French Present Participle ~ Le participe présent
Learn how to conjugate and use the French present participle
The English present participle is very simple: it is the -ing form of a verb. The formation of the French present participle is also simple. For regular and all but three irregular verbs, the French present participle is formed by dropping -ons from the nous form of the present tense and adding -ant.
| verb | parler | finir | rendre | voir |
| nous form | parlons | finissons | rendons | voyons |
| present participle | parlant | finissant | rendant | voyant |
The three exceptions are
| verb | avoir | être | savoir |
| present participle | ayant | étant | sachant* |
*Savoir has different forms for the present participle used as a verb and as a noun or adjective; see present participle spelling changes
Pronominal verbs keep the reflexive pronoun in front of the present participle.
| se laver | se lavant |
| me coiffer | me coiffant |
The French present participle can be used as a(n)
Present participle spelling changes
More about French Present Participles
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