B2.8 - Getting a promotion

Verbal adjective: fatigant, excellent

Adjectif verbal : fatigant, excellent

L’adjectif verbal s’accorde comme un adjectif, contrairement au participe présent : fatigant, fatiguante, excellent.

(The verbal adjective agrees like an adjective, unlike the present participle: fatigant, fatiguante, excellent.)

Participe présent vs adjectif verbal: what changes?

Both forms often look similar, but they do different jobs:

  • Participe présent = a verb form (like “while doing…”). It is linked to an action.
  • Adjectif verbal = a true adjective. It describes a noun (a quality), and it agrees.
Form Main use Key signal
Participe présent
fatiguant		 Expresses an action happening at the same time Invariable (never changes)
Adjectif verbal
fatigant / fatigante		 Describes a noun (quality/characteristic) Agrees (gender/number)

Quick decision: am I describing a noun or an action?

  1. Find the word it qualifies.
  2. If it qualifies a noun → use the adjectif verbal and make it agree.
  3. If it qualifies the subject doing an action (often replaceable by “while + -ing”) → use the participe présent (no agreement).

Compare:

  • Adjectif verbal (noun description): Une charge de travail fatigante. (The workload is tiring.)
  • Participe présent (action): Il avance, fatiguant toute l’équipe. (He moves forward, tiring the whole team.)

Agreement checklist (only for the adjectif verbal)

When it’s an adjectif verbal, it behaves like any adjective:

  • Masculine singular: divergent, communicant, fatigant, excellent, négligent
  • Feminine singular: divergente, communicante, fatigante, excellente, négligente
  • Masculine plural: divergents, communicants, fatigants, excellents, négligents
  • Feminine plural: divergentes, communicantes, fatigantes, excellentes, négligentes

Typical professional phrasing:

  • Des avis divergents (m. pl.)
  • Une conclusion excellente (f. sg.)
  • Des pratiques négligentes (f. pl.)

Spelling traps: when the adjective is NOT identical

This is the key point of this lesson: the adjectif verbal doesn’t always match the participe présent.

Verb Participe présent Adjectif verbal What to watch
négliger négligeant négligent -geant → -gent
diverger divergeant divergent -geant → -gent
exceller excellant excellent -llant → -llent

Self-check: if you see excellant rapport or avis divergeants, it’s almost certainly wrong, because a noun needs an adjectif verbal:

  • un rapport excellent
  • des avis divergents
  • un supérieur négligent

Meaning differences you can rely on in conversation

  • excellent = high quality / strong professional value (report, profile, result)
  • divergent = not aligned (opinions, priorities, objectives)
  • négligent = careless (management, attitude, process)
  • fatigant = tiring (rhythm, workload, task)
  • communicant = good at communicating (profile, manager, approach)

Mini method: 10-second final check before you submit

  1. Is it describing a noun? → adjectif verbal + agreement.
  2. Do I need one of the special spellings? excellent / divergent / négligent
  3. Does it match gender/number? (e.g., une charge fatigante, des avis divergents)
  1. Some forms change: négligeant → négligent.
Verbe (Verb)Participe présent (Present participle)Adjectif (Adjective)
Fatiguer (To tire)Fatiguant (Tiring)Fatigant (Tiring)
Communiquer  (To communicate)Communiquant (Communicating)Communicant (Communicating)
Diverger (To diverge)Divergeant (Diverging)Divergent (Divergent)
Exceller (To excel)Excellant (Excelling)Excellent (Excellent)
Négliger (To neglect)NégligeantNégligent (Negligent)

Exceptions!

  1. Note: the verbal adjective does not always have the same form as the present participle.

Exercise 1: Multiple choice

Instruction: Choose the correct answer

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1. Depuis ma promotion, je gère une charge de travail ___, mais très formatrice.

Since my promotion, I manage a ___ workload, but one that is very formative.

2. Le rapport que vous avez présenté est ___, surtout sur le coût salarial.

The report you presented is ___, especially regarding labor costs.

3. Malgré des avis ___ au sein du département, nous avons validé l'organigramme.

Despite ___ opinions within the department, we validated the organizational chart.

4. Je préfère travailler avec un supérieur hiérarchique ___, car les erreurs finissent toujours par coûter cher.

I prefer working with a ___ superior, because mistakes always end up costing a lot.

Exercise 2: Rewrite the phrases

Instruction: Rewrite and correct the sentences by using the correct verbal adjective (fatiguing, communicative, divergent, excellent, negligent) and ensure the adjective agrees correctly with the noun.

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  1. Après huit heures de réunions, cette journée est vraiment fatiguante.
    ⇒ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
    Après huit heures de réunions, cette journée est vraiment fatigante.
    (After eight hours of meetings, this day is really tiring.)
  2. Nous cherchons un profil très communiquant pour le poste de chef de projet.
    ⇒ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
    Nous cherchons un profil très communicant pour le poste de chef de projet.
    (We are looking for a very communicative profile for the project manager position.)
  3. Dans l’équipe, on a des objectifs divergeants, donc il faut clarifier les priorités.
    ⇒ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
    Dans l’équipe, on a des objectifs divergents, donc il faut clarifier les priorités.
    (In the team, we have divergent objectives, so we need to clarify the priorities.)
  4. Elle a fait un travail excellant sur le rapport d’audit.
    ⇒ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
    Elle a fait un excellent travail sur le rapport d’audit.
    (She did an excellent job on the audit report.)

Exercise 3: Multiple Choice

Instruction: Choose the correct sentence.

Fetching your corrections... Please don't close this page yet.

1.
Incorrect: “exciting” is not the correct translation of the idea here; we want to emphasize professional value — “excellent” is the appropriate verbal adjective, whereas “excellant” would be the present participle and is not suitable for describing a noun.
2.
Incorrect: agreement error — the verbal adjective must agree with “the workload” (feminine singular) → “tiring” (feminine form).

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Marco De Faria

Master in Foreign Languages

University of Poitiers

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France


Last Updated:

Monday, 13/07/2026 12:04