Published April 7, 2026 — Lesson written by French teacher David Issokson for students who want to learn French online. Linked lessons offer native audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a voice artist from France.
📘 What is a French past participle?
A French past participle is a verb form used to express completed actions, similar to “-ed” or “-en” in English (e.g., mangé = eaten, fini = finished, pris = taken). Past participles are mainly used with the auxiliary verbs avoir or être to form compound tenses such as the passé composé. For example, J’ai parlé means “I spoke”, “I have spoken”, or “I did speak”, where parlé is the past participle.
How past participles are used
Past participles are used in three main ways in French:
1. With compound tenses (most common)
Used with avoir or être to talk about past actions.
➞ J’ai fini. I finished.
➞ Elle est partie. She left.
2. As adjectives
They can describe nouns and must agree in gender and number.
➞ Une porte fermée. A closed door.
➞ Des lettres écrites. Written letters.
3. In the passive voice
Used with être to describe actions done to the subject.
➞ Le livre est lu. The book is read.
➞ La maison est construite. The house is built.
Regular past participles
French regular verbs follow simple patterns based on their infinitive endings:
| Verb type | Infinitive | Past participle | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ER verbs | parler | parlé | spoke |
| -IR verbs | finir | fini | finished |
| -RE verbs | attendre | attendu | waited |
👉 Rule summary:
- -er → -é
- -ir → -i
- -re → -u
These patterns cover the majority of verbs, especially at the beginner level.
Common irregular past participles
These irregular past participles are extremely common and appear constantly in everyday spoken French.
| Infinitive | Past participle | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| avoir | eu | had |
| être | été | been |
| faire | fait | done / made |
| savoir | su | known |
| dire | dit | said |
| écrire | écrit | written |
| prendre | pris | taken |
| mettre | mis | put |
| voir | vu | seen |
| pouvoir | pu | been able to |
| vouloir | voulu | wanted |
| falloir | fallu | had to / was necessary |
| devoir | dû | had to |
| boire | bu | drunk |
| lire | lu | read |
| connaître | connu | known |
| venir | venu | come |
Agreement rules (quick overview)
Past participle agreement depends on the auxiliary verb:
With être → always agrees with the subject
➞ Elle est allée. She went. (extra “e” for feminine)
With avoir → agrees only if a direct object comes before
➞ Les lettres que j’ai écrites. The letters that I wrote. (agrees with lettres)
Otherwise → no agreement
➞ J’ai écrit une lettre. I wrote a letter.
📚 Related lessons on FrenchLearner
👉 Passé composé (complete guide) »
👉 Être verbs in the past tense »
👉 Être conjugation (with audio) »
👉 Avoir conjugation (with audio) »
👉 French verb conjugation guide »
👉 French passive voice »
