mâchées

Mâchées is the feminine plural form of the past participle of the French verb mâcher, meaning “chewed.” It is used primarily as an adjective or in compound tenses, where its form reflects agreement with the noun it describes or relates to.

As an adjective, mâchées describes something that has been chewed and agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Examples include des feuilles mâchées (chewed leaves, feminine plural) or la nourriture mâchée par le chien (the food chewed by the dog, feminine singular).

In verbal constructions, the form is part of the past participle and follows the usual agreement rules for participles in French. With the auxiliary être in a passive-like construction, the participle always agrees with the subject: "Les biscuits ont été mâchés" (the biscuits have been chewed). With the auxiliary avoir, the participle agrees with a preceding direct object: "Les feuilles que j'ai mâchées" (the leaves that I chewed). In these cases, mâchées also functions as a descriptor of the object within the clause.

Usage notes: mâchées appears mainly in descriptive or narrative contexts, such as discussions of wildlife feeding, food preparation, or physical effects of chewing. It is distinct from but related to the noun sense in crafts or materials where the term papier mâché is used; in that compound, the form is masculine singular and not a participle.

See also: mâcher, participe passé, accord du participe passé.