{"id":117971,"date":"2022-08-20T03:37:20","date_gmt":"2022-08-20T07:37:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/french-agreement\/"},"modified":"2025-01-16T23:29:51","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T04:29:51","slug":"french-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-agreement\/","title":{"rendered":"Guide to French Verb Agreement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In French, verbs must agree with their subjects in number and person, and in certain cases, with gender as well. This can affect everything from simple present tense conjugations to more complex structures like the <em>pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Understanding these rules is key to achieving accuracy and fluency in French. This guide will walk you through the essential principles of verb agreement in various tenses and moods.\u00a0<br \/>\n[fluentu-toc]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<h2>What Is French Verb Agreement?<\/h2>\n<p>French verb agreement refers to the rules that dictate how verbs must change their form to align with their subjects in number (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-plural\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">singular or plural<\/a>) and person (first, second or third).<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, in certain tenses, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject or a preceding direct object.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Verb Conjugation<\/h2>\n<p>In all tenses, French verbs must agree with the subject in both number and person. Each <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-pronouns\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">subject pronoun<\/a> has a specific verb ending.<\/p>\n<p>The process of making the verb ending correspond to the appropriate pronoun (plus the correct tense and mood) is called\u00a0conjugation. Here are some examples in the present tense:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>Pauline\u00a0<strong>travaille<\/strong>\u00a0\u00e0 la banque.<\/em> (Pauline works at the bank.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>Ses enfants ne<strong>\u00a0travaillent<\/strong>\u00a0pas encore.<\/em> (Her children don&#8217;t work yet.)<\/p>\n<p>In the first sentence, the verb <strong><em>travaille<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>agrees with the subject\u00a0<em><strong>Pauline<\/strong>,<\/em>\u00a0whereas in the second sentence the verb changes to\u00a0<strong><em>travaillent<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>for the plural subject\u00a0<strong><em>ses enfants<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Check out our comprehensive guide on French conjugation for more:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"XVrAs5mH1w\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-verb-conjugation\/\">Your Complete Guide to French Verb Conjugation<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;Your Complete Guide to French Verb Conjugation&#8221; &#8212; FluentU\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-verb-conjugation\/embed\/#?secret=pU0XynTgaX#?secret=XVrAs5mH1w\" data-secret=\"XVrAs5mH1w\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Verb Agreement in Simple Tenses<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In French, simple tenses are those that are formed by conjugating the verb directly without the use of auxiliary verbs. These tenses are used to express various timeframes and moods. Here are the main simple tenses and moods:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-3641\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-3641\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Tense\/Mood<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Example<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-present-tense\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><i>Pr\u00e9sent<\/i><\/a> <br \/>\n(present)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-53ad996f56f5d75dd4385271142d3ba9-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><i>Je parle<\/i>        <\/a>\n     (I speak)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-imperfect-tense\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Imparfait<\/a><\/i> <br \/>\n(imperfect)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-b53706b0622d8e20d58552f9fe77edb2-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><i>Je parlais<\/i>        <\/a>\n     (I was speaking \/ I used to speak)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-future-tense\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Futur simple<\/a><\/i> <br \/>\n(simple future)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-6fae092ec284501a596044d0f541de78-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><i>Je parlerai<\/i>        <\/a>\n     (I will speak)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><i><a href=\"https:\/\/francais.lingolia.com\/en\/grammar\/tenses\/le-passe-simple\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pass\u00e9 simple<\/a><\/i> <br \/>\n(simple past\/past historic)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-d53c6736b9c775d1b10f31e7c424b348-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><i>Je parlai<\/i>        <\/a>\n     (I spoke) <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-conditional-tense\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Conditionnel pr\u00e9sent<\/a><\/i> <br \/>\n(present conditional)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-c0672d351cdbb033daec71c4a8c474db-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><i>Je parlerais<\/i>        <\/a>\n     (I would speak)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-subjunctive\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Subjonctif pr\u00e9sent<\/a><\/i> <br \/>\n(present subjunctive)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-dc69359fd099f040c0e71800aec1262b-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><i>Que je parle<\/i>        <\/a>\n     (That I speak)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-3641 from cache -->\n<p>In these tenses, verbs are conjugated directly and <strong>typically do not involve agreement in gender with the subject<\/strong>. For example, let&#8217;s look at the verb <strong><em>jouer<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0(to play) in the imperfect tense with a few different subjects:<\/p>\n<div id=\"tw-target-text-container\" class=\"tw-ta-container F0azHf tw-nfl\">\n<p id=\"tw-target-text\" class=\"tw-data-text tw-text-large tw-ta\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"padding-left: 40px\" data-placeholder=\"Translation\" aria-label=\"Translated text\" data-ved=\"2ahUKEwjB1-f3wp2IAxW3fDABHQhCLsgQ3ewLegQIBxAU\"><em>Je <strong>jouais<\/strong> du piano.