Je les ai jois (s?) que Maman a cueillie(s?) How does it work here, where you have the fraises referenced by the les before the ai? Do both of these need to agree?
In most cases, the past participle when used with avoir as an auxiliary never changes:
Nous avons mangé. / Ils ont fini.
We ate. / They finished.
We ate. / They finished.
BUT
when the direct object of the verb is placed before the verb, the past participle has to agree with this object.
Here are the main cases in which the direct object ends up before the verb.
CASE of direct object pronouns
When you replace the direct object by an direct object pronoun (le/la/l'/les), it moves before the verb. That's when the past participle has to agree.
J'ai regardé la fille.
I watched the girl.
-> The direct object la fille of the verb ai regardé is placed after the verb, therefore there's no agreement.
Je l'ai regardée.
I watched her.
-> Here the direct object pronoun l' (which replaces la fille -feminine/singular) is placed before the verb ai regardé, therefore there is agreement.
Here are more 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?
ATTENTION:
This rule doesn't apply to indirect object pronouns. For those, there is never any agreement.
See the following examples:
See the following examples:
- Tu as parlé à Laura ? - Non, je ne lui ai pas parlé.
- Have you spoken to Laura? - No, I haven't spoken to her.
- Est-ce qu'elle a téléphoné à ses parents ? - Oui, elle leur a téléphoné hier.
- Did she call her parents? - Yes, she called them yesterday.
CASE of subordinate clauses with que
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.
I smelled the flowers.
-> The direct object les fleurs of the verb ai senti is placed after the verb, therefore there's no agreement.
Les fleurs que j'ai senties étaient belles.
The flowers that I smelled were beautiful.
-> Here the relative pronoun que (which repeats les fleurs [feminine/plural] in the subordinate clause) is placed before the verb ai senti, therefore there is agreement.
Here are more 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.
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Examples and resources
Et les pompiers, tu les as vus ?
And the firemen, have you seen them?
- Est-ce qu'elle a téléphoné à ses parents ? - Oui, elle leur a téléphoné hier.
- Did she call her parents? - Yes, she called them yesterday.
Les fleurs que j'ai senties étaient belles.
The flowers that I smelled were beautiful.
- Tu as parlé à Laura ? - Non, je ne lui ai pas parlé.
- Have you spoken to Laura? - No, I haven't spoken to her.
Ces statues... Tu les as faites toi-même ?
These statues... Did you make them yourself?
J'ai senti les fleurs.
I smelled the flowers.
Les photos que tu as prises sont toutes floues.
The pictures that you took are all blurry.
Je l'ai regardée.
I watched her.
Les matchs que Marseille a perdus étaient truqués.
The games (that) Marseille lost were fixed.
J'ai regardé la fille.
I watched the girl.
case of the object pronoun
- 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.
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 Forum 13 questions, 28 answers
PatKwiziq community member
Subordinate clause with que
J'ai joui les fraises que Maman a cueillies. is correct since the que refers back to the fraises
Asked 3 months ago
Hi everyone,
I would be interested to know where this example came from as in the lesson the verb used 'aimer' is used in the context of strawberries.
The verb 'jouir' in French has sexual connotations and is best avoided to mean 'to enjoy'.
apprécier , trouver agréable, prendre plaisir are much safer verbs to use to mean to enjoy as in to relish.
Hope this helps!
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
It works the same way as in the first example: que refers to les fraises and therefore it is again cueillies.
Alan Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
I don't think your second example is allowed - que has to refer back to a noun, not a pronoun. You would have to replace the whole phrase "les fraises que Maman a cueillies" with a pronoun. Also, I think jouir has to be followed by de, so the first example should be "j'ai joui des fraises que ...." and the second example would then be "J'en ai joui." No agreement, because it's an indirect object.
Pat asked:View original
Subordinate clause with que
J'ai joui les fraises que Maman a cueillies. is correct since the que refers back to the fraises
Je les ai jois (s?) que Maman a cueillie(s?) How does it work here, where you have the fraises referenced by the les before the ai? Do both of these need to agree?
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Kwiziq community member
Clearer explanation please
I believe it would be better to replace "behind" with "after" to be consistent with the use of "before" in the following paragraph :
J'ai regardé la fille. la fille is the object of ai regardé but it's behind, so no agreement.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.
Asked 3 months ago
Thank you for your suggestion, JaGGa , ‘behind’ has been changed to ‘after’ .
JaGGa asked:View original
Clearer explanation please
I believe it would be better to replace "behind" with "after" to be consistent with the use of "before" in the following paragraph :
J'ai regardé la fille. la fille is the object of ai regardé but it's behind, so no agreement.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.
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Shrey Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Doubt in the concept
Bonjour Madame,
In the sentence "Hier,quelle robe as-tu portée pour la soirée?"
Why has the accord 'e' been added in the past participle 'porté'
Asked 1 year ago
Hi Varsha,
Because in the case of verbs which take 'avoir' in the passé composé, the past participle (porté) agrees with the object when it precedes the verb, 'robe' being feminine , an 'e' is added and it becomes 'portée'.
There are many examples in this lesson.
Hope this helps!
ScottKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Ok, but this would seem to be a third case not explicitly handled in the lesson, right? The lesson introduces two cases:
CASE of the object pronouns
CASE of the subordinate clause with que
But this question seems to address a third case:
"CASE of object appearing before verb"
Or am I understanding wrong?
regards, Scott
CécileKwiziq team member
Hi Scott,
If you re-read the lesson it is the first case of the object pronouns which is covered in this lesson:
J'ai regardé la fille ----- Je l'ai regardée
l' = la fille, which now precedes the verb so, regardée, has an extra 'e' to mark the feminine.
ScottKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Hi Cécile,
thanks for the answer! I understand the concept, however, "robe" is not a pronoun but a noun, and the explanation you refer to is in the section "CASE of the object pronouns". So I would respectfully suggest that the lesson is worded not quite clearly. It might be better if the section were labeled "CASE of the object appearing before the verb" and would include examples of nouns as well as object pronouns appearing before the verb.
regards, Scott
MichaelKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Je suis d'accord avec vous, Scott. "La robe" n'est pas un pronom, mais un nom.
Donc, il y doigt être un autre cas, juste pour faire parfaitement claire que lors un COD (complément d'objet direct) précède le verbe, il ne fait rien s'il est un nom ou un pronom - la participe passé doigt s'accorder avec le COD.
Shrey asked:View original
Doubt in the concept
Bonjour Madame,
In the sentence "Hier,quelle robe as-tu portée pour la soirée?"
Why has the accord 'e' been added in the past participle 'porté'
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MonicaKwiziq community member
I am still confused with past participles agreement with the verbs. e.g. Les fleurs que j'ai senties.
Asked 1 year ago
The rule is: if the COD comes before the participle, then you need to agree the participle.
Les fleurs -- COD (feminine, plural)
que -- relative pronoun, referring to "les fleurs"
je -- subject
ai -- auxiliary verb (form of avoir)
senties -- participle of sentir.
Since "que" comes before "senties", the participle needs to match feminine, plural.
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Some may rightly argue that "que" is the COD. That doesn't change the result, though, because "les fleurs" determine ultimately the matching of the participle.
Monica asked:View original
I am still confused with past participles agreement with the verbs. e.g. Les fleurs que j'ai senties.
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StewartKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Examples showing agreement without an object pronoun.
In the Weekend Challenge: 'My plan for the day of the exam' one of the translations required is 'that I'll have chosen the day before'.
The answes given are:
'que j'aurai choisiS la veille' OR 'que j'aurai sélectionnéS la veille'
There is no object pronoun in either of these answers, so why are the past participles 'choisi' and 'sélectionné' writen with an S added for agreement?
Thank you
Asked 1 year ago
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Hi Stewart, it all hinges on the little pronoun "que". It is the stand in for the direct object in the relative clause. If it refers to a masculine noun in plural, you would need to have agreement between it and the participles.
I am not sure of the entire sentence, but when you check, you'll find that "que" refers to a masuline noun in plural.
-- Chris.
StewartKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Thanks Chris, I now see that the use of 'que' was in the lesson after all!
Stewart asked:View original
Examples showing agreement without an object pronoun.
In the Weekend Challenge: 'My plan for the day of the exam' one of the translations required is 'that I'll have chosen the day before'.
The answes given are:
'que j'aurai choisiS la veille' OR 'que j'aurai sélectionnéS la veille'
There is no object pronoun in either of these answers, so why are the past participles 'choisi' and 'sélectionné' writen with an S added for agreement?
Thank you
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Hi Alex,
It could only be 'Les as-tu vus?" or 'Est-ce que tu les as vus?
as an alternative.
Hope this helps!
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Hi Akex,
"As-tu les vus" is an inverted question and means "Did you see them?"
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
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AnnKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Aren't there some past participles that don't ever agree? In 501 verbs, some are listed with their pp showing possible agreement and some not.
Eg réveillé(e)(s) but réussi
Asked 1 year ago
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!
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
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).
Ann asked:View original
Aren't there some past participles that don't ever agree? In 501 verbs, some are listed with their pp showing possible agreement and some not.
Eg réveillé(e)(s) but réussi
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MinnaKwiziq community member
Sorry, accidentally pressed enter :D Anyhow, I was wondering about a particular sentence : "Ils se sont lavé les mains." Does "lavé" not agree with "les mains" because the COI is before the COD? I didn't find a sentence like this in the lesson so I figured I'd ask. Merci! :)
CecileKwiziq community member
There is no agreement when something other than the person(s) is having the action of the verb done to them. So, Ils se sont lavés has an agreement because ‘they are washing themselves' (therefore, the reflexive pronoun ‘themselves’ se is the direct object which requires an agreement) but Ils se sont lavé les mains has no agreement because 'They're washing their hands' (the hands are now the direct object, ‘themselves’ se has become the indirect object pronoun and doesn’t require an agreement).
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MeghnaKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Vu et regarde
When does one use either or the other?
In the examples/quizzes - les fleurs uses voir( vues) and les films goes with regarder.
Asked 2 years ago
AurélieKwiziq team member
Bonjour Meghna !
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 !
Meghna asked:View original
Vu et regarde
When does one use either or the other?
In the examples/quizzes - les fleurs uses voir( vues) and les films goes with regarder.
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LauraKwiziq team member
Bonjour Kevin,
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.
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SylviaKwiziq community member
Confused with passé composé & the infinatif (the A sound)
Asked 3 years ago
LauraKwiziq team member
Bonjour Sylvia,
If you're asking whether e.g., aller and allé are pronounced differently - they're not.
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Susan Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
It's always "que," and not "qui" when referring to a person or persons?
Asked 3 years ago
LauraKwiziq team member
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:
Que = Whom, which, that (relative pronouns)%20">Relative pronoun que
Qui = Who, which, that (relative pronouns)">Relative pronoun qui
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