Gender agreement with verb.

Alan M.C1Kwiziq community member

Gender agreement with verb.

- et ma sœur qui était censée m'aider m'a appelée tout à l'heure pour me dire qu'elle ne serait pas là avant demain matin ! - I may be missing something but why is there a gender agreement with ´appelé ´ when its not reflexive and the auxiliary is avoir? Thanks.
Asked 2 years ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

It is appelée because the COD of the sentence (me ) precedes the participle. If the speaker is female then the participle needs to reflect that.

(My sister speaking:) Il m'a appelée. -- He called me. The COD of the sentence is Helen, referring to herself through me. Since the COD comes before the participle, the participle changes to appelée.

CélineNative French expert teacher in Kwiziq

Bonjour Alan,

Chris is correct: Here it is Mrs Pervenche who is speaking.

See link 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 !

Alan M. asked:

Gender agreement with verb.

- et ma sœur qui était censée m'aider m'a appelée tout à l'heure pour me dire qu'elle ne serait pas là avant demain matin ! - I may be missing something but why is there a gender agreement with ´appelé ´ when its not reflexive and the auxiliary is avoir? Thanks.

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