Passé composé du participe présent
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When one thing leads to another, you can use the French perfect participle to talk about the first action. In English, this construction is very stilted, so it’s usually loosely translated into more idiomatic phrasing.
Par exemple…
| Ayant fait la vaisselle, je suis sorti. | Having done the dishes, I went out. I did the dishes and (then) went out, After doing the dishes, I went out. |
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| Étant tombé, il ne pouvait plus jouer au tennis. | Having fallen, he couldn’t play tennis any more. After falling / Because he fell, he couldn’t play tennis any more. |
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| M’étant peignée, je me suis habillée. | Having combed my hair, I got dressed. After combing my hair, I got dressed. |
Why not just use the passé composé or the past perfect? The perfect participle makes the sentence a bit lighter, and also makes an implicit connection between the two verbs. Compare these with the above:
| J’ai fait la vaisselle et puis je suis sorti. Puisque j’avais fait la vaisselle, j’ai pu sortir. J’ai fait la vaisselle avant de sortir. |
| Il est tombé et donc il ne pouvait plus jouer au tennis. Parce qu’il était tombé, il ne pouvait plus jouer au tennis. Il ne pouvait plus jouer au tennis après qu’il était tombé. |
As you can see, with the passé composé or the past perfect, you have to spell out the relationship between the two clauses with a conjunction. This is not the case with the perfect participle.
Be careful not to confuse the perfect participle of être verbs (e.g., étant tombé) with the passive voice (étant invité). What’s the difference? If the verb is intransitive, it’s the perfect participle; only transitive verbs can be passive. Some verbs can be either.
Par exemple…
| Étant sorti pour danser, il ne voulait pas parler. | Having gone out to dance, he didn’t want to talk. | perfect participle | ||
| Étant sorti du camion, le sac est resté par terre. | Having been taken out of the truck, the bag stayed on the ground. | passive voice |
Perfect Participle with a Different Subject
In the examples at the top, the subject of both verbs is the same, and the perfect participle is therefore interchangeable with après plus the past infinitive (après avoir fait, après être tombé). But you can also use the perfect participle with different subjects.
Par exemple…
| Les enfants ayant fait la vaisselle, je me suis relaxé devant la télé. | The kids having done the dishes, I relaxed in front of the TV. Once the kids did the dishes, I relaxed in front of the TV. |
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| Sa voiture étant tombée en panne, il a dû prendre l’autobus. | His car having broken down, he had to take the bus. Since his car broke down, he had to take the bus. |
Word Order with the Perfect Participle
Object and adverbial pronouns precede the auxiliary verb like they do for all compound tenses and moods.
| Nous ayant expliqué le problème, il a soupiré. | Having explained the problem to us, he sighed. After explaining the problem to us, he sighed. |
Negative adverbs surround the auxiliary verb
| N’étant pas fatigué, j’ai regardé un film. | Not being tired, I watched a movie. I wasn’t tired, so I watched a movie. |
Page 2: Perfect participle conjugations
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