Le participe passé – What is a past participle in French and how to use it?

Key takeaways

• The past participle (participe passé) is a verb form used in compound tenses and adjectives.
• Regular verbs follow clear patterns (-é, -i, -u), while irregulars must be memorized.
• In compound tenses, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject if used with être.
• It also agrees with preceding direct objects when used with avoir.
• Learning it is essential for mastering passé composé and other compound tenses.

What Is a Past Participle in French?

The past participle (le participe passé) is a verb form that often corresponds to “-ed” in English (worked, finished), but it also covers irregular forms (done, seen, gone).

Examples:

• manger → mangé (eaten)
• finir → fini (finished)
• voir → vu (seen)

How to Form the Past Participle

Regular Verbs

• -ER verbs: replace -er with -é → parler → parlé
• -IR verbs: replace -ir with -i → finir → fini
• -RE verbs: replace -re with -u → attendre → attendu

Irregular Verbs

Many verbs are irregular and must be memorized:

• avoir → eu
• être → été
• faire → fait
• venir → venu
• prendre → pris
• mettre → mis

The Global Exam article on regular and irregular verbs provides an extensive list for practice.

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Using the Past Participle in Compound Tenses

The most common use is in passé composé:

• J’ai parlé. → I spoke / I have spoken.
• Elle est allée. → She went / She has gone.

With avoir

No agreement with the subject, unless there’s a preceding direct object.

• J’ai vu les films. → I saw the movies.
• Les films que j’ai vus. → The movies that I saw. (agreement with films).

With être

The past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number.

• Elle est allée. (feminine singular).
• Ils sont partis. (masculine plural).
• Elles sont arrivées. (feminine plural).

The Past Participle as an Adjective

The past participle can act like an adjective, agreeing with the noun.

• une porte fermée → a closed door
• des enfants fatigués → tired children

French Past Participle List – Common Verbs

Past Participle Agreement Rules

1. With être → always agree with the subject. 

• Elles sont sorties.

2. With avoir → agree only if a direct object precedes. 

• Les fleurs qu’il a achetées.

3. As adjectives → always agree with the noun. 

• des portes ouvertes.

Common Mistakes with Past Participles

• Forgetting agreement with être.
• Over-applying agreement with avoir.
• Confusing infinitives and past participles (parler vs parlé).

Exercises: Practice the Past Participle

1. Conjugate into passé composé

• nous / finir → ________
• elles / aller → ________
• il / lire → ________

2. Translate into French

• She has written a letter.
• We have seen the film.
• They went to Paris.

3. Correct the mistakes

• ❌ Elle est allé.
• ❌ Les fleurs qu’il a acheté.

Answers

1. nous avons fini | elles sont allées | il a lu
2. Elle a écrit une lettre | Nous avons vu le film | Ils sont allés à Paris
3. Elle est allée | Les fleurs qu’il a achetées

Tips for Mastering the Past Participle

• Always memorize the irregular forms; they appear constantly.
• Practice agreement rules with être and avoir.
• Use the past participle in adjectives to reinforce gender/number agreement.
• Create flashcards with infinitive + past participle + example sentence.

For more, check our French verb tenses overview. To study smarter, see learning French effectively. And if you’re planning goals, explore how long it takes to learn French fluently.

Summary

The past participle in French (le participe passé) is key to mastering compound tenses like passé composé. Regular verbs follow predictable endings (-é, -i, -u), while many irregulars must be learned individually.

Resources like Global Exam’s list of regular and irregular verbs and Lingoculture’s guide to Le Participe Passé give extended references. With practice, you’ll confidently say j’ai parlé, elle est venue, nous avons écrit while you learn French with Promova.