French Agreement with Direct Object Pronouns

Overview

A direct object is a noun, whether person or thing, that someone or something acts upon. Keep in mind, in order to avoid repeating nouns in a series of sentences or when answering questions, both French and English replace direct objects with direct object pronouns.

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July 19, 2023

Stephen Sovenyhazy

In the previous module, you learned about replacing direct objects with direct object pronouns in sentences. An important component to that is understanding the new and different placement of the direct object pronoun itself. To fully understand how to use direct object pronouns in French, we’ll learn one additional rule.

Look at these examples of direct object pronouns in the passé composé:

Tu as donné le crayon à ton camarade de classe. → Tu l’as donné à ton camarade de classe.
J’ai écrit la lettre. → Je l’ai é
Elles ont regardé les deux films d’horror au cinéma. → Elles les ont regardés au cinéma.
Nous avons tenu (held) nos bouteilles. → Nous les avons tenues.

What do you notice about these sentences that is similar and different to the examples in the previous module?

Of course, the placement of the direct object pronouns is the same as the previous examples; they come before the conjugated verb. Except this time, you must recognize that this conjugated verb is the auxiliary verb of the passé composé. The most important difference is seen in the past participles, or the second component to the passé composé. Notice the different endings of the past participles compared to each original sentence. You’ll see that some look the same as the original (sentence 1), and the others add on either an -e, -s, or -es.

The Rule

The rule for using direct object pronouns in the passé composé is that the past participle must agree in gender and number of the direct object pronoun. That means that it must also agree with the direct object that the direct object pronoun is replacing. This means that you will be making agreement in the passé composé using avoir which was not learned previously in A2.1.

Take a look at these four example sentences again:

Tu as donné le crayon à ton camarade de classe. → Tu l’as donné à ton camarade de classe.
J’ai écrit la lettre. → Je l’ai écrite.
Elles ont regardé les deux films d’horror au cinéma. → Elles les ont regardés au cinéma.
Nous avons tenu (held) nos bouteilles. → Nous les avons tenues.

What you see in pink are the direct objects that are replaced with the corresponding direct object pronouns. Notice how the position of the pink and yellow (the passé composé) flip when the direct object pronoun is used. Each one comes before the auxiliary verb avoir. What you see in green on the end of the past participle is the agreement. The endings agree in gender and in number with the direct object/direct object pronoun.

Gender/Number	Add…	Example	Translation
Masculine Singular	Nothing. There is no additional agreement	J’ai acheté le frigo. → Je l’ai acheté.	I bought the refrigerator. → I bought it
Feminine Singular	-e	J’ai sorti la poubelle. → Je l’ai sortie.	I took out the trash. → I took it out.
Masculine Plural	-s	J’ai invité Solenn et Yann. → Je les ai invités.	I invited Solenn et Yann. → I invited them.
Femine Plural	-es	J’ai vu Tatianne et Jessica. → Je les ai vues.	I saw Tatianne et Jessica. → I saw them.

Highlighted Author:

Stephen Sovenyhazy

Stephen is the President of CORE Languages having founded the company in 2007. His focus is on empowering those with a need for community, culture and communication. For over a decade, CORE has helped businesses achieve their strategic international goals by empowering employees to learn and find joy in communicating in a new language and cultural context. With our online instructor-led courses, we now bring this to community members across the globe. A quote from Stephen. "When I started teaching, I sought to bring that same energy, dedication, and sense of purpose into my own classrooms. I founded CORE Languages to expand that vision, seeing the growing need for language training options designed to meet the unique needs of business environments. For over a decade, CORE has helped businesses achieve their strategic international goals by empowering employees to learn and find joy in communicating in a new language and cultural context. With our online instructor-led courses, we now bring this to community members across the globe. It’s a privilege to do what we do and share what we love with you.”

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Common European Framework of Reference for Languages

The CEFR is an international standard used to describe language ability. Here are specific details of the CEFR for this topic.

General Explanation:

Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters. Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.

Specific Capabilities at this Level

Writing:

I can write short, simple notes and messages relating to matters in areas of immediate needs. I can write a very simple personal letter, for example thanking someone for something.

Spoken Production:

I can use a series of phrases and sentences to describe in simple terms my family and other people, living conditions, my educational background and my present or most recent job.

Spoken Interaction:

I can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar topics and activities. I can handle very short social exchanges, even though I can’t usually understand enough to keep the conversation going myself.

Reading:

I can read very short, simple texts. I can find specific, predictable information in simple everyday material such as advertisements, prospectuses, menus and timetables and I can understand short simple personal letters.

Listening:

I can understand phrases and the highest frequency vocabulary related to areas of most immediate personal relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local area, employment). I can catch the main point in short, clear, simple messages and announcements.