The participe passé is formed as described already here. It can be used as adjective describing the result of an action.
Examples
a) The shorn sheep stood baffled, but happy on the sunny meadow.
a) Le
mouton tondu se
trouvait étourdi
mais heureux sur le pâturage
ensoleillé.
aa) The sheep that was shorn stood baffled, but happy on the sunny meadow.
aa)
Le mouton qui a été tondu se
trouvait étourdi
mais heureux sur le pâturage
ensoleillé.
b) The melted ice stayed, what brilliant idea, in the cornet covered with sugar.
b) La glace fondue
restait, quelle invention ingénieuse,
dans le cornet couvert de chocolat.
bb) The ice that was melted stayed, what brilliant idea, in the cornet covered with sugar.
b) La glace qui
avait fondu restait, quelle invention
ingénieuse, dans le cornet couvert
de chocolat.
We have seen that in English the perfect participle can be adjective, as well as the French participe
passé. The French participe passé is then to be matched in accordance with gender and number of the noun.
The use of the particpe passé can be attributive, predicative and as substitute of a relative clause of time as you can see in the following examples.
Attributive
Toutes ces connaissances acquises ne lui servent à rien.
All the knowledge he aquired did not serve him anything.
Predikative
Tout était déjà preparé.
Everything was already prepared.
Example
English
All the money stolen, they could not return home.
After all their money had been stolen, they could not return home anymore.
French:
Tout leur argent volé , ils ne pouvaient plus retourner chez eux.
Alternative:
Après que tout leur argent avait été volé , ils ne pouvaient plus retourner chez eux.
More about the use of the particpe passé are shown on the following pages.
