behave like an adjective, describing a state that resulted from the action: une porte fermée, a closed door.
un livre lu, une lettre lue, des livres lus, des lettres lues — a book that has been read, and the same in the feminine and plural.
How to spot it
Regular participles end in -é, -i, or -u according to the infinitive group. Irregular ones cluster into a small number of endings: -is, -it, -u, -ert, -eint, -aint, -oint.
- J'ai oublié mon parapluie. — I've forgotten my umbrella. (-er → -é)
- Elle a dormi douze heures. — She slept for twelve hours. (-ir → -i)
- Nous avons entendu du bruit. — We heard a noise. (-re → -u)
- Il a ouvert la fenêtre. — He opened the window. (irregular -ert)
Nearly all -er verbs are regular in the participle. The only genuinely unpredictable participles come from -ir and -re verbs, plus a handful of -oir verbs.
Past Participle Conjugations Quick Reference
Participle endings by group and by irregular family
| Ending | Source | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -é | all -er verbs, plus être and naître | parlé, allé, été, né |
| -i | most -ir verbs | fini, dormi, senti, suivi |
| -u | regular -re verbs | vendu, attendu, perdu, répondu |
| -u | irregular -oir and -re verbs | vu, su, pu, dû, bu, lu, cru, connu, reçu |
| -is | prendre, mettre, and their families | pris, mis, appris, permis, assis |
| -it | dire, écrire, conduire | dit, écrit, conduit, construit |
| -ert | ouvrir, offrir, souffrir, couvrir | ouvert, offert, souffert, couvert |
| -eint, -aint, -oint | peindre, craindre, joindre | peint, craint, joint, atteint |
Common Past Participle Conjugations Examples in French
Participles at work in each of their four roles:
In Compound Tenses
- Nous avons choisi le menu.
- We chose the menu.
- Il avait déjà vendu la voiture.
- He had already sold the car.
- Tu auras fini avant nous.
- You'll have finished before us.
- J'aurais préféré rester.
- I'd have preferred to stay.
The participle is identical in all four tenses; only the auxiliary moves.
Agreeing With a Subject
- Elle est descendue en courant.
- She came down running.
- Ils sont revenus par le même chemin.
- They came back the same way.
- Mes cousines sont nées le même jour.
- My cousins were born on the same day.
- Nous nous sommes assis au fond.
- We sat down at the back.
Any participle after être agrees like an adjective: -e for feminine, -s for plural, -es for both.
Agreeing With a Preceding Object
- La robe que j'ai mise hier était trop chaude.
- The dress I wore yesterday was too warm.
- Ces photos ? Je les ai prises en Bretagne.
- Those photos? I took them in Brittany.
- Quelle décision avez-vous prise ?
- What decision did you make?
- Les erreurs qu'il a commises étaient graves.
- The mistakes he made were serious.
With avoir, agreement happens only when the direct object comes first — as a pronoun, a relative que, or a question word.
As an Adjective
- une porte fermée
- a closed door
- des places réservées
- reserved seats
- un problème résolu
- a solved problem
- des lunettes cassées
- broken glasses
In this role the participle is a full adjective and agrees with its noun regardless of any verb.
How Past Participles Are Formed and When They Agree
Formation is a matter of the infinitive group. Agreement is a matter of what stands to the left of the participle.
Three Regular Endings
Remove the infinitive ending and add -é for -er verbs, -i for -ir verbs, and -u for -re verbs. Aimer gives aimé, réussir gives réussi, attendre gives attendu.
Ils ont réussi et nous avons attendu.
They succeeded and we waited.
-é, -i, -u.
The Irregulars Come in Families
They are not random. Prendre gives pris, and so do apprendre, comprendre, and surprendre. Mettre gives mis, and so do permettre and promettre. Learning the base verb usually gives you four or five more.
J'ai compris ce qu'elle avait promis.
I understood what she had promised.
One family, one ending.
Être Verbs Agree With the Subject
When the auxiliary is être, the participle behaves like an adjective attached to the subject: il est parti, elle est partie, ils sont partis, elles sont parties. This includes all reflexive verbs.
Elles étaient rentrées avant la nuit.
They had come home before dark.
être plus subject agreement.
Avoir Verbs Agree Only Backwards
With avoir the participle is normally invariable. It agrees only when a direct object precedes it, which in practice means a preceding object pronoun, a relative clause with que, or an interrogative with quel or combien.
Combien de livres as-tu lus cette année ?
How many books have you read this year?
Object before the verb, agreement on the participle.
Indirect Objects Never Trigger Agreement
Lui, leur, and any object introduced by à leave the participle alone. Je lui ai parlé, je leur ai écrit: nothing agrees, because nothing that precedes the participle is a direct object.
Je leur ai téléphoné, puis je les ai vus.
I phoned them, then I saw them.
Direct object agrees, indirect does not.
Common Mistakes with Past Participle Conjugations
Incorrect: Elle est venu hier. — She came yesterday.
Correct: Elle est venue hier. — She came yesterday.
A participle after être agrees with the subject. The -e is silent, so the error is invisible in speech and obvious on the page.
Incorrect: Les livres que j'ai lu étaient longs. — The books I read were long.
Correct: Les livres que j'ai lus étaient longs. — The books I read were long.
Que here is a direct object standing in front of the verb, so the participle agrees with what que refers to — les livres, masculine plural.
Incorrect: Je leur ai écrits deux fois. — I wrote to them twice.
Correct: Je leur ai écrit deux fois. — I wrote to them twice.
