Question

French Mini-Tutorial: Present Participle

Answer 1

\({\bf{Present~Participle:}}\) the present participle verb form ends with -ing and is used as an adjective or verb to describe ongoing action. Do not confuse this with the present progressive.

To form the present participle, take the present tense nous form of the verb, drop the -ons, and add -ant.

examples:
alerter ---> nous alertons ---> alertant
engager ---> nous engageons ---> engageant

Le gars alertant l'officier est là-bas. (The man alerting the officer is over there.)
On ne gagne rien en on engageant avec des trolls. (One gains nothing by engaging with trolls.)

Irregular participles: here are three verbs that have irregular participle forms
- avoir ---> ayant
- être ---> êtant
- savoir ---> sachant

ex: L'ayant connu, je le recommanderais. (Having known him, I would recommend him.)
Étant odieux, le troll était détesté par la majorité des gens. (Being obnoxious, the troll was disliked by most people.)
Il frissonna, sachant ce qu'il y avait derrière le rideau. (He shivered, knowing what was behind the curtain.)

Answer 2

\({\bf{Uses:}}\)
- to modify a noun
ex: S'arrêtant dans la rue, il a failli se faire renverser par une voiture. (Stopping in the street, he almost got hit by a car.) Notice how arrêtant (stopping) modifies "il."

- to modify a verb
while/upon or by/because: use "en" before the present participle to indicate that this action is happening at the same time as some other action. both actions should be shared by the same verb.

J'ai pensé à mes problèmes en m'asseyant. (I thought about my problems while sitting down.) Notice that the verbs pensé and asseyant are simultaneous actions shared by the same verb.

additionally, the en + verb construction can be used to explain cause/effect or methods

ex:
En prenant un raccourci, nous y arriverons plus rapidement. (By taking a shortcut, we will get there faster.)

- as an alternative to relative clauses

ex:
Les personnes échouant dans leur propre vie ressentent le besoin de ruiner la vie des autres. (People failing in their own lives feel the need to ruin others' lives.)

échouant replaces "qui échouent" (people who fail vs. people failing)

Answer 3

\({\bf{References:}}\)

Rochester, Myrna B. Easy French Step-by-Step, United States, McGraw-Hill Education, 2009, 270-272.

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/present-participle/

CollinsDictionary for French and English translations

Forvo (https://forvo.com/), a French pronunciation database with samples from native French speakers