Dysorthographia exercise past participle

The past participle combines several difficulties: silent endings, agreement with « être », and special rules with « avoir ». For a child with dysorthographia, it often means mistakes. By moving step by step and using practical tips, it becomes more manageable. Here are progressive exercises, from endings to agreement.

What makes the past participle difficult

The past participle is the form of the verb used in compound tenses, such as the passé composé: « j’ai mangé », « elle est partie ». Its ending varies depending on the verb: « é », « i », « u », « s » or « t ». Many of these endings are silent.

In addition, the past participle agrees in certain cases, with different rules depending on whether it is used with « être » or « avoir ». These rules require a careful analysis of the sentence. It is therefore important to tackle them one by one. The page les accords du participe passé presents all the rules.

Finding the right ending

To find the ending of a past participle, you can put it into the feminine form. « Pris » becomes « prise », and the « s » can be heard. « Écrit » becomes « écrite », and the « t » can be heard. The child can thus recover the silent letter.

For verbs ending in « er », the ending is always « é »: « mangé », « joué », « parlé ». For the others, the feminine helps to find « i », « u », « s » or « t ». You can practise with a list of common verbs. This tip also applies to silent letters in general.

Past participle in é or infinitive in er

After « avoir » or « être », we write the past participle, with « é » for first-group verbs: « il a mangé ». After a preposition such as « à » or « pour », or after another verb, we write the infinitive in « er »: « il va manger ». This distinction is a frequent source of errors.

The substitution tip with « vendu » or « vendre » helps to decide. « Il a vendu »: we write « mangé ». « Il va vendre »: we write « manger ». The choice between é and er has a dedicated page.

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Agreement with être

With the auxiliary « être », the past participle agrees with the subject, like an adjective. « Elle est partie », « ils sont partis », « elles sont parties ». The child looks for the subject, determines its gender and number, then makes the agreement.

You can use the same arrows and colours as for adjective agreement. The subject is linked to the past participle by an arrow, and the feminine and plural markers are coloured. This visual link makes agreement easier. The agreement of the adjective uses the same method.

With avoir: the simplified rule

With the auxiliary « avoir », the past participle does not agree with the subject: « elles ont mangé ». It agrees only in one special case, when the object is placed before the verb. This rule is complex and often taught in secondary school.

For a child with dysorthographia, it is useful to first learn the main rule: with « avoir », no agreement with the subject. The special case will come later, with specific work. It is better to master the main rule well than to be lost in the exceptions. The page on grammatical dysorthographia covers these difficulties.

Practising with short sentences

We offer short sentences in the passé composé, where the child must write the past participle correctly. We start with sentences using « avoir » and verbs in « er », then add « être », then other verbs. Each step is consolidated before moving on to the next.

The child justifies each choice: which auxiliary, which subject, which ending. Saying their reasoning out loud helps make it automatic. Errors are corrected by returning to the method. The adapted dictation then makes it possible to check what has been learnt.

The past participle and the speech and language therapist

If the past participle remains very difficult despite practice, the speech and language therapist may propose a suitable progression. It is often useful to work first on the basics of agreement before tackling the past participle. These exercises complement rehabilitation, without replacing it.

To find a speech and language therapist near you, the ProfessionnelsDys directory allows a search by town and by disorder. It may be useful to report the school level, as expectations vary. The page dysorthographia at secondary school sets out what is expected.