In most cases, the past participle when used with avoir as an auxiliary never changes:
We ate. / They finished.
BUT when the direct object of the verb is placed before the verb, you the past participle has to agree with this object.
CASE of the object pronouns
Look at these examples:
Et la télé? - Il l'a regardée.
What about TV? - He watched it.
Et les bonbons? -Elle les a mangés.
What about the sweets? -She ate them.
Et les pompiers, tu les as vus ?
And the firemen, have you seen them?
Ces statues... Tu les as faites toi-même ?
These statues... Did you make them yourself?
When you replace the direct object by an object pronoun (le/la/l'/les), it moves before the verb and then the past participle has to agree.
I watched the girl.
-> Je l'ai regardée. l' replaces la fille -feminine/singular- and it's before the verb, so agreement.
I watched her.
CASE of the subordinate clause with que
Look at these examples:
J'aime les fraises que Maman a cueillies.
I love the strawberries Mum picked up.
J'ai rencontré les actrices que j'ai appréciées.
I met the actresses whom I have appreciated.
Les matchs que Marseille a perdus étaient truqués.
The games (that) Marseille lost were fixed.
Les photos que tu as prises sont toutes floues.
The pictures (that) you took are all blurry.
When you give extra details about a noun by including que... (that...), then this noun is the object of the second clause, and que being before the verb, the past participle agrees with this object
J'ai senti les fleurs --> Les fleurs que j'ai senties
--> que is repeating les fleurs and is the object of ai senti, so there is agreement)
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Les matchs que Marseille a perdus étaient truqués.
The games (that) Marseille lost were fixed.
Les photos que tu as prises sont toutes floues.
The pictures (that) you took are all blurry.
Ces statues... Tu les as faites toi-même ?
These statues... Did you make them yourself?
Et les pompiers, tu les as vus ?
And the firemen, have you seen them?
case of the object pronoun
Et les bonbons? -Elle les a mangés.
What about the sweets? -She ate them.
Et la télé? - Il l'a regardée.
What about TV? - He watched it.
case of the subordinate clause with 'que'
J'aime les fraises que Maman a cueillies.
I love the strawberries Mum picked up.
J'ai rencontré les actrices que j'ai appréciées.
I met the actresses whom I have appreciated.
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
8/05/18
Hi Ann,
no, in fact, all past participles follow the rules explained in the lesson. I am not aware of some verbs which wouldn't follow it.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
9/05/18
Hi Ann,
In the case of true 'intransitive' verbs which by definition don't have an object , the past participle will not agree .
I am not sure that a list would help with this.
(N.B. some verbs can be both intransitive and transitive like servir, commencer ...)
Impersonal verbs as in expressions like 'il faut' or 'il y a' will always be become 'il a fallu' and 'il y a eu'.
There is a group of verbs however which is interesting like coûter, valoir, peser, mesuser, courir...which express measure, quantity and duration will be 'invariable' with 'avoir' even if the object precedes the verbs because the object is a quantity and answers to the question 'combien' and not 'quoi'.
e.g.
Les millions d'euros que cette réparation nous a coûté...
Les kilos que ce paquet a pesé...
Les heures que j'ai couru...
Hope this helps!
Ann
Kwiziq community member
9/05/18
Minna
Kwiziq community member
23 April 2017
1 reply
Bonjour,
Minna
Kwiziq community member
23/04/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
10/04/17
The difference between "voir" and "regarder" is the same as between "to see" and "to watch".
"Tu as regardé ce film ?" (Have you watched that film?)
"Tu as vu ce film ?" (Have you seen that film?)
"Tu as vu ces fleurs ?" (Have you seen these flowers?)
"J'ai regardé les fleurs de mon jardin." (I watched the flowers in my garden.)
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Kevin
Kwiziq community member
21 September 2016
1 reply
Laura, is there a quiz for this?
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
21/09/16
At Kwiziq, kwizzes are created dynamically based on the lessons in your StudyPlan and/or Notebook. If the lesson isn't in your StudyPlan, you can add it to your Notebook and then click the kwiz button.
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
12/09/16
If you're asking whether e.g., aller and allé are pronounced differently - they're not.
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
1/09/16
Bonjour Susan,
No. You need the relative pronoun que when it's serving as the direct object, but qui when it's serving as the subject. All of the examples in this lesson happen to need the direct object.
See these lessons for more info:
Susan
Kwiziq community member
2/09/16
Alex
Kwiziq community member
15 May 2018
2 replies
tu les as vus
"tu les as vus" cant it also be as tu les vus
Chris
Kwiziq community member
15 May 2018
15/05/18
Hi Akex,
"As-tu les vus" is an inverted question and means "Did you see them?"
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
17 May 2018
17/05/18
Hi Alex,
It could only be 'Les as-tu vus?" or 'Est-ce que tu les as vus?
as an alternative.
Hope this helps!