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Present Participle

  • To form, drop the -ons ending from the nous present tense and replace with -ant

Aller → allons → all__ant__

Boire → buvons → buv__ant__

Choisir → choississons → choississ__ant__

Être → étant

Avoir → ayant

Savoir → sachant

  • When used as verbs, present participles are usually the English equivalent of verbs ending in -ing. They typically precede the preposition en

    • Il lui a indiqué le chemin en regardant le plan du quartier

  • Use the present participleto say what caused something or how something occurred

    • Gerald s’est cassé le bras en tombant du toit

  • En + [present participle] can also mean that something is done as soon as something else happens

    • Il va téléphoner en arrivant a la gare.

  • The expression tout en emphasizes that two actions occur simultaneously

    • Il conduit tout en mangeant un sandwich

  • When a present participle is used as an adjective, it must agree in gender and number

    • Ces filles sont charmantes

JM

Present Participle

  • To form, drop the -ons ending from the nous present tense and replace with -ant

Aller → allons → all__ant__

Boire → buvons → buv__ant__

Choisir → choississons → choississ__ant__

Être → étant

Avoir → ayant

Savoir → sachant

  • When used as verbs, present participles are usually the English equivalent of verbs ending in -ing. They typically precede the preposition en

    • Il lui a indiqué le chemin en regardant le plan du quartier

  • Use the present participleto say what caused something or how something occurred

    • Gerald s’est cassé le bras en tombant du toit

  • En + [present participle] can also mean that something is done as soon as something else happens

    • Il va téléphoner en arrivant a la gare.

  • The expression tout en emphasizes that two actions occur simultaneously

    • Il conduit tout en mangeant un sandwich

  • When a present participle is used as an adjective, it must agree in gender and number

    • Ces filles sont charmantes