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Understanding the French Past Participle
In French, the past participle is a special form of a verb that helps us talk about things that happened in the past. It's a bit like saying 'played' or 'eaten' in English. We use it with other words to tell stories about what has happened.
Important Points
The past participle is used with 'avoir' or 'être' to form past tenses.
It often ends in -é, -i, or -u for regular verbs.
Irregular verbs have special past participles you need to memorize.
Examples
J'ai mangé une pomme.
Elle est allée au parc.
Nous avons fini nos devoirs.
Regular verbs that end in -er, like 'manger' (to eat), change to -é in the past participle. So 'manger' becomes 'mangé'.
Examples
Ils ont joué au football.
Tu as travaillé dur.
Regular verbs that end in -ir, like 'finir' (to finish), change to -i in the past participle. So 'finir' becomes 'fini'.
Examples
Nous avons choisi un film.
Il a réussi son examen.
Regular verbs that end in -re, like 'vendre' (to sell), change to -u in the past participle. So 'vendre' becomes 'vendu'.
Examples
Elle a vendu sa voiture.
Vous avez entendu la musique.
Some verbs are irregular, which means they don't follow the normal rules. You just have to remember these special forms.
Examples
Il a été très gentil.
J'ai eu un chat.
Important Points
With 'être', the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject.
With 'avoir', the past participle agrees with the direct object if it comes before the verb.
Examples
Elle est venue (feminine singular).
Les pommes que j'ai mangées (feminine plural).
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