What is the perfect participle in French?

It is ayant or étant plus a past participle — ayant fini, étant parti, s'étant levé — and it means having done something. It opens a clause, borrows the subject of the main clause, and places its action before the main verb.

How do you form the perfect participle?

Take the present participle of the auxiliary the verb normally uses. Avoir verbs give ayant plus the participle: ayant mangé, ayant vu. Être verbs and pronominal verbs give étant: étant partie, s'étant assis. For a passive, use ayant été plus the participle.

Does the perfect participle agree with the subject?

Ayant and étant never change, but the participle after étant agrees with the subject: étant parti, étant partie, étant partis, étant parties. After ayant it agrees only with a preceding direct object, as in l'ayant vue.

What is the difference between ayant fini and après avoir fini?

Nothing in meaning. Ayant fini is the written form, found in reports, journalism and fiction; après avoir fini is what people say. Both require the same subject in the main clause.

Is the perfect participle the same as the English present perfect?

No. French has no separate present perfect — I have finished is j'ai fini, the passé composé. The perfect participle corresponds to the English having finished, an opening clause rather than a main verb.

French grammar · Advanced

The French Perfect Participle: Ayant Fini, Étant Parti

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed May 2026

The perfect participle is ayant or étant plus a past participle: ayant fini, étant arrivé. It translates having done something and says that action was over before the main verb began. Both halves of the sentence must share one subject, and the form belongs chiefly to written French.

Ayant terminé ses devoirs, elle est sortie.

Having finished her homework, she went out.

What it is

French has two participles that can open a sentence. The present participle, finissant, sets its action alongside the main verb. The perfect participle, ayant fini, puts it before. It is built from the present participle of the auxiliary — ayant or étant — with an ordinary past participle behind it, and ayant and étant themselves never change shape. Only the participle they carry can agree.

Étant arrivés en retard, nous avons manqué le premier acte. — Having arrived late, we missed the first act.

How to spot it

Ayant or étant at the head of a clause, a past participle immediately after it, and a comma before the main clause.

Ayant perdu ses clés, il a dormi chez un ami. — Having lost his keys, he slept at a friend's.
Étant née à Lyon, elle connaît bien la ville. — Having been born in Lyon, she knows the city well.
S'étant trompé, il a dû recommencer. — Having made a mistake, he had to start over.
N'ayant rien mangé, j'avais faim. — Not having eaten anything, I was hungry.

The subject of the participle is the subject of the main clause. If the two differ, the sentence is broken, and the repair is a full subordinate clause.

Perfect Participle Quick Reference

The forms, and where agreement shows

Subject	avoir verbs (ayant)	être verbs (étant)
je, masculine	ayant fini	étant parti
je, feminine	ayant fini	étant partie
il	ayant fini	étant parti
elle	ayant fini	étant partie
nous, ils	ayant fini	étant partis
elles	ayant fini	étant parties
passive	ayant été prévenu(e)(s)	ayant été prévenu(e)(s)
pronominal	s'étant levé(e)(s)	s'étant levé(e)(s)

Common Perfect Participle Examples in French

What the perfect participle is used for:

Giving a Cause

Ayant raté le train, il est arrivé en retard.: Having missed the train, he arrived late.
N'ayant pas reçu de réponse, nous avons relancé.: Not having had a reply, we followed up.
Étant tombée malade, elle a annulé le voyage.: Having fallen ill, she cancelled the trip.
Ayant tout vérifié, je peux le confirmer.: Having checked everything, I can confirm it.

This is the form's main job: it supplies the reason for what follows without needing parce que or comme.

Strict Chronology

Ayant signé le contrat, elle est repartie aussitôt.: Having signed the contract, she left again at once.
Ayant fermé la porte, il a éteint la lumière.: Having shut the door, he turned off the light.
Étant descendus du bus, nous avons cherché l'hôtel.: Having got off the bus, we looked for the hotel.
Ayant lu la lettre, il l'a brûlée.: Having read the letter, he burnt it.

Two actions in sequence, both belonging to the same person, and considerably more compact than puis or ensuite.

Être Verbs and Agreement

Étant né en France, il a la nationalité.: Having been born in France, he has citizenship.
Étant nées le même jour, elles fêtent ensemble.: Having been born on the same day, they celebrate together.
Étant restés à l'hôtel, ils n'ont rien vu.: Having stayed at the hotel, they saw nothing.
Étant venue seule, elle est repartie tôt.: Having come alone, she left early.

With étant the participle agrees with the subject, so the ending shifts from one sentence to the next while étant stays put.

Pronominal Verbs

S'étant levée à cinq heures, elle était épuisée.: Having got up at five, she was exhausted.
Nous étant perdus, nous avons demandé notre chemin.: Having got lost, we asked for directions.
S'étant rendu compte de l'erreur, il a appelé.: Having realised the mistake, he called.
S'étant excusés, ils sont partis.: Having apologised, they left.

The reflexive pronoun sits in front of étant and matches the subject: m'étant, t'étant, s'étant, nous étant, vous étant. In s'étant rendu compte there is no agreement, because compte is the direct object.

How the Form Behaves

Five rules, four of them about where things go and one about register.

Ayant and Étant Never Change

They are already participles and they carry no agreement of their own. Anything that varies is the second participle, and only when the auxiliary is être.

