How do I form the present participle?

With regular verbs, forming the present participle requires three easy steps:Conjugate the verb into its 'nous' form, eg. jouer - jouons / finir - finissons / vendre - vendonsNow, remove this ending. This leaves you with the stem of the verb: jou / finiss / vendFinally, add the ending -ant to this stem. This gives you the present participle: jouant / finissant / vendant
Remember, it's not enough just to remove the ending of the infinitive (-er / -ar / -ir) and add -ant. You must find the stem of the verb before you can add this ending (steps 1 and 2)!
Luckily, there are only three verbs that have an irregular past participle: avoir, etre and savoir. You have to learn these, as they don't follow the regular rules!Avoir - AyantÊtre - ÉtantSavoir - Sachant.

Answered by Eleanor P. French tutor

1696 Views

See similar French GCSE tutors

Related French GCSE answers

All answers ▸

How can I understand the tense 'passé composé'/ Can you explain 'passé composé to me?


When do we use the perfect and imperfect tense and what is the difference between the two?


Using the perfect tense with avoir


Décrivez votre vie. Parlez moi de ce que vous aimez faire, de vos amis, de votre famille


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences