Grammar: Verbs - Perfect Infinitive and Present Participle

Grammar: Verbs - Perfect Infinitive and Present Participle

Section 1: Understanding the Perfect Infinitive

  • The Perfect Infinitive in French is equivalent to having used the phrase “to have” or “to be” followed by a past participle in English.
  • It is formed by placing the infinitive of the auxiliary verb (avoir or être) before the past participle of the main verb.
  • This tense is usually used when referring to an action that has been completed before another past action.

Section 2: ‘Avoir’ or ‘Être’ in the Perfect Infinitive

  • The decision of using avoir or être as the auxiliary verb in the perfect infinitive is determined by the main verb’s function and meaning.
  • As a rule, movement or state-changing verbs usually use être, while other verbs generally use avoir.
  • The verbs that take être are generally those that are included in the acronym DR MRS VANDERTRAMP.

Section 3: The Use and Formation of the Present Participle

  • The French Present Participle can be used as a verb, a gerund, an adjective, or a noun.
  • To form the Present Participle, drop the -ons ending from the nous form of the present tense and add -ant.
  • For example, the present participle of the verb parler would be parlant.

Section 4: Utilising the Present Participle

  • When used as a gerund (a verb serving as a noun for an action), it’s often combined with the preposition en (while, by, on).
  • For instance, phrases like en étudiant (while studying) or en parlant (while speaking) demonstrate this usage.
  • Used as an adjective, the present participle must agree in gender and number with the noun, adding an -e for feminine subjects, an -s for plural subjects and -es for feminine plural subjects.

Section 5: Exceptions to Formation of Present Participle

  • There are exceptions for some verbs, such as être, which turns into étant, and avoir which turns into ayant.
  • Verbs ending in -ir with an inserting ‘-iss-‘ in the plural forms have present participles ending in -issant for example finir becomes finissant.
  • Other irregular verbs include savoir (sachant) and pouvoir (puisant). These irregular forms must be memorized.