perdues

Perdues is the feminine plural form of the past participle perdu, derived from the French verb perdre, meaning to lose. In modern French, perdu is used both as a past participle in compound tenses and as an adjective. The four basic gender-number forms are perdu (masculine singular), perdue (feminine singular), perdus (masculine plural), and perdues (feminine plural). Perdues specifically surfaces when the noun it modifies is feminine and plural.

As an adjective, perdues means "lost" and must agree with the noun it accompanies. For example, des chances perdues means "lost chances," des affaires perdues means "lost affairs," and des lettres perdues means "lost letters." When used in the past tense with avoir, the participle may also agree with a preceding direct object, so phrases like les idées que j'ai perdues illustrate feminine plural agreement. In contrast, with a preceding masculine or mixed-object, the ending would adapt accordingly (e.g., les objets perdus).

Etymologically, the form perdue is the feminine singular; perdues is the corresponding feminine plural. The word is not a standalone noun in standard French; it functions as a regular participial adjective rather than a noun, though it can appear in rhetorical or figurative expressions.

In usage, perdues commonly appears in literary, journalistic, and everyday French to describe things that have been lost or unrecovered, especially when the noun is feminine plural. It is seldom used outside French contexts, and there is no separate English gloss beyond the equivalent adjective "lost."