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Conjugation
Objective: Form present participles from the nous stem with the -ant suffix, and apply the three irregular forms être, avoir, and savoir.
| Infinitive | nous form | Present participle | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| parler | nous parlons | parlant | speaking |
| finir | nous finissons | finissant | finishing |
| vendre | nous vendons | vendant | selling |
| faire | nous faisons | faisant | doing |
| prendre | nous prenons | prenant | taking |
| écrire | nous écrivons | écrivant | writing |
| boire | nous buvons |
The stem comes from the present nous finissons, which keeps the double s before the -ant ending.
The plural stem of prendre drops the -d, so nous prenons produces prenant, never prendant.
The present participle parlant describes the reason for the main action, while remaining invariable because it modifies the verb rather than the noun.
The stem comes from nous finissons, which keeps the double s before the -ant ending.
Être forms the irregular participle étant with an acute accent on the e.
Avoir forms the irregular participle ayant. The past participle fini completes the structure.
Savoir forms the irregular participle sachant, the third and last exception to the -ant rule.
6 exercises · about 9 minutes
| buvant |
| drinking |
| voir | nous voyons | voyant | seeing |
Être is one of the three verbs with an irregular present participle, written étant with an acute accent on the e.
When the present participle functions as an adjective, it agrees in gender and number with the noun, so amusantes takes the feminine plural ending.
Faire follows the regular pattern, since nous faisons produces faisant.
The participle intéressant functions as an adjective here, agreeing with the masculine singular noun film.
The participle amusantes agrees with the feminine plural noun histoires, since the adjectival use requires full agreement.