Ayant compris, elles se sont tues.

Having understood, they fell silent.

Only the second participle can agree.

The Subject Must Be Shared

The participle has no subject of its own, so it borrows the one in the main clause. This is the constraint that most often makes a sentence unusable.

Ayant fini, nous sommes rentrés.

Having finished, we went home.

One subject for both halves.

Negation Wraps the Auxiliary

Ne comes before ayant or étant and the second element comes straight after, leaving the participle outside the brackets. Ne cannot be dropped, because this is a written form.

N'ayant rien dit, il a laissé faire.

Having said nothing, he let it happen.

n'ayant pas, n'ayant rien, n'ayant jamais.

Object Pronouns Come First

Any object pronoun precedes ayant, and if it is a direct object the participle agrees with it, exactly as in the passé composé.

L'ayant vue, je l'ai saluée.

Having seen her, I said hello to her.

Pronoun before ayant; participle agrees.

It Belongs to Writing

You will meet this constantly in reports, journalism and fiction, and almost never in conversation. Speech uses après avoir or après être plus an infinitive for the same job.

Ayant obtenu son diplôme, il a cherché un emploi.

Having got his degree, he looked for a job.

Write ayant; say après avoir.

Common Mistakes with Perfect Participle

Incorrect: Ayant arrivé à Paris, nous avons pris un taxi. — Having arrived in Paris, we took a taxi.

Correct: Étant arrivés à Paris, nous avons pris un taxi. — Having arrived in Paris, we took a taxi.

Arriver takes être, so the auxiliary participle is étant, and the second participle then agrees with nous. English having covers both auxiliaries, which is why the wrong one gets picked.

Incorrect: Étant fini le travail, il est parti. — Having finished the work, he left.

Correct: Ayant fini le travail, il est parti. — Having finished the work, he left.

Finir takes avoir, so the form is ayant fini. Étant appears only with verbs that take être and with pronominal verbs, never with a verb that has a direct object like le travail.

Incorrect: Ayant plu toute la nuit, nous sommes restés à la maison. — As it had rained all night, we stayed at home.

Correct: Comme il avait plu toute la nuit, nous sommes restés à la maison. — As it had rained all night, we stayed at home.

The participle must share its subject with the main clause. The raining belongs to il and the staying to nous, so no participle will work and a clause with comme is the only repair.

Incorrect: Ayant pas fini, elle a continué. — Not having finished, she carried on.

Correct: N'ayant pas fini, elle a continué. — Not having finished, she carried on.

Dropping ne is a spoken habit, and this form only occurs in writing, where ne is compulsory. It goes in front of ayant, with pas straight after.

The Passive Form, and What Speech Uses Instead

Three variants that come up often enough to be worth learning separately.

Ayant été plus a participle

For a passive, stack the two participles. Ayant été gives the sense of having been done to, and the final participle agrees with the borrowed subject.

Ayant été prévenu, il a pu réagir.: Having been warned, he was able to react.
Ayant été refusée deux fois, elle a renoncé.: Having been turned down twice, she gave up.
Ayant été construits en 1900, ces immeubles sont protégés.: Having been built in 1900, these buildings are listed.

Étant été does not exist. A passive perfect participle is always ayant été, whichever auxiliary the verb takes in its ordinary tenses.

Après avoir, the spoken equivalent

Conversation prefers après plus a past infinitive. It carries the same meaning and imposes the same shared-subject requirement.

Après avoir fini, il est sorti.: After finishing, he went out.
Après être arrivée, elle a appelé.: After arriving, she called.
Après s'être douchés, ils sont descendus.: After showering, they came down.

Ayant fini and après avoir fini mean the same thing. The choice between them is purely a matter of register.

Étant donné and other frozen forms

A few perfect participles have hardened into set expressions, where the agreement is either fixed or optional.

Étant donné les circonstances, nous reportons.: Given the circumstances, we're postponing.
Ceci étant dit, je ne suis pas d'accord.: That said, I don't agree.

Étant donné placed before its noun stays invariable. Placed after it, it agrees: les circonstances étant données.

Perfect Participle FAQs

What is the perfect participle in French?: It is ayant or étant plus a past participle — ayant fini, étant parti, s'étant levé — and it means having done something. It opens a clause, borrows the subject of the main clause, and places its action before the main verb.
How do you form the perfect participle?: Take the present participle of the auxiliary the verb normally uses. Avoir verbs give ayant plus the participle: ayant mangé, ayant vu. Être verbs and pronominal verbs give étant: étant partie, s'étant assis. For a passive, use ayant été plus the participle.
Does the perfect participle agree with the subject?: Ayant and étant never change, but the participle after étant agrees with the subject: étant parti, étant partie, étant partis, étant parties. After ayant it agrees only with a preceding direct object, as in l'ayant vue.
What is the difference between ayant fini and après avoir fini?: Nothing in meaning. Ayant fini is the written form, found in reports, journalism and fiction; après avoir fini is what people say. Both require the same subject in the main clause.
Is the perfect participle the same as the English present perfect?: No. French has no separate present perfect — I have finished is j'ai fini, the passé composé. The perfect participle corresponds to the English having finished, an opening clause rather than a main verb.