Breakdown of Le père négligeant ses bébés est fatigué.
être
to be
fatigué
tired
son
his/her/its (son, sa, ses)
le bébé
the baby
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
le père
the father
négliger
to neglect
Questions & Answers about Le père négligeant ses bébés est fatigué.
Why is it spelled négligeant here instead of négligent?
In this sentence, négligeant acts as a present participle because it is followed by a direct object (ses bébés). It describes the active action of neglecting. The present participle of négliger is formed with an 'a' (and keeps the 'e' to maintain the soft 'g' sound). If it were used as a plain adjective to describe a character trait without an object, you would use the verbal adjective négligent.
Would négligeant change its ending if the sentence was about multiple fathers?
No. Because négligeant is acting as a present participle here rather than an adjective, it is invariable. Even if the subject were plural, such as Les pères négligeant leurs bébés, the word négligeant would not take an 's'. Verbal adjectives agree in gender and number, but present participles never do.
Do négligeant and négligent sound different when spoken out loud?
No, they sound exactly the same! Both end with the identical nasal vowel sound. You can only tell whether it is the present participle (négligeant) or the verbal adjective (négligent) by the context of the sentence, such as whether it takes a direct object like ses bébés.
Why use fatigué at the end instead of fatigant?
fatigué means tired, which makes sense for a father dealing with babies. If you used fatigant, which is a verbal adjective meaning tiring, the sentence would mean the father is making other people tired. Notice that the verbal adjective fatigant drops the 'u' that is present in the verb fatiguer and the past participle fatigué.
Learn Le père négligeant ses bébés est fatigué and more in French
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free