Language/French/Grammar/Agreement-of-past-participle-if-direct-object-is-placed-before
[Changed]
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
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 "indiqués") 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.