utilisés

Utilisés is the masculine plural past participle of the French verb utiliser, meaning "used" or "utilized." It can function in two main ways in modern French: as part of compound tenses built with an auxiliary verb and as an adjective agreeing with a noun. The base past participle is utilisé (masculine singular); its feminine forms are utilisée (singular) and utilisées (plural), while the masculine plural form is utilisés.

Etymology and form. Utiliser derives from the idea of applying or making use of something, with the past participle formed by adding the ending -é to the verb stem, giving utilisé, utilisés, utilisée, utilisées. The word ultimately traces back to Latin utilis, meaning useful, through French developments in the development of verbs related to use and utility.

Usage notes. In passive constructions or in perfect tenses with être, the participle agrees in gender and number with the subject: "des outils ont été utilisés" (the tools were used). With transitive verbs in passé composé using avoir, agreement follows the direct object if it precedes the participle: "les outils que j'ai utilisés" (the tools that I used). As an adjective, it directly modifies a noun and agrees in gender and number: "outils utilisés," "méthodes utilisées."

Contexts. The term is common in technical, scientific, historical, and journalistic writing to indicate that certain materials, methods, data, or sources were employed or consulted. It often appears in lists or descriptions of methodology, such as "les outils utilisés," "les données utilisées," or "la méthodologie utilisée."

See also. Related forms and usage include utiliser, utilisé, utilisée, etymology of utilité, and general French participle agreement rules.