déterminées

Déterminées is the feminine plural form of the adjective déterminé and of the past participle déterminé (from the verb déterminer). In French, the form is used to describe feminine plural nouns as either an adjective or a participial adjective, and it also appears as the past participle in certain verb tenses with agreement.

As an adjective, déterminées describes qualities such as being fixed, defined, or resolute, and it agrees with the noun it modifies. Examples include des conditions déterminées, des femmes déterminées, and études déterminées. In this role, it indicates a definite or clearly established state or plan.

As a past participle, déterminé can participate in compound tenses with either être or avoir. When the participle agrees with the direct object preceding the verb, the feminine plural form is déterminées, as in les propositions qu’elle a déterminées. With être, the agreement is with the subject, yielding forms such as les tâches ont été déterminées, where the subject (tâches) is feminine plural. Thus the exact form déterminées signals gender and number agreement in the sentence.

Etymology traces déterminées to determiner, from Latin determinare meaning “to fix limits” or “to set a boundary,” later extended to “to decide” or “to make definite.” The term is common across domains such as education, administration, science, and discourse emphasizing clarity, definiteness, or resolve.

In use, déterminées coexists with its masculine and neuter counterparts (déterminé, déterminés) to convey agreement with the modified noun and, in participial uses, with the grammatical subject or preceding object as required by French agreement rules.