Accord with quel/ quelle/ quels/ quelles

Question

Hi , which is correct and whyQuels livres avez-vous lus ? OrQuels livres avez-vous lu?

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted Answer

Hi Hemlata,
The word 'quels' ( which/what) has no bearing on the agreement of the past participle 'lu'.
Here is the lesson on quel/quelle/quels/quelles for you to study.
Quel/quelle/quels/quelles + [nom] = What a [noun] (French Exclamative Adjectives)
The agreement of the past participle is with the object of the verb 'lire' and it depends whether it is in front or behind it, and that is covered in the other lesson.
Bonne Continuation !

Cécile Janty-Davies · Answer

Hi Hemlata, 
The answer is in the lesson you have pinned. 
https://www.kwiziq.com/community-guidelines
 
Bonne Continuation !

hemlata gurnani · Answer

Merci Cécile, but i can't seem to find anything specific with quel.  Can you share the link? The link shared by you is on community guidelines.

Maarten Kamp · Answer

I think Cécile may have interpreted your question as outside ‘homework’.

It may be worth reworking the question - rather than a question about ‘quel’ (an adjective), it seems you may be asking about past participle agreement with compound tenses and auxiliary avoir in inverted questions when the direct object precedes the verb, but is not a direct object pronoun ?

A quite niche point obviously and I can’t recall having seen it specifically addressed. I think I know the answer, but not sure enough to put it forward. Perhaps Cécile might be able to clarify ?

hemlata gurnani · Answer

Oh ok. I get it now! Merci beaucoup Cécile !

Anne Davies · Answer

Looking at my own Kwiziq notes, I came across the example "Hier, quelle robe as-tu portée pour la soirée?" which was in a question posted here four years ago (https://french.kwiziq.com/questions/view/doubt-in-the-concept). The answer says "portée" is correct, which gave me pause for the reason Maarten suggests above. I can’t see the difference between that sentence and "Quels livres as-tu lu(s)" and so would be grateful for clarification in the situation with inverted verbs.

Anne Davies · Answer

My above post of 1 week ago is showing as answered but it hasn’t been.

There’s a question further down this thread about the sentence "Quelle robe as-tu portée" querying the terminal "e" on portée and the Kwiziq answer says it is correct (Shrey, 4 years ago). I know this question was once in this module because I made a note of it. It seems to be the same pattern as "quels livres as-tu lu" and the post should maybe be removed from the thread if incorrect?

Cécile Janty-Davies · Answer

Hi Anne,
It should be -
Quels livres avez-vous lus ? = Which books have you read?
Quelle robe as-tu portée = Which dress did you wear?
I couldn't find that particular example in the lesson pinned by Hemlata which is all about the agreement of the past participle ( with avoir) and whether the object (COD) it refers to precedes the verb or not.
Hope this clarifies matters.

Anne Davies · Answer

Hi, Cécile - thanks, that is clear. Perhaps inverted questions of this pattern should be included in the lesson as a case of past participle agreement with avoir verbs?

Anne Davies · Answer

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