The past participle is a non-finite verb form. It is used in compound tenses with avoir or être, but it can also function as an adjective. In a sentence, it often conveys the idea of an action accomplished, a state obtained, or an event finished. It appears in la porte fermée, les enfants arrivés, j’ai mangé. When it is verbal, it participates in the construction of the verb. When it is adjectival, it describes a noun and behaves like an adjective. The form alone does not tell the whole story: it is the sentence that shows its role.

Formation of regular past participles

Idea
For verbs of the first group, the past participle usually ends with é.
For verbs of the second group, the past participle usually ends with i.
For many verbs of the third group, the past participle usually ends with u.

The verbs of the first group usually form the past participle with an -é. We take the verb stem and add -é: parler + -é gives parlé, aimer + -é gives aimé. The verbs of the second group take -i: finir + -i gives fini, choisir + -i gives choisi. Many verbs of the third group also take -u: vendre + -u gives vendu, attendre + -u gives attendu. The ending of the past participle does not depend on the person, because this form is not conjugated like a personal verb.

Verb	Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
	participe passé	prendre
	participe passé	dire
	participe passé	mettre
	participe passé	avoir
	participe passé	faire

Common irregular past participles

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
participe passé	faire	fait
participe passé	prendre	pris
participe passé	mettre	mis
participe passé	dire	dit
participe passé	avoir	eu

Scramble

Several very common verbs have an irregular past participle that must be recognized at a glance. faire gives fait, prendre gives pris, mettre gives mis, dire gives dit, voir gives vu, avoir gives eu, être gives été, lire gives lu, écrire gives écrit, boire gives bu. Some groups follow the same sound pattern: verbs ending in -prendre often give pris, as in apprendre + pris in appris. Verbs ending in -mettre often give mis, as in promettre + promis in promis. Verbs ending in -dire often give dit, as in interdire + dit in interdit.

Agreement of the past participle with être

Idea
With être, the past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number.
In masculine singular, the past participle remains without visible change.
In feminine singular, an often added e to the past participle.
In plural, often add s or es depending on the gender.

With être, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject. We write elle est arrivée, ils sont partis, elles sont descendues. The masculine singular form serves as the base: you add -e for feminine, -s for plural, -es for feminine plural. This agreement appears in compound tenses formed with être, in movement verbs and in changes of state: Marie est tombée, les fenêtres sont restées ouvertes. To review the place of the past participle in compound tenses, see Passé Composé and Plus-Que-Parfait.

Agreement of the past participle with avoir

Idea
With avoir, the past participle does not agree with the subject.
With avoir, the past participle agrees with the COD when the COD is placed before the verb.
Without COD before the verb, the past participle remains unchanged.

With avoir, the past participle remains invariable in the simplest sentence: j’ai mangé, nous avons fini, ils ont pris. The agreement appears only if the direct object is placed before the verb. We write la lettre que j’ai écrite, les pommes que j’ai mangées, les décisions qu’il a prises. Here, the direct object is que, picked up by la lettre, les pommes, les décisions. If the direct object comes after the verb, there is no agreement: j’ai écrit une lettre, j’ai mangé des pommes. This rule is necessary for the correct use of the past participle in Passé Composé and in Plus-Que-Parfait.

Agreement of pronominal verbs

Idea
With a pronominal verb, the past participle often agrees with the subject.
If the reflexive pronoun is COD, the past participle remains unchanged.
When a COD is placed before the verb, the past participle agrees with that COD.

With pronominal verbs, the agreement depends on the function of the reflexive pronoun. When the pronoun is a COD, the past participle agrees: elle s’est lavée, ils se sont regardés, elles se sont appelées. When the pronoun is an COI, there is no agreement: elles se sont parlé, ils se sont téléphoné. In se laver, se regarder, se préparer, the pronoun represents the person affected by the action, so the agreement follows the subject. In se parler, se téléphoner, se sourire, the pronoun does not receive the action directly, so the participle remains invariable. This rule also applies to compound forms with an auxiliary, useful in Passé Composé and Plus-Que-Parfait.

Verb	Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
plus que parfait	je	inventer
passé composé	je	inventer
futur antérieur	je	inventer

Past participle in compound tenses

Subject	Infinitive	Conjugation
je	inventer	ai inventé
je	inventer	avais inventé
je	inventer	aurai inventé

Scramble

The past participle forms the second element of compound tenses. The structure is: auxiliary + past participle. With avoir: j’ai terminé, nous avions compris, elle aura choisi. With être: il est parti, elles étaient montées, nous serons arrivés. The auxiliary carries the tense and person markers, while the past participle expresses the main action. In j’ai vu, avait pris, sont entrés, the past participle does not change its personal form. This construction is central to Passé Composé and to Plus-Que-Parfait.

Past participle used as adjective

Usage	Explanation
Stable state	The past participle is used as an adjective when it describes a state or a quality.
Adjective agreement	As an adjective, it agrees with the noun it accompanies.
Narrative effect	The adjectival past participle can give a more vivid and fun image.

The past participle can become a common adjective. It then describes the state of a person or a thing: une porte fermée, des chaussures usées, une idée acceptée. In this use, it agrees like an adjective with the noun it accompanies. We write un enfant fatigué, une enfant fatiguée, des enfants fatigués, des portes ouvertes. Some participles have become very common adjectives, such as fatigué, cuisiné, abîmé, surpris, perdu. When the form qualifies a noun without forming a verbal tense, it follows the usual adjective rules.

In writing, many past participles can be identified by their ending. -é often corresponds to first-group verbs: parlé, donné, mangé. -i appears in fini, choisi, parti for several second-group verbs and for common verbs like partir. -u is found in vendu, lu, perdu, reçu. In speech, several forms sound alike: parlé, parler, parlait do not have the same meaning, but the ending can sound similarly. The most useful forms to recognize quickly are fait, pris, mis, dit, eu, été, vu, pris, pris. Pronunciation often helps identify the verb family, but orthography shows the agreement and the exact form.