<\/em> (I used to play piano.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"tw-data-text tw-text-large tw-ta\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"padding-left: 40px\" data-placeholder=\"Translation\" aria-label=\"Translated text\" data-ved=\"2ahUKEwjB1-f3wp2IAxW3fDABHQhCLsgQ3ewLegQIBxAU\"><em><span class=\"Y2IQFc\" lang=\"fr\">Il <strong>jouait<\/strong> du piano. <\/span><\/em><span class=\"Y2IQFc\" lang=\"fr\">(He used to play piano.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"tw-data-text tw-text-large tw-ta\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"padding-left: 40px\" data-placeholder=\"Translation\" aria-label=\"Translated text\" data-ved=\"2ahUKEwjB1-f3wp2IAxW3fDABHQhCLsgQ3ewLegQIBxAU\"><em><span class=\"Y2IQFc\" lang=\"fr\">Elle <strong>jouait<\/strong> du piano. <\/span><\/em><span class=\"Y2IQFc\" lang=\"fr\">(She used to play piano.)<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"tw-target-text-container\" class=\"tw-ta-container F0azHf tw-nfl\">\n<p id=\"tw-target-text\" class=\"tw-data-text tw-text-large tw-ta\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"padding-left: 40px\" data-placeholder=\"Translation\" aria-label=\"Translated text\" data-ved=\"2ahUKEwjB1-f3wp2IAxW3fDABHQhCLsgQ3ewLegQIBxAU\"><em>Ils <strong>jouaient<\/strong> du piano.<\/em> (They used to play piano.)<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" data-placeholder=\"Translation\" aria-label=\"Translated text\" data-ved=\"2ahUKEwjB1-f3wp2IAxW3fDABHQhCLsgQ3ewLegQIBxAU\">As you can see, the verb ending changes based on the subject and whether it&#8217;s singular (I, he, she) or plural (they), but not based on gender. The verb form for &#8220;he&#8221; and &#8220;she&#8221; are the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex-shrink-0 flex flex-col relative items-end\">\n<div class=\"pt-0\">\n<div class=\"gizmo-bot-avatar flex h-8 w-8 items-center justify-center overflow-hidden rounded-full\">\n<h2 class=\"relative p-1 rounded-sm flex items-center justify-center bg-token-main-surface-primary text-token-text-primary h-8 w-8\">Verb Agreement in Compound Tenses<\/h2>\n<p>Compound tenses are verb tenses that consist of two parts: <strong>an auxiliary verb <\/strong>(either <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/etre-vs-avoir\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>avoir<\/em> or <em>\u00eatre<\/em><\/a>)<strong> and a past participle<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The auxiliary verb is conjugated according to the subject, while the past participle remains unchanged, except when it agrees with the subject or direct object in certain cases. Compound tenses in French include:<\/p>\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-3642\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-3642\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Tense\/Mood<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Example<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody class=\"row-striping row-hover\">\n<tr class=\"row-2\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-passe-compose\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9<\/a><\/i><br \/>\n(present perfect)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-a2d4c053d73d8a21a0897b683b20b101-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><i>J'ai parl\u00e9<\/i>        <\/a>\n     (I have spoken)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-pluperfect\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Plus-que-parfait<\/a><\/i> <br \/>\n(pluperfect)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-e6d81af7808fb313fcdbdb5f2b46670a-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><i>J'avais parl\u00e9<\/i>        <\/a>\n     (I had spoken)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><i>Futur ant\u00e9rieur<\/i> <br \/>\n(future perfect)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-f74318b2cdcbb04ab3b846f4fae32b01-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><i>J'aurai parl\u00e9<\/i>        <\/a>\n     (I will have spoken)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><i>Conditionnel pass\u00e9<\/i> <br \/>\n(past conditional)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-8d39a4a3d3663196fc241aa9601955aa-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><i>J'aurais parl\u00e9<\/i>        <\/a>\n     (I would have spoken) <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><i>Subjonctif pass\u00e9<\/i> <br \/>\n(past subjunctive)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-2e3e4ebfb44814d56f40918281e9cae1-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><i>Que j'aie parl\u00e9<\/i>        <\/a>\n     (That I have spoken)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-past-tense\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pass\u00e9 ant\u00e9rieur<\/a><\/i> <br \/>\n(past anterior)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-35da1fc7d7f94e44bdefaa5fba74434f-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><i>J'eus parl\u00e9<\/i>        <\/a>\n     (I had spoken)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-8\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\"><i>Subjonctif plus-que-parfait<\/i> <br \/>\n(pluperfect subjunctive)<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/v1-f703854f5968bf61f6ec2218f93edcff-neural-Lea.mp3\" class=\"tts-link\"><i>Que j'eusse parl\u00e9<\/i>        <\/a>\n     (That I had spoken)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-3642 from cache -->\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"group\/conversation-turn relative flex w-full min-w-0 flex-col agent-turn\">\n<div class=\"flex-col gap-1 md:gap-3\">\n<div class=\"flex max-