Adjective or past tense?

JillianC1Kwiziq community member

Adjective or past tense?

Can you explain why 'surprise' doesn't have an acute accent on the 'e'?

Asked 1 year ago
MaartenC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

‘Surprendre’ is an irregular -re verb (prendre, apprendre reprendre etc), the past participle is simply “surpris”, with ‘surprise’ being the adjectival form with feminine gender agreement. 

‘Surprise’ is either a (feminine) noun or feminine adjectival form in French. There is no verb ‘surpriser ’.

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/verb-conjugations/surprendre/

Conjugate prendre and derivatives (+avoir) in the compound past in French (Le Passé Composé)

ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

The infinitive of the verb "to surprise" is surprendre. And like the verb prendre itself, it forms the past participle as surpris. There's also a noun "the surprise", which is la surprise.

JillianC1Kwiziq community member

Thank you, most helpful.

Adjective or past tense?

Can you explain why 'surprise' doesn't have an acute accent on the 'e'?

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