Testé

Testé is the past participle of the French verb tester, meaning to test. It is used to describe something that has undergone testing and can form part of compound tenses with a auxiliary or appear as an adjective. In addition to its participial use, testé can describe objects, methods, or processes that have been examined or evaluated.

As an adjective, testé meaning “tested” agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies: un produit testé, une méthode testée, des protocoles testés, des procédures testées. In compound tenses with the auxiliary avoir, the participle usually does not agree with the subject, but it may agree with a preceding direct object. For example: J’ai testé les hypothèses (no agreement). Les hypothèses que j’ai testées (agreement with hypotheses).

Testé is also used in the passive voice, formed with être: Le produit a été testé (the product has been tested). Here the participle agrees with the subject, so masculine singular Le produit a été testé, or feminine singular La méthode a été testée.

Etymology and usage: tester is a relatively modern French verb, borrowed from English to test; testé follows the regular -er participle formation. In technical and scientific writing, tested or tested-clinically terms appear in phrases such as “version testée,” “essai testé,” or “sujet testé.” The word is common in software, product development, medical research, and quality assurance to indicate that evaluation procedures have been completed.

See also: tester, test, tests, testing.