Participe Présent in French Grammar: The Complete TCF/TEF Guide

How to form it, when to use it, and the one mistake that costs the most points in TCF/TEF writing.

Quick answer: The participe présent is formed by taking the nous form of the present tense, dropping -ons, and adding -ant (nous faisons → faisant). There are only 3 irregular exceptions: être → étant, avoir → ayant, savoir → sachant. It has three main uses: as a gérondif (en + participe présent, always invariable), as a true present participle replacing a relative clause (also invariable), and as a verbal adjective (variable — it agrees in gender and number).

What is the participe présent?

The participe présent is the French verb form ending in -ant — equivalent to the English "-ing" form in many (but not all) of its uses. It shows up constantly in TCF and TEF Canada writing tasks, especially in Tâche 3's argumentative essays, where it's one of the fastest ways to add sentence variety and move from a B1-level style toward a C1-level one. It's also one of the most consistently mis-applied grammar points on the exam, because French actually has two related-but-different -ant forms that look identical but follow opposite agreement rules.

How to form the participe présent

The rule is the same for almost every verb in French: take the nous form of the present indicative, drop the -ons ending, and add -ant.

The only 3 irregular forms

These three verbs don't follow the nous-form rule and simply have to be memorized:

• être → étant (not "sommant")
• avoir → ayant (not "avons-ant")
• savoir → sachant (not "savons-ant")

That's the entire list of exceptions — every other verb in French, regular or irregular in its conjugation, still forms its participe présent from the nous form.

The three uses — and why they don't all follow the same rules

1. Gérondif (en + participe présent) — always invariable

Adding en in front of the participe présent creates the gérondif, which expresses an action happening at the same time as, or as the means of, the main action. It never agrees with anything — it stays exactly the same regardless of the subject's gender or number.

• Elle a réussi son entretien en parlant avec confiance. (She succeeded in her interview by speaking with confidence.)
• Ils apprennent le français en regardant des films. (They're learning French by watching films.)

2. True present participle (no en) — also invariable

Without en, the participe présent can replace a relative clause (qui + verb), describing an action the subject is doing. It's still invariable here — this is the form most TCF/TEF candidates get wrong, because it looks exactly like an adjective but doesn't behave like one.

• Les candidats souhaitant réussir doivent s'entraîner régulièrement. (Candidates wishing to succeed must practise regularly — equivalent to les candidats qui souhaitent réussir.)
• Une personne connaissant bien le sujet peut répondre facilement. (A person who knows the topic well can answer easily.)

3. Adjectif verbal — the one form that DOES agree

Some -ant words have crossed over into being true adjectives, and true adjectives always agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. This is the exception that causes most of the confusion, because the word often looks identical to the invariable participle above.

• une eau courante (running water) — courante agrees with the feminine eau
• des exemples suivants (the following examples) — suivants agrees with the plural exemples
• une expérience fatigante (a tiring experience) — fatigante agrees with the feminine expérience

The mistake that costs the most points

The single most common error in TCF/TEF writing correction data is adding an agreement ending to a true participe présent that should stay invariable — for example, writing "les personnes voulantes améliorer leur niveau" instead of the correct "les personnes voulant améliorer leur niveau." The instinct to make voulant agree with the plural personnes is understandable — almost every other describing word in French does agree — but the true present participle is one of the few that deliberately doesn't.

The quick test: if you can mentally replace the -ant word with "qui + a conjugated verb" (e.g., les personnes qui veulent), it's a true participle and stays invariable. If it's describing a permanent quality of the noun the way an ordinary adjective would (like courante or fatigante), it agrees.

Why this matters specifically for TCF/TEF Canada

Writing (Expression écrite) is graded on task achievement, coherence, lexical range, and morphosyntax as separate criteria — and correct, varied use of the participe présent is exactly the kind of structure that signals a C1-level style rather than a B1/B2 one to an examiner. Using it well in Tâche 3's argumentative essay ("Le gouvernement devrait investir dans l'éducation, permettant ainsi à plus de jeunes de réussir...") is a fast way to add sophistication without adding word count you don't have room for under the 120–180 word limit.

Quick practice

Try converting each relative clause below into a participe présent — the answers follow directly after.

1. Les étudiants qui étudient chaque jour progressent plus vite.
2. Une personne qui sait deux langues a un avantage sur le marché du travail.
3. Les entreprises qui investissent dans la formation retiennent mieux leurs employés.

Answers:

1. Les étudiants étudiant chaque jour progressent plus vite.
2. Une personne sachant deux langues a un avantage sur le marché du travail.
3. Les entreprises investissant dans la formation retiennent mieux leurs employés.

Frequently asked questions

Does the participe présent ever agree in gender and number?

Only when it has become a true adjective (adjectif verbal), such as courante or fatigante. As a gérondif (with en) or as a true present participle replacing a relative clause, it is always invariable.

What's the difference between the gérondif and the participe présent?

The gérondif always includes en in front of the -ant form and expresses simultaneous action or manner (en parlant = "by/while speaking"). The participe présent without en typically replaces a relative clause (qui + verb) and describes an ongoing action of the subject.

How many irregular participes présents are there in French?

Just three: être → étant, avoir → ayant, and savoir → sachant. Every other French verb forms its participe présent regularly from the nous form of the present tense.

Is participe présent tested directly on the TCF/TEF Canada exam?

There's no multiple-choice section specifically testing this rule, but it appears constantly in the writing and speaking corrections data as a recurring error category, and using it correctly (and using it at all) is one of the clearer signals of a higher CEFR writing level to an examiner.

What's a simple way to remember whether an -ant word agrees?

If you can swap it for "qui + conjugated verb" and the sentence still makes sense, it's a true participle and stays invariable. If it's functioning like a plain descriptive adjective (the way "tiring" or "running" would in English), it agrees like any other adjective.

Want feedback on how you're actually using structures like this in your own writing? prepfrancais gives you 3 free writing evaluations with every error explained by category, including agreement mistakes like this one. Not sure what score you are aiming at? Start with the TCF Canada CLB chart.