At A2 you learned that être verbs agree with their subject: elle est partie. You were also told that avoir verbs never agree. That was a useful simplification — and it was not quite true. This lesson gives you the real rule. It is one of the most distinctively French pieces of grammar there is, and it appears in every DELF written paper.
With avoir, the past participle agrees with the direct object — but only if that object comes before the verb.
Most of the time the direct object comes after, so nothing happens. That is why the A2 simplification works so well:
J'ai vu les filles. — object after the verb → no agreement.
Je les ai vues. — object before the verb → agreement.
There are exactly three. Learn to spot them and the rule becomes mechanical.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Je les ai vues. | zhuh lay zay VĂś | I saw them. (f. pl.) |
| Il l'a prise. | eel lah PREEZ | He took it. (f. sg.) |
| Nous vous avons attendus. | noo voo zah-vohn ah-tahn-DĂś | We waited for you. (m. pl.) |
| Elle m'a invitée. | el mah an-vee-TAY | She invited me. (speaker is female) |
Que is by definition a direct object, so a participle after it agrees with whatever que refers back to.
La lettre que j'ai écrite · Les films que nous avons vus · Les années qu'il a vécues.
Contrast with qui, which is a subject and triggers nothing of the kind: la lettre qui est arrivée agrees for a different reason entirely (it is an être verb).
Quelle robe as-tu choisie ? · Combien de lettres as-tu écrites ? · Lesquels avez-vous pris ?
| Case | Example | Why not |
|---|---|---|
| Indirect object | Je leur ai parlé. | Parler à — indirect, so never agrees. |
| The pronoun en | Des pommes ? J'en ai pris deux. | En is partitive; agreement is blocked. |
| Object still after the verb | J'ai vu les filles. | Nothing precedes. |
| Impersonal verbs | La chaleur qu'il a fait. | No real subject, no real object. |
Before you agree, check whether the verb takes a direct object at all. Téléphoner, parler, répondre, plaire, obéir and ressembler all take à — their objects are indirect, so je leur ai téléphoné never gains an -s, however plural they are.
Reflexives take ĂŞtre, but they do not follow the ĂŞtre rule. They follow the avoir rule, with se as the preceding object. So the question is always: is that se direct or indirect?
| French | Agreement? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Elle s'est lavée. | ✅ yes | se = direct object (she washed herself) |
| Elle s'est lavé les mains. | ❌ no | les mains is the direct object, and it follows |
| Ils se sont vus. | ✅ yes | voir quelqu'un — direct |
| Ils se sont parlé. | ❌ no | parler à quelqu'un — indirect |
| Elle s'est demandé pourquoi. | ❌ no | demander à — indirect |
| Les mains qu'elle s'est lavées. | ✅ yes | que now precedes the verb |
That third-from-last row is the one to remember: elle s'est lavé les mains has no agreement, but move the hands in front with a relative pronoun and the agreement comes back. The rule is completely consistent — only the word order changed.
A short list of common reflexives whose se is indirect, so they are permanently invariable. Memorise them as blocks.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| elles se sont rendu compte | el suh sohn rahn-dĂĽ KOHNT | they realised |
| ils se sont parlé | eel suh sohn par-LAY | they spoke to each other |
| elles se sont téléphoné | el suh sohn tay-lay-fo-NAY | they phoned each other |
| ils se sont Ă©crit | eel suh sohn tay-KREE | they wrote to each other |
| elles se sont succédé | el suh sohn sük-say-DAY | they followed one another |
| ils se sont plu | eel suh sohn PLĂś | they liked each other |
Usually not — and this is worth knowing, because it explains why native speakers get it wrong too. Vu and vues sound identical. The agreement is audible only when the participle ends in a consonant that the -e brings to life:
| Participle | Masculine | Feminine | Audible? |
|---|---|---|---|
| vu | vu | vue | ❌ identical |
| fait | fait "fay" | faite "fet" | âś… yes |
| mis | mis "mee" | mise "meez" | âś… yes |
| Ă©crit | Ă©crit "ay-kree" | Ă©crite "ay-kreet" | âś… yes |
| pris | pris "pree" | prise "preez" | âś… yes |
So in speech the rule matters for a handful of verbs. In writing it matters every single time — which is exactly why examiners love it.
This is a genuine sore point for native speakers: the participle agreement is one of the most-failed items in the certificat Voltaire, the French spelling certification that employers increasingly ask for. Reform has been proposed repeatedly and rejected each time. Getting it right marks you out as a careful writer.
Identical rules — this is codified grammar, shared by both standards. Québec schools drill it the same way, and Québécois professional writing holds to it just as firmly. If anything, the audible cases (faite, prise, mise) stand out more in Québécois speech, where final consonants are often articulated a touch more clearly than in Paris.
Write the correct form of the participle.
Write direct or indirect for the object of each verb.
Write audible if the feminine agreement changes the pronunciation, silent if it doesn't.
1. With avoir, the past participle agrees when:
2. Why does Elle s'est lavé les mains have no agreement?
3. Which sentence is correct?