15 8.8: Structure – Accord des participes passés au passé composé avec avoir
In this section, you will learn about gender and number agreement with past participles in the passé composé avec avoir.
Listen to the audio clips that follow on this page to hear the French pronunciation of vocabulary and examples presented.
On étudie !
In the passé composé with être, the past participles must always agree with the subject of the verb in gender and number. In the passé composé with avoir, they do not.
However, when the direct object comes before the passé composé with avoir, the past participle must agree in gender and number with that object (not the subject). When it comes after the verb, it does not have to agree.
| L’objet suit le verbe | Genre et nombre de l’objet direct | L’objet précède le verbe |
|---|---|---|
| Raoul a mangé le croissant. | le croissant = m., sing. | Raoul l’a mangé. [l’ = le croissant] |
| Raoul a mangé la pomme. | la pomme = f., sing. | Raoul l’a mangée. [l’ = la pomme] |
| Raoul a mangé les croissants. | les croissants = m., pl. | Raoul les a mangés. [les = les croissants] |
| Raoul a mangé les pommes. | les pommes = f., pl. | Raoul les a mangées. [les = les pommes] |
Review the rules for past participle agreement with these video tutorials:
On approfondit !
Use the following resources to type accents and/or search for words:
- Accents: ç, à, é, è, â, ê, î, ô, û, ù, ë, ï, ü
- Dictionnaire français-anglais
