Language/French/Grammar/Recognizing-when-an-unstressed-pronoun-is-a-direct-object
Whilst English speakers may learn to remember to make the agreement between a preceding direct object pronoun and the past participle without too much difficulty, they often still have problems in recognizing when a preceding pronoun is a direct object and when it is not. This is particularly the case where the pronouns are me, te, nous, vous which can function either as direct object or indirect object pronouns, and when the verbs involved are directly transitive in English but have indirectly transitive counterparts in French. For example, there is no agreement in the following cases because the pronouns are all indirect objects:
convenir à quelqu’un
- La situation nous a convenu
The situation suited us
désobéir à quelqu’un
- Lucien vous a désobéi
Lucien disobeyed you
nuire à quelqu’un
- Hubert m'a nui
Hubert did me (fern) some damage
succéder à quelqu’un
- Suzanne m'a succédé
Suzanne succeeded me (fem)
téléphoner à quelqu’un
- Les voisins vous ont téléphoné
The neighbours phoned you
résister à quelqu’un
- Les voleurs nous ont résisté
The thieves resisted us