Past participle formation

Summary

The past participle is the form used after avoir or être to build compound tenses; it ends in -é for -er verbs, -i for regular -ir verbs, and follows irregular -u / -is / -it/-t patterns for Group 3 verbs.

Explanation

The past participle is the verb form that follows the auxiliaries avoir and être to build the compound tenses — the passé composé (j'ai parlé), the plus-que-parfait (j'avais parlé), the futur antérieur, and so on — and it can also work as an adjective (une porte fermée). Learning to form it correctly is the gateway to every compound tense in French.

For the two regular groups the rule is simple. Group 1 verbs in -er drop -er and add -é: parler → parlé, manger → mangé, aller → allé. Regular Group 2 verbs in -ir (those with the -iss- present) drop -ir and add -i: finir → fini, choisir → choisi, réussir → réussi. These two patterns cover the large majority of French verbs.

Group 3 is irregular, but the participles cluster into families worth memorising together. Many end in -u: voir → vu, vouloir → voulu, pouvoir → pu, devoir → dû (with a circumflex), boire → bu, lire → lu, croire → cru, recevoir → reçu, venir → venu, tenir → tenu, courir → couru, connaître → connu, falloir → fallu. A small set ends in -is: prendre → pris, mettre → mis, asseoir → assis (and their compounds, comprendre → compris, promettre → promis). Others end in -it or -t: dire → dit, écrire → écrit, faire → fait, conduire → conduit, ouvrir → ouvert, offrir → offert, mourir → mort, naître → né, peindre → peint, craindre → craint. Two are simply irregular vowels: être → été, avoir → eu.

Watch the pitfalls. The masculine-singular form of many irregular participles ends in a silent consonant (mis, pris, fait, écrit, ouvert) that only becomes audible and visible when the participle agrees (mise, prise, faite, écrite, ouverte) — agreement itself is treated in separate rules. Never apply -é to a non-er verb (*finé instead of fini), never drop the circumflex on dû, and remember that the participle is not the infinitive: parlé and parler sound alike but are different words.

Rule of thumb: -er verbs → -é, regular -ir verbs → -i, and learn the Group 3 participles in their three families — those in -u, those in -is, and those in -it or -t.

Examples

J'ai parlé, tu as fini et il a pris le train. — I spoke, you finished and he took the train. (Three groups in one line: parlé (-er → -é), fini (regular -ir → -i), pris (Group 3 in -is).)

Elle a fait ses devoirs et elle a vu le film. — She did her homework and she saw the film. (fait (-t family) and vu (-u family) are irregular Group 3 participles.)

Nous avons écrit une lettre et ouvert la fenêtre. — We wrote a letter and opened the window. (écrit and ouvert end in a silent -t that you hear only when they agree (écrite, ouverte).)

Ils ont bu du café et lu le journal. — They drank coffee and read the newspaper. (bu (boire) and lu (lire) both belong to the -u family.)

Le verre est mis sur la table. — The glass is placed on the table. (The silent -s of mis would surface in the feminine: la tasse est mise sur la table.)

J'ai reçu ta lettre ce matin. — I received your letter this morning. (recevoir → reçu: the cédille keeps the c soft before u.)

Common mistakes

Related rules

• Passé composé
• Group 2: regular -ir verbs (-iss-, finir)
• Group 3: irregular verbs overview
• Past-participle agreement with avoir (preceding direct object)