Lesson 15: Irregular Past Participles

You've learned how to combine an auxiliary verb with a past participle to form the passé composé. Regular verbs follow predictable rules, but many common French verbs have irregular past participles that must be learned separately.

Fortunately, these forms are easier to remember in groups. Some share the same ending, while verbs from the same family often follow the same pattern.

A large number of common irregular past participles end in -u. The stem may also change, so learn each infinitive and past participle together.

This is the largest group, but the stem does not always stay the same. Focus on learning each verb and participle as a pair.

A few important verbs form past participles ending in -is or -i:

As we learned earlier, many prefixed verbs follow the same pattern as their base verb:

• The prendre family follows the pris pattern: apprendre → appris; comprendre → compris.
• The mettre family follows the mis pattern: permettre → permis; promettre → promis.
• The suivre family follows the suivi pattern: poursuivre → poursuivi.

These common past participles end in -it:

Many verbs ending in -uire follow the same pattern as conduire:

• produire → produit
• traduire → traduit

A small group of verbs form past participles ending in -ert:

Again, related verbs often follow the same pattern:

• couvrir → couvert
• souffrir → souffert

These three essential verbs have highly irregular past participles:

As with the other groups, the faire family follows the same past-participle pattern:

• refaire → refait
• défaire → défait