Present participles

1 Formation

The present participle is formed by taking the stem of the first person plural of the present tense and adding -ant.

Exceptions include:

2 Use

2.1 Describing simultaneous action

The present participle describes an action that happens at the same time as or just before another. It is invariable, i.e. it does not take an agreement :

J'ai vu Marie sortant du bureau de poste

I saw Marie coming out of the post office

Arrivant au cinéma une demi-heure en avance, Pierre est allé prendre un café

Arriving at the cinema half an hour early, Pierre went and had a coffee

2.2 Sense of qui

It is often used with the sense of a relative clause involving qui:

Les enfants, dormant dans la chambre d'en face, ne se sont pas réveillés

[ = qui dormaient dans la chambre d'en face]

The children, sleeping in the room opposite, didn't wake up

2.3 Sense of comme

And a clause beginning with comme:

Etant fatigué, j'ai décidé d'aller me coucher

[ = Comme j'étais fatigué]

As I was feeling tired, I decided to go to bed

2.4 Gerund

Where it is used with en (e.g. en travaillant), this form is known as a gerund. The gerund can be used to express:

•  The manner in which something happens:

Il entra dans la salle en souriant

He came into the room smiling

•  The reason why something happens:

Il s'est cassé la jambe en jouant au football

He broke his leg playing football

•  The idea of when:

Veuillez vous adresser à l'accueil en arrivant

Please go to reception on arriving

•  The idea of through doing something:

En utilisant cette méthode de paiement vous ferez d'importantes économies

In using this method of payment you will make considerable savings

2.5 Adjectives and nouns

Many adjectives and some nouns derive from the present participle form. Note that adjectives take an agreement where appropriate:

C'est une ville intéressante

It's an interesting town

Les petits commerçants sont contre les mesures

Small shopkeepers are against the measures