Language/French/Grammar/Agreement-of-past-participle-if-direct-object-is-placed-before

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Agreement of the past participle if the direct object is placed before

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Definitions[edit | edit source]

Subject-verb agreement[edit | edit source]

The subject-verb agreement in French is the way to choose the correct ending for verbs in terms of grammatical persons, gender and number, depending on their subject.

Past participle[edit | edit source]

The past participle is a verb form with several roles. It’s essential in the creation of compound verb tenses/moods and the passive voice, and it can also be used as an adjective. The French past participle usually ends -é, -i, or -u, and is equivalent to -ed or -en in English.

The direct object complement[edit | edit source]

The direct object complement (French: le complément d'objet direct) directly completes the verb without any preposition. The verb used with a COD is a direct transitive verb.

To find the COD of a verb, it is most often enough to ask questions:

  • Quoi ? (What ?)
  • Qui ? (Who ?)

The indirect object complement[edit | edit source]

The indirect object complement (French: le complément d'objet indirect) indirectly completes the verb most often through a preposition. The verb used with an COI is an indirect transitive verb.

To find the COI of the verb, it is most enough to ask questions:

  • à qui ? à quoi ? (to whom ?) (to what ?)
  • de qui ? de quoi ? (of who ?) (of what ?)

Auxilary[edit | edit source]

There are only 2 auxiliaries in French: "avoir" or "être". As "avoir", "être" is used to form compound tenses for some verbs.

No Agreement when using "avoir"[edit | edit source]

The past participle never agrees with the subject when using the "avoir" auxilary.

  • Elle a rencontré une célébrité.

She met a celebrity

  • Ils ont fini la bouteille.

They finished the bottle.

Agreement when using "avoir"[edit | edit source]

However, the past participle agrees with the direct object when it is placed before the verb. For compound tenses, the past participle of verbs conjugated with "avoir" generally agrees with the unstressed direct object pronouns which precede:

  • J'ai vu Céline: Je l'ai vue

I saw Céline: I saw her

  • Les pompiers avaient repéré les pyromanes: Les pompiers les avaient repérés

The firefighters had found the arsonists: The firefighters had found them

  • Les policiers ont appelé mon frère et moi (feminine) : Les policiers nous ont appelées.

The police men called my brother and me: The police men called us.

Note: "le" used to designate a clause is always masculine. It does not agree with the past participle:

  • Son père est malade : il l'a souvent dit

His father is sick: he has often said so

Exceptions[edit | edit source]

The past participles do not agree with the other pronouns that precede, nor with the indirect objects, nor with "en".

  • J'ai parlé à Céline : Je lui ai parlé (NOT "parlée")

I spoke to Céline: I spoke to her.

  • J'ai montré le chemin à Jean-Paul et Claude : Je leur ai montré (NOT "montrés") le chemin

I told Jean-Paul and Claude how to get there: I told them how to get there

  • Cet après-midi il y a eu des moutons qui sont passées dans le champ du voisin. J'en ai vu (NOT "vus") ce matin également.

This afternoon there were sheep that passed in the neighbor's field. I saw some this morning as well.

Video - Passé composé : agreement of the past participle[edit | edit source]

Other Chapters[edit | edit source]

Table of Contents

Nouns


Determiners


Personal and impersonal pronouns


Adjectives


Adverbs


Numbers, measurements, time and quantifiers


Verb forms


Verb constructions


Verb and participle agreement


Tense


The subjunctive, modal verbs, exclamatives and imperatives


The infinitive


Prepositions


Question formation


Relative clauses


Negation


Conjunctions and other linking constructions

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