French Grammar: Irregular Past Participles
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French Grammar: Irregular Past Participles
la grammaire française: le participe passé des verbes irréguliers
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The past participle is the general equivalent of using [-ED] in English. It can be used in a variety of functions, including compound tenses and as adjectives with the verb ‘ÊTRE’.
Click here to learn about the past participle for regular verbs.
Several commonly used French verbs have irregular past participles. (Some of these verbs have irregular past participles in English, too!)
atteindre : atteint
to reach / to attain : reached / attained
avoir : eu
to have : had
boire : bu
to drink : drank
comprendre : compris
to understand : understood
conduire : conduit
to drive : drove
connaître : connu
to know : knew
construire : construit
to build : built
courir : couru
to run : ran
craindre : craint
to be afraid of (something) : was afraid of (something)
croire : cru
to believe : believed
cuire : cuit
to cook : cooked
détruire : détruit
to destroy : destroyed
devoir : dû
to have to / ought to / must / to owe : had to / owed
dire : dit
to say / to tell : said / told
écrire : écrit
to write : wrote
être : été
to be : was
faire : fait
to do / to make : did / made
falloir : fallu
to have to / to need to / must : had to / needed to
lire : lu
to read : read
mourir : mort
to die : died
mettre : mis
to put / to place : put / placed
naître : né
to be born : was born
offrir : offert
to offer : offered
ouvrir : ouvert
to open : opened
paraître : paru
to appear / to seem : appeared / seemed
peindre : peint
to paint : painted
plaire : plu
to please : pleased
pleuvoir : plu
to rain : rained
pouvoir : pu
to be able / can : was able / could
prendre : pris
to take : took
produire : produit
to produce : produced
recevoir : reçu
to receive : received
réduire : réduit
to reduce : reduced
rire : ri
to laugh : laughed
savoir : su
to know (facts / information) : knew
souffrir : souffert
to suffer : suffered
suivre : suivi
to follow : followed
tenir : tenu
to hold : held
venir : venu
to come : came
vivre : vécu
to live : lived
voir : vu
to see : saw
vouloir : voulu
to want : wanted
Verbs derived from irregular verbs have the same past participle ending as the irregular verb from which they are derived.
Examples:
ouvrir (to open) : ouvert (opened) –> couvrir (to cover) : couvert (covered) –> découvrir (to discover) : découvert (discovered)
prendre (to take) : pris (taken) –> surprendre (to surprise) : surpris (surprised)
rire (to laugh) : ri –> sourire (to smile) : souri (smiled)
venir (to come) : venu (came) –> revenir (to come back) : revenu (came back)
When a past participle is used as an adjective with the verb ÊTRE, its ending follows the same rules for agreement as other adjectives – that is, it must agree in number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine or feminine) with the noun it describes.
Compare these two sentences:
Le message est écrit.
The message is written. (“message” is singular and masculine.)
BUT:
Les notes sont écrites.
The notes are written. (“notes” is plural and feminine.)
Adapt:
J’ai déjà lu ce livre.
I already read that book.
Ils ont conduit très vite.
They (masculine) drove very fast.
La porte est ouverte.
The door is open.
Nous avons mis les clés sur la table.
We put the keys on the table.
Elle a bu un verre d’eau.
She drank a glass of water.
Les devoirs sont faits.
The homework is done.
Mon chien est mort l’année passée.
My dog died last year.
