poursuivie

Poursuivie is the feminine singular past participle of the French verb poursuivre, which means to pursue or, in a legal context, to prosecute. The verb’s past participle has several gendered and number forms: pursuivi (masculine singular), poursuiu​vie (feminine singular), pursuivis (masculine plural), and poursuivies (feminine plural). Poursuivie is used when the participle must agree in gender with a feminine subject or with a feminine preceding direct object.

Etymology and usage context: poursuivre comes from Old French and ultimately from Latin roots related to following or pursuing. In French, the past participle forms reflect standard gender and number agreement rules. Poursuivie appears most often in compound tenses with être or in passive constructions, and as an adjective or part of a passive periphrase.

Examples and contexts: In passive voice or with être as auxiliary, the feminine form appears to agree with a feminine subject: Elle a été poursuivie par les autorités. This can also occur in imperfect or future forms: Elle était poursuivie, elle sera poursuivie. When the verb takes avoir as the auxiliary, the past participle agrees with a preceding direct object, so La victime que j’ai poursuivie demonstrates feminine singular agreement. As an adjective, poursuiive can appear in phrases such as une personne poursuivie, describing someone who has been pursued.

Notes: While often encountered in legal translations (prosecution) or in narrative passages, the feminine participle maintains the same root meaning as the base verb and shares its semantic range from physical pursuit to legal action.