I am still confused with past participles agreement with the verbs. e.g. Les fleurs que j'ai senties.

Monica U.C1Kwiziq community member

I am still confused with past participles agreement with the verbs. e.g. Les fleurs que j'ai senties.

This question relates to:French lesson "Special cases when the past participle agrees (in number & gender) when used with 'avoir' in the compound past in French (Le Passé Composé)"

Asked 6 years ago

Like0Answer3

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

The rule is: if the COD comes before the participle, then you need to agree the participle.

Les fleurs -- COD (feminine, plural)
que -- relative pronoun, referring to "les fleurs"
je -- subject
ai -- auxiliary verb (form of avoir)
senties -- participle of sentir.

Since "que" comes before "senties", the participle needs to match feminine, plural.

Like16 years ago

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Some may rightly argue that "que" is the COD. That doesn't change the result, though, because "les fleurs" determine ultimately the matching of the participle.

Like06 years ago

Monica U.C1Kwiziq community member

Merci Chris pour votre response. Je comprends maintenant.

Like06 years ago

Monica U. asked:

I am still confused with past participles agreement with the verbs. e.g. Les fleurs que j'ai senties.

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