Agreeing past participle

G B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Agreeing past participle

Regarding this sentence:

Marie, quelle idée fantastique tu as eue

Why does the past participle eue agree here? Is it the case of the subordinate clause with que?


Should the sentence be:

Marie, quelle idée fantastique QUE tu as eue

 

Asked 1 year ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

The correspondence of the participle eue is with the preceding COD, quelle idée in this case.

And, no, the sentence is perfectly OK without the que you're asking about.

CélineKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Bonjour G,

Chris is correct! 

If you order the sentence differently, it looks like this:

Marie, tu as eu une idée fantastique !

 -> "une idée" = Direct object placed after "avoir" - no agreement

Marie, quelle idée fantastique tu as eue !

 -> "quelle idée" = Direct object placed before "avoir" - agreement

Take a look here: Special cases when the past participle agrees (in number & gender) when used with 'avoir' in the compound past in French (Le Passé Composé)

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée !

Agreeing past participle

Regarding this sentence:

Marie, quelle idée fantastique tu as eue

Why does the past participle eue agree here? Is it the case of the subordinate clause with que?


Should the sentence be:

Marie, quelle idée fantastique QUE tu as eue

 

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