Look at these sentences:
Ces épisodes? Il les avait déjà vus.
These episodes? He had already seen them.
La télé? Oui, Marc l'a regardée.
Telly? Yes, Marc watched it.
Et le concert ? Les enfants l'ont adoré.
What about the concert? The children loved it.
Olivier t'a demandée en mariage !
Olivier proposed to you!
Tu lui as parlé.
You talked to her.
Ça leur est arrivé la semaine dernière.
It happened to them last week.
In a sentence with a verb conjugated in a compound tense, the object pronoun, indirect or direct, is placed as follows:
Subject of the verb + object pronoun + auxiliary avoir or être + past participle
See also the more advanced lesson on past participle agreement with direct objects: Special cases when the past participle agrees (in number & gender) when used with 'avoir' in Le Passé Composé
See also:
Replacing nouns with le, la, l', les = it, him, her, them (direct object pronouns)
Me, te, nous, vous = Me, you, us, you (direct and indirect object pronouns)
Replacing people with lui, leur = him, her, them (indirect object pronouns)
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Et le concert ? Les enfants l'ont adoré.
What about the concert? The children loved it.
Tu lui as parlé.
You talked to her.
Ces épisodes? Il les avait déjà vus.
These episodes? He had already seen them.
Olivier t'a demandée en mariage !
Olivier proposed to you!
La télé? Oui, Marc l'a regardée.
Telly? Yes, Marc watched it.
Ça leur est arrivé la semaine dernière.
It happened to them last week.
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
12/12/18
Ça leur est arrivé la semaine dernière. -- That happened to them last week.
Danga
Kwiziq community member
12/12/18
Chris
Kwiziq community member
13/12/18
Yes, I empathise with you. The problem is that half of the wiring is helpful and the other half is misleading. The problem is telling one from the other. :)
It helped me to tell myself, literally, "I am going to think French now," before each lesson.
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
26/10/18
Hi Lalongi,
Il a monté la Tour Eiffel en escalier --- Il l'a montée en escalier
Note the use of 'avoir' with 'monter quelque chose'.
I prefer to use the verb 'escalader' here :
Le cascadeur a escaladé la Tour Eiffel à mains nues = The Stunt man climbed the Eiffel Tower with bare hands
So it will be also -"Il l'a escaladée"
Hope this helps!
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
7/10/18
Hi Jack,
Could you post the whole sentence please?
Chris
Kwiziq community member
7/10/18
If you look at the sentence in question (and, yes, it would be helpful to know what exactly you are referring to) you'll probably notice that there is a direct object coming somewhere before the participle. Something along these lones:
Les fleures sont très belles. Tu les as vues ?
If the direct object (les) precedes the participle, the participle matches the direct object in number and gender.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
8/06/18
Bonjour Ron !
Unfortunately, I don't know what answer you're referring to, so can't really help you yet :)
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
8/06/18
Ron
Kwiziq community member
9/06/18
Problem resolved. Found the answer in another lesson on the same subject.
Hugh
Kwiziq community member
10 May 2018
1 reply
Agreement of Participle with Indirect Object
Whoops, my question was posted incomplete.
As I was saying (!), in the examples there is agreement between the indirect object and the participle:
La télé? Oui, Marc l'a regardée
Ces épisodes? Il les avait déjà vus
If this is the case, then shouldn't 'Tu lui as parlé' translate as 'You talked to him', BUT 'Tu lui as parlée translate as 'You talked to her'?
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
10/05/18
Bonjour Hugh !
Actually you never agree the past participle with an indirect object, only a direct object placed before the auxiliary avoir.
Have a look at our related lesson:
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/special-cases-when-the-past-participle-agrees-in-number-and-gender-when-used-with-avoir-in-le-passe-compose-conversational-past
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Chris
Kwiziq community member
18/02/18
What do you need to know over and above what's said in the lesson? Can you be more specific?
-- Chris.
Chris
Kwiziq community member
18/02/18
What do you need to know over and above what's said in the lesson? Can you be more specific?
-- Chris.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
2/01/18
Bonjour Stuart !
Oui tout à fait!
See our article on elision :)
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/my-languages/french/glossary/85
Bonne journée !
Stephen
Kwiziq community member
4 November 2017
3 replies
Re: "Laura adore ces bonbons. Tu les as goûtés?"
"Respectfully submit that the English translation is wrong here...shouldn't it say "Have you tasted them?" (present perfect)...not "Did you taste them?"?
Chris
Kwiziq community member
4/11/17
Stephen
Kwiziq community member
4/11/17
Jim
Kwiziq community member
7/11/17
Marnie
Kwiziq community member
27 January 2019
1 reply
"In a Clothes Store" writing test
Bonjour Aurélie et Cécile,
My problem is with this phrase in the above writing lesson
"...jacket that I bought FROM you two weeks ago." Correct translation given is :"que je vous ai achetée il y a deux semaines."
I can't find the lesson describing this usage of object pronouns. Why is it not "que j'ai acheté DE vous"? Does not "que je vous ai acheté" mean that I bought FOR you? Please explain using FROM in this context. Thanks!
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
3 February 2019
3/02/19
Hi Marnie,
You could say -
...que j’ai acheté chez vous...
Indeed que je vous ai acheté can mean that I bought you but in that context it is clear that it is a return...