A confusing sentence!

Question

I came across this sentence in a French text book.  " Elle m'a beaucoup aidée quand je suis arrivée ici."  The speaker was female. Why is there agreement of aidée when the auxillary is avoir? Also is arrivée  agreed as the clause uses etre?  Thanks in advance.

Accepted Answer

The rule is that even with avoir, the participle agrees in number and gender if the COD precedes the participle. This is the case in this sentence, with me being the COD. The speaker is female, hence the participle needs to be aidée.
In the second half of the sentence, the auxiliary verb is être and the participle is matched to the subject (again, a single female speaker), hence arrivée.

Answer

In french, whilst using direct object pronouns with Le Passé Composé pour le verbe 'Avoir', the past participle must match the gender of the direct object. Of course with Être passé composé the past participle acts as an adjective and must match the number of and gender of the subject.

Examples Of COD with Avoir Passé Composé:

J'ai donné la voiture à Marc = I gave the car to Marc.

Je l'ai donnée à Marc = I gave it to Marc

J'ai vendu des pommes = I sold (some) apples

Je les ai vendues = I sold them.

I hope this helps.