Leur is an indirect object, so it triggers no agreement. Only a preceding direct object can make an avoir participle agree.
Incorrect: Nous avons prendu le train. — We took the train.
Correct: Nous avons pris le train. — We took the train.
Prendre is not a regular -re verb in the participle. Its family — prendre, apprendre, comprendre, surprendre — all end in -is.
The Same Participle in Every Compound Tense
The participle is a fixed form; the auxiliary does all the work of placing it in time. These tables show one avoir verb and one être verb through the four indicative compound tenses.
An Avoir Verb: Écrire (écrit)
No agreement anywhere, because nothing precedes the participle.
| Pronoun | passé composé | plus-que-parfait | futur antérieur | conditionnel passé |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| j' | ai écrit | avais écrit | aurai écrit | aurais écrit |
| tu | as écrit | avais écrit | auras écrit | aurais écrit |
| il / elle / on | a écrit | avait écrit | aura écrit | aurait écrit |
| nous | avons écrit | avions écrit | aurons écrit | aurions écrit |
| vous | avez écrit | aviez écrit | aurez écrit | auriez écrit |
| ils / elles | ont écrit | avaient écrit | auront écrit | auraient écrit |
Écrit ends in a consonant, so when agreement does apply the change is audible: la lettre qu'il a écrite.
An Être Verb: Partir (parti)
The participle agrees with the subject in every one of these tenses.
| Pronoun | passé composé | plus-que-parfait | futur antérieur | conditionnel passé |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| je | suis parti(e) | étais parti(e) | serai parti(e) | serais parti(e) |
| tu | es parti(e) | étais parti(e) | seras parti(e) | serais parti(e) |
| il / elle / on | est parti(e) | était parti(e) | sera parti(e) | serait parti(e) |
| nous | sommes parti(e)s | étions parti(e)s | serons parti(e)s | serions parti(e)s |
| vous | êtes parti(e)(s) | étiez parti(e)(s) | serez parti(e)(s) | seriez parti(e)(s) |
| ils / elles | sont parti(e)s | étaient parti(e)s | seront parti(e)s | seraient parti(e)s |
The agreement is decided once, by the subject, and then repeated identically across all four tenses.
The Four Written Forms of a Participle
Every participle that agrees has the same four shapes, exactly like an adjective.
| Pronoun | masculine singular | feminine singular | masculine plural | feminine plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| aller | allé | allée | allés | allées |
| venir | venu | venue | venus | venues |
| prendre | pris | prise | pris | prises |
| mourir | mort | morte | morts | mortes |
| ouvrir | ouvert | ouverte | ouverts | ouvertes |
| devoir | dû | due | dus | dues |
Participles already ending in -s, like pris, add nothing in the masculine plural. Dû loses its circumflex as soon as an ending is added.
The Participle Outside Compound Tenses
Once you separate the participle from its auxiliary, it behaves like an adjective, and that is how a large part of French vocabulary is built.
As an ordinary adjective
A participle can qualify a noun directly, agreeing with it in gender and number. It describes the state left behind by the action.
- une chemise repassée
- an ironed shirt
- des rues mal éclairées
- poorly lit streets
- un travail bien fait
- a job well done
- Je suis fatiguée.
- I'm tired. (feminine speaker)
After être, an adjectival participle agrees with the subject just as bon or grand would.
In the passive voice
Être plus a participle forms the passive, and here too the participle agrees with the subject. The agent, if mentioned, is introduced by par.
- La maison a été construite en 1890.
- The house was built in 1890.
- Les résultats seront annoncés demain.
- The results will be announced tomorrow.
- Ces règles sont respectées par tout le monde.
- These rules are respected by everyone.
Only verbs that take a direct object can be made passive, which is why aller and partir have no passive at all.
In shortened clauses
A participle can open a phrase that stands in for a whole clause, especially in writing. It agrees with the noun it describes.
- Arrivée à Paris, elle a cherché un taxi.
- Having arrived in Paris, she looked for a taxi.
- Écrite en 1955, cette pièce reste moderne.
- Written in 1955, this play still feels modern.
- Une fois terminés, les travaux seront inaugurés.
- Once completed, the works will be inaugurated.
This construction is a written economy. In speech French prefers a full clause with quand or après que.
Past Participle Conjugations FAQs
- How do you form the past participle in French?
- Replace the infinitive ending: -er becomes -é, -ir becomes -i, and -re becomes -u. Parler gives parlé, finir gives fini, vendre gives vendu. Around eighty verbs have irregular participles, most of them ending in -is, -it, -u, or -ert.
- When does the past participle agree in French?
- Always after être, matching the subject: elle est arrivée. After avoir, only when a direct object precedes the verb: les clés que j'ai perdues. In every other case with avoir, the participle stays in its base form.
- What are the most common irregular past participles?
- Fait, dit, écrit, pris, mis, vu, su, pu, dû, voulu, eu, été, lu, bu, cru, connu, venu, tenu, ouvert, offert, mort, né, and craint. Between them they cover most of the verbs you will use every day.
- Why does the participle agree with a preceding direct object?
- Historically the participle was an adjective describing that object, and the agreement survives when the object is already known — that is, when it has been mentioned before the verb. Je l'ai vue is she has been seen by me, with vue describing la.
- Can a past participle be used as an adjective?
- Yes, and it is extremely common: une fenêtre ouverte, un compte bloqué, des places réservées. In that role it agrees with the noun in the ordinary way and needs no auxiliary at all.