Explaining a process in French: steps, means and purpose
You are explaining how you book a hotel room using a paper form. Keep four questions apart: what happens next, how you do it, what you intend, and what explains the action. The same person performs both actions in our examples with en + a verb form in -ant.
Name the thing; choose the viewpoint
C’est ce qu’on remplit means “This is what one fills out”: you identify the object by its use, and on means people in general here. Le formulaire est envoyé means “The form is sent”: the passive puts the form first without naming the sender. We now name the sender with je, “I”, so it is clear who fills out, checks and sends the form. When passing on an instruction, preserve its order and purpose; do not add a reason that the source never gave.
C'est ce qu'on remplit pour réserver une chambre.
Le formulaire est envoyé.
The words for this hotel procedure
Le formulaire is the paper form; une chambre is a hotel room; la réservation is the booking. Les informations are the details, such as a name and a date, and complet means that nothing required is missing. Remplir means fill out, vérifier check for accuracy, envoyer send, réserver book and confirmer confirm an arrangement. Learn the whole combinations remplir le formulaire and confirmer la réservation; the articles belong with the nouns.
Listen to one complete chain
Listen to the three steps together: first fill out the form to book a room, next check the information, finally send the form to confirm the booking. D’abord starts the sequence, ensuite gives the next step and enfin closes it. This is the procedure imagined for this hotel, not a claim that all hotels use paper forms. The first and last steps also explain their purpose; we return to pour and afin de below.
D'abord, je remplis le formulaire pour réserver une chambre.
Ensuite, je vérifie les informations.
Enfin, j'envoie le formulaire afin de confirmer la réservation.
How, or while doing what?
En + present participle can express how you do something or an accompanying action. En remplissant le formulaire, je vérifie les informations means “While filling out the form, I check the information”: the actions overlap in this version of the procedure. En envoyant le formulaire, je confirme la réservation means “By sending the form, I confirm the booking”: sending is the means of confirming it. In these sentences, je is both the person filling out or sending and the person checking or confirming. Do not attach en remplissant to the passive le formulaire est envoyé: the form cannot fill itself out. Unlike English -ing, French -ant here needs en; it does not mark a progressive tense by itself.
En participe présent + complément, sujet + verbe
En remplissant le formulaire, je vérifie les informations.
En envoyant le formulaire, je confirme la réservation.
Build the two forms used here
For these two verbs, take the nous present form, remove -ons and add -ant: remplissons → remplissant and envoyons → envoyant. These verbal forms do not change for the subject’s gender or number. Remplissant includes -iss- because remplissons does. This table is a spelling reference without sentence audio; listen to the complete examples in the surrounding sections. This method is not a promise that every French verb is regular.
| Present form with nous | Present participle |
|---|---|
| nous remplissons | remplissant |
| nous envoyons | envoyant |
What is the action meant to achieve?
Pour + infinitive and afin de + infinitive give the purpose: pour réserver une chambre means “to book a room”, and afin de confirmer la réservation means “to confirm the booking”. Here the person who fills out or sends the form also intends to book or confirm. Afin de is more characteristic of careful or written expression; pour is usual in everyday speech too. The infinitive stays réserver or confirmer, without a personal ending. Compare en envoyant, “by sending”, with pour confirmer, “to confirm”: a means and an intended goal answer different questions. Stating a goal does not by itself prove that it was reached.
sujet + verbe pour / afin de infinitif + complément
D'abord, je remplis le formulaire pour réserver une chambre.
J'envoie le formulaire pour confirmer la réservation.
Enfin, j'envoie le formulaire afin de confirmer la réservation.
A reason is different from the next step
J’envoie le formulaire parce qu’il est complet means “I send the form because it is complete”: completeness is given as a fact explaining the decision. Il refers to the masculine noun formulaire, and parce que becomes parce qu’ before il. Ensuite, je vérifie les informations only locates the checking after another step. The word ensuite does not say that the preceding step caused the checking. Keep the distinction when summarising a procedure: order with ensuite, a stated reason with parce que, an intended goal with pour or afin de.
J'envoie le formulaire parce qu'il est complet.
Ensuite, je vérifie les informations.
Recognise a compressed written construction
Ayant rempli le formulaire, je l’envoie means “Having filled out the form, I send it”: filling out is completed before sending. Ayant is a form of avoir, rempli is the past participle of remplir, and l’ stands for the form already mentioned. This compressed participial wording occurs in more elaborate writing, including literary prose; recognise it here without practising its formation. Je is the person performing both actions. For your own explanation in this lesson, use the three ordered steps instead.
Ayant rempli le formulaire, je l'envoie.
Guide a guest through the same procedure
Speak as the guest who does all the actions, and use the words already shown. Before reading the models, say in French: “First, I fill out the form to book a room”; “Next, I check the information”; “Finally, I send the form to confirm the booking”. Then describe checking during filling out: “While filling out the form, I check the information”. Finally give the actual reason for sending: “I send the form because it is complete”. Compare with the five answers in that order, then listen and check that you have kept the actor, sequence, purpose and reason clear.
D'abord, je remplis le formulaire pour réserver une chambre.
Ensuite, je vérifie les informations.
Enfin, j'envoie le formulaire afin de confirmer la réservation.
En remplissant le formulaire, je vérifie les informations.
J'envoie le formulaire parce qu'il est complet.
Four questions to check your explanation
D’abord, ensuite and enfin organise the steps; en + present participle gives a means or an accompanying action with the same actor in our examples. Pour and afin de + infinitive give the intended goal; parce que introduces a stated reason. Read the two final examples as a contrast: “By sending the form, I confirm the booking” describes the means, while “I send the form to confirm the booking” states the goal. Try explaining a different familiar process with these questions, checking each time who does both actions.
En envoyant le formulaire, je confirme la réservation.
J'envoie le formulaire pour confirmer la réservation.