Forming the Past Participle

The past participle of regular verbs is formed as follows:

Some verbs that are irregular in the present form have regular past participles:

Irregular past participles may be placed in the following groups:

• Those ending in -i:

  • rire (to laugh) → ri

  • suffire (to suffice) → suffi

  • suivre (to follow) → suivi

• Those ending in -is:

  • acquérir (to acquire) → acquis

  • asseoir (to seat) → assis

  • conquérir (to conquer) → conquis

  • mettre (to put) → mis

  • prendre (to take) → pris

• Those ending in -it:

  • conduire (to drive) → conduit

  • construire (to construct) → construit

  • cuire (to cook) → cuit

  • détruire (to destroy) → détruit

  • dire (to say, to tell) → dit

  • écrire (to write) → écrit

  • produire (to produce) → produit

  • traduire (to translate) → traduit

• Those ending in -u:

  • apercevoir (to notice) → aperçu

  • avoir (to have) → eu

  • boire (to drink) → bu

  • connaître (to know) → connu

  • courir (to run) → couru

  • croire (to believe) → cru

  • devoir (to have to) → dû

  • lire (to read) → lu

  • paraître (to appear) → paru

  • plaire (to please) → plu

  • pouvoir (to be able to) → pu

  • recevoir (to receive) → reçu

  • savoir (to know) → su

  • se taire (to be quiet) → tu

  • tenir (to hold) → tenu

  • valoir (to be worth) → valu

  • venir (to come) → venu

  • vivre (to live) → vécu

  • vouloir (to want) → voulu

• Those ending in -ert:

  • ouvrir (to open) → ouvert

  • offrir (to offer) → offert

  • souffrir (to suffer) → souffrir

• Those ending in -int:

  • atteindre (to attain) → atteint

  • craindre (to fear) → craint

  • éteindre (to extinguish) → éteint

  • joindre (to join) → joint

  • peindre (to paint) → peint

  • plaindre (to pity) → plaint

• Those totally irregular:

  • être (to be) → été

  • faire (to make, to do) → fait

  • mourir (to die) → mort

  • naître (to be born) → né

Any related infinitive forms its past participle according to the list above, for example:

Using the Past Participle

The past participle is used:

• With a preceding helping (auxiliary) verb ( avoir or être) to form compound tenses:

  • J'ai fait de mon mieux. (I did my best.)

  • Je suis allée en ville. (I went downtown.)

  • Il avait fini son travail. (He had finished his work.)

  • Il était rentré tard. (He had arrived home late.)

  • Nous aurions gagné. (We would have won.)

  • Nous serions sortis. (We would have gone out.)

  • Elle aura attendu longtemps. (She will have waited a long time.)

  • Elle sera partie avant lui. (She will have left before him.)

• As an adjective, which, therefore, must agree in number and gender with the noun or pronoun it modifies:

  • Elle est épuisée. (She is exhausted.)

  • Ils sont des hommes distingués. (They are distinguished men.)

In the passé composé, past participles that use avoir as their helping verb agree in number and gender with a preceding direct object noun or pronoun: