How French works
The present participle is formed by taking the stem of the first person plural of the present indicative and adding -ant.
nous aimons → aimant
nous finissons → finissant
nous rendons → rendant
Exceptions include:
être → étant
avoir → ayant
savoir → sachant
It is also used to form the compound present participle, sometimes called the perfect participle. Here the present participle of the auxiliary avoir or être is used with the past participle :
finir → ayant fini
arriver → étant arrivé
When used verbally, the present participle describes an action or process whose time is simultaneous with or prior to that expressed by the main clause verb. It is invariable :
Se sentant fatiguée, Marie est rentrée à la maison
Feeling tired, Marie went home
[i.e. Marie goes home while feeling tired]
Arrivant au cinéma une demi-heure en avance, Pierre est allé prendre un café
Arriving at the cinema half an hour early, Pierre went for a coffee
[ i.e. Pierre goes to get a coffee after arriving early]
The compound present participle describes an action or process which is completed prior to the time expressed by the verb in the main clause . Here too the present participle is invariable , although the past participle is not:
Marie, s’étant assise dans un fauteil, commença à lui raconter l’histoire
Marie, having sat down in an arm chair, began to tell him the story
[i.e. Marie begins her story after sitting down]
Because the present participle is a nonfinite verb form (that is to say it cannot be conjugated) it is said to stand within a nonfinite clause . It generally serves to abbreviate two types of finite clause . A relative clause :
Les enfants, dormant dans la chambre d’en face, ne se sont pas réveillés
[= qui dormaient dans la chambre d’en face]
The chidren, sleeping in the room opposite, didn't wake up
And an adverbial clause :
Etant fatigué, j’ai décidé d’aller me coucher
[= Comme j’étais fatigué]
(As I was) feeling tired, I decided to go to bed
In more formal French the present participle can have its own subject, in which case its clause (known as a participial clause) is always separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma. This is much more common in French than in English, and generally expresses a sense of cause:
Son prochain client étant en retard, il a décidé d'écrire une lettre
As his next client was late, he decided to write a letter
Where the present participle is preceded by en (e.g. en travaillant), this form is known as a gerund. This contrasts with the English gerund form, which refers to the -ing form used as a noun (e.g. he likes skiing).
Like the present participle, the gerund is invariable and describes an action or process the time of which is simultaneous with that expressed by the verb in the main clause .
Elle s’est cassé la jambe en faisant du ski
She broke her leg whilst skiing
With the gerund , the subject is always the same as the subject of the verb in the main clause . This is different from the present participle which can have a different subject from that of the main clause verb. Compare, for example:
J’ai vu Marie en sortant du bureau de poste
I saw Marie while (I was) coming out of the post office
J’ai vu Marie sortant du bureau de poste
I saw Marie (who was) coming out of the post office
The gerund can be used to express a variety of notions:
Il entra dans la salle en souriant
He came into the room smiling
Il s’est cassé la jambe en jouant au football
He broke his leg playing football
Veuillez vous adresser à l’accueil en arrivant
Please go to reception on arriving
En utilisant cette méthode de paiement vous ferez d’importantes économies
In using this method of payment you will make considerable savings
En prenant la route la plus longue, il est tout de même arrivé le premier
Despite taking the longer route he still arrived first
Adding the adverb tout can serve to emphasize the simultaneity of the actions expressed the present participle and the main clause verb:
Tout en me parlant, elle faisait le repassage
All the while she was talking to me she was doing the ironing
It can also create the notion of opposition:
Tout en prenant la route la plus longue, il est arrivé le premier
Despite taking the longer route he still arrived first
Or concession:
Tout en comprenant ses arguments, je ne suis pas d’accord avec son projet
Whilst I understand his arguments, I do not agree with his plan
Where the gerund is used to express a manner of motion, in English this can often be wholly contained in the main clause verb:
Il traversa la rue en courant
He ran across the road
Where a present participle denotes a quality rather than an action or process it is considered to be an adjective . In this case it is variable , that is to say it does alter for number or gender:
C’est une ville intéressante
It's an interesting town
Ce sont des enfants charmants
They are charming children
Unlike the present participle, the verbal adjective, like any adjective, cannot take an object . Compare, for example:
Ce sont des filles obéissantes
[= verbal adjective]
They are obedient girls
Les filles, obéissant à leur mère, sont rentrées de très bonne heure
[ = present participle]
The girls, obeying their mother, went home very early
In certain rare cases the spelling of the verbal adjective is different to that of the present participle. Compare, for example:
C’est un travail fatigant
[= verbal adjective]
It's tiring work
Ce travail, bien que me fatiguant beaucoup, m’apporte d’énormes satisfactions
[= present participle]
This work, although it tires me out, gives me enormous satisfaction
Other examples:
Note that the English -ing form does not always correspond to the French -ant form.
The continuous or progressive verb forms in English (for example I am doing, she was saying etc.) are translated by the equivalent simple tense in French (there is no form denoting continuous aspect in French). For example:
Where is Peter? He is playing tennis with Paul
Où est Pierre? Il joue au tennis avec Paul
After prepositions , French often uses the infinitive where English uses the present participle :
He left without saying a word
Il est parti sans dire un mot
He turned out all the lights before leaving
Il a éteint toutes les lumières avant de partir
When a verb is governed by another verb (as with a semi-auxiliary ), French always uses an infinitive in situations where English uses a present participle :
We like going for a walk on Sunday afternoons
Nous aimons bien faire une promenade le dimanche après-midi
When an English clause containing the present participle has the sense of a relative clause , it is generally translated by an infinitive or a relative clause in French:
I heard Pierre singing in the bath
J'entendais Pierre chanter / qui chantait dans son bain
For verbs of position, the English -ing form is often translated by the French past participle :
I saw the child kneeling on the floor
J’ai vu l’enfant agenouillé sur le sol
The present participle seems to be more acceptable in French when the subordinate clause verb expresses a momentary rather than a continuous action:
I saw Marie coming out of / arriving at the post office
J’ai vu Marie sortant du / arrivant au bureau de poste
The English gerundive can be translated in various ways such as using a subordinate clause or a noun phrase :
She undoubtedly benefited from his being there
Elle a sans aucun doute profité du fait qu'il était là / de ce qu'il était là / de sa présence
When the -ing form is used with after, French uses après + past infinitive :
After checking that all the windows were shut, he went back home
Après avoir vérifié que toutes les fenêtres étaient fermées, il est rentré chez lui
After arriving at the restaurant, we first had an aperitif
Après être arrivés au restaurant, nous avons d'abord pris l'apéritif
In fact the past infinitive is used wherever the English -ing form can be replaced by a perfect participle (having + past participle):
Now he regrets saying / having said that he didn't want to come
Maintenant il regrette d'avoir dit qu'il ne voulait pas venir