French Present Participle: Rules, Examples, and Common Uses

Key takeaways

• The French present participle is formed by taking the nous present tense form, dropping -ons, and adding -ant.
• Three verbs have irregular present participles: être (étant), avoir (ayant), and savoir (sachant).
• When the present participle acts as an adjective, it agrees with the noun in gender and number.
• The gerondif (en + present participle) expresses simultaneous actions and never changes form.
• The present participle can also replace a relative clause to describe someone doing something.

Most learners treat the French present participle as a single grammar point, when it does three different jobs: it works as an adjective, it forms the gerondif (en + participe présent), and it can replace a full relative clause. Mixing up these three uses is one of the most common mistakes at the intermediate level, especially when it comes to agreement rules.

Trusted by over 10 million learners worldwide, italki has French teachers who break down grammar points like present participles into clear, usable patterns. This guide covers present participle formation, all three uses with examples, the three irregular verbs, and the agreement rule that trips up so many learners.

How to form the French present participle

The rule is consistent for almost every verb. Start with the nous form in the present tense, remove the -ons ending, and add -ant.

Infinitive	Nous form	Present participle
parler (to speak)	parlons	parlant
finir (to finish)	finissons	finissant
prendre (to take)	prenons	prenant
choisir (to choose)	choisissons	choisissant
manger (to eat)	mangeons	mangeant
lire (to read)	lisons	lisant
faire (to do/make)	faisons	faisant

The pattern holds even for verbs with spelling changes in the nous form. Once you spot the pattern, you can generate the present participle for nearly any regular or irregular verb in French.

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The three irregular present participles

Only three common verbs break the formation rule:

• être (to be): étant (being)
• avoir (to have): ayant (having)
• savoir (to know): sachant (knowing)

These three show up constantly in intermediate French texts, so it’s worth practicing them until they feel automatic. Everything else follows the nous-form rule.

Ready to lock these three exceptions into memory? Work with a French tutor online who creates targeted drills and corrects you in real time.

Use 1: The present participle as an adjective

When the present participle modifies a noun directly, it agrees with the noun in gender and number:

• un livre intéressant (an interesting book) — masculine singular
• une histoire intéressante (an interesting story) — feminine singular
• des films intéressants (interesting films) — masculine plural
• des nouvelles intéressantes (interesting news) — feminine plural

The agreement rule applies even when the participle comes after the noun, which is the standard position in French. If you’re unsure whether a particular -ant word needs to agree, ask yourself: “Am I using this to describe a noun directly?” If yes, it agrees.

This is where most learners need live guidance. A French teacher shows you how native speakers instinctively apply agreement and help you build that same intuition.

Use 2: En + present participle (the gerondif)

The gerondif expresses two distinct meanings: simultaneous actions (what’s happening at the same time) and method (how something is accomplished). Both use the same structure: en + present participle.

Simultaneous actions:

• En mangeant, il lit (While eating, he reads).
• Tu peux prendre des notes en écoutant (You can take notes while listening).

Method or means:

• Elle a appris le français en regardant des films (She learned French by watching films).
• Il s’est blessé en courant (He hurt himself while running).

The gerondif never agrees. The form stays the same regardless of the subject’s gender or number. This is one of the biggest differences between the gerondif and the present participle used as an adjective.

Testing this distinction? An online French teacher gives you real-time feedback when you mix these up and catches those errors before they become habits.

Use 3: Present participle as a reduced relative clause

You can use the present participle to compress a full relative clause into something more concise and elegant. This is especially common in formal writing and news articles.

Instead of: Je cherche quelqu’un qui parle français, you can write: Je cherche quelqu’un parlant français (I’m looking for someone who speaks French).

More examples:

• Les étudiants ayant réussi l’examen ont reçu un prix (The students who passed the exam received a prize).
• Un train partant de Lyon arrivera à Paris à 18h (A train leaving from Lyon will arrive in Paris at 6 p.m.).

When you use the present participle this way, think of it as replacing the relative pronoun (qui, que) and the conjugated verb. The participle form itself doesn’t agree with the noun; it stays in its base form.

Want to master this shift from spoken to written French? French teachers online who focus on composition will train your ear for formal structures and show you when this compression feels natural.

The agreement rule

Understanding when to apply agreement is the key to using present participles correctly. Here’s the breakdown:

Role	Example	Agreement?
Adjective	une histoire captivante (a captivating story)	Yes
Gerondif	en lisant (while reading)	No
Relative clause replacement	quelqu’un parlant français	No

The single most important rule: if the present participle is directly describing a noun (acting as an adjective), it must agree. In all other cases, it stays in its base -ant form.

Struggling to remember this when you’re writing? A French tutor on italki works through writing samples with you, pointing out where you apply (or forget) agreement, until it becomes automatic.

Common present participles worth knowing

These verbs produce present participles that show up frequently in intermediate French texts:

• chantant (singing), from chanter (to sing)
• vivant (living), from vivre (to live)
• suivant (following/next), from suivre (to follow)
• attendant (waiting), from attendre (to wait)
• apprenant (learning), from apprendre (to learn)
• portant (carrying), from porter (to carry)

Seeing these in context, when reading novels, news articles, or listening to podcasts, will help you internalize their usage faster than studying them in isolation. That’s why reading comprehension and listening are so valuable alongside grammar study.

Learn to recognize these present participles by practicing with online French tutors through real French articles and podcasts.

Present participle vs. imparfait

A common point of confusion: when do you use the present participle or gerondif instead of the imparfait? The difference comes down to their roles in a sentence.

The imparfait describes background conditions or states in the past. It sets the scene: “Je mangeais quand il a appelé” (I was eating when he called). The imperfect shows what was already happening.

The gerondif, on the other hand, connects two actions happening at the same moment or explains how something happened. It’s more active and specific: “J’ai appris l’espagnol en écoutant de la musique” (I learned Spanish by listening to music). The gerondif tells you the method or the simultaneous action.

The gap between knowing a rule and using it automatically is exactly where French tutors on italki make the biggest difference. Whether you’re wrestling with present participle agreement or building your ability to recognize these forms in real texts, one-on-one instruction accelerates the shift from study to skill.

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FAQ

Can the gerondif have a different subject from the main clause?

No. The gerondif must share its subject with the main verb of the sentence. “En sortant, la pluie a commencé” is incorrect because the rain did not go out. The subject of “sortant” (going out) must be the same as the subject of the main clause.

Is the present participle the same as the imparfait stem?

They come from the same nous-form base, but they are different forms. The present participle ends in -ant and is used as described above. The imparfait is a fully conjugated past tense with its own endings (like -ais, -ait, -ions). Don’t confuse the two.

Do all -ant words in French come from the present participle?

Not all of them. Some adjectives ending in -ant are fully independent adjectives not derived from any present participle. For example, “charmant” (charming) and “brillant” (brilliant) are adjectives in their own right, not present participles of charmer or briller. Context will usually tell you which is which.

How do I know if a present participle should agree or not?

Ask yourself: “Is this word directly describing a noun?” If yes, it agrees. If it’s part of a gerondif (en + participle) or replacing a relative clause, it doesn’t. This one question will solve most agreement confusion.