Irregular Past Participles

You already know that regular past participles follow simple patterns: -er → -é, -ir → -i, -re → -u. However, many of the most common French verbs have irregular past participles that must be memorised. Since these verbs appear in almost every conversation, learning them is essential.

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Quick Review: Regular Patterns

Group	Rule	Example
-er verbs	Remove -er, add -é	parler → parlé, manger → mangé
-ir verbs (2nd group)	Remove -ir, add -i	finir → fini, choisir → choisi
-re verbs	Remove -re, add -u	vendre → vendu, répondre → répondu

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Irregular Past Participles Grouped by Ending

Ending in -u

Infinitive	Meaning	Past Participle
avoir	to have	eu
boire	to drink	bu
connaître	to know (person/place)	connu
courir	to run	couru
devoir	to have to	dû
falloir	to be necessary	fallu
lire	to read	lu
plaire	to please	plu
pleuvoir	to rain	plu
pouvoir	to be able to	pu
recevoir	to receive	reçu
savoir	to know (a fact)	su
tenir	to hold	tenu
venir	to come	venu
vivre	to live	vécu
voir	to see	vu
vouloir	to want	voulu

Ending in -is

Infinitive	Meaning	Past Participle
mettre	to put	mis
prendre	to take	pris
apprendre	to learn	appris
comprendre	to understand	compris
surprendre	to surprise	surpris

Ending in -it

Infinitive	Meaning	Past Participle
dire	to say / tell	dit
écrire	to write	écrit
conduire	to drive	conduit
construire	to build	construit
produire	to produce	produit

Ending in -ert

Infinitive	Meaning	Past Participle
ouvrir	to open	ouvert
couvrir	to cover	couvert
découvrir	to discover	découvert
offrir	to offer / to give (a gift)	offert
souffrir	to suffer	souffert

Other Irregular Forms

Infinitive	Meaning	Past Participle
être	to be	été
faire	to do / make	fait
naître	to be born	né
mourir	to die	mort
peindre	to paint	peint
craindre	to fear	craint
joindre	to join	joint

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Memory Strategies: Pattern Families

Grouping irregular participles by shared patterns makes memorisation much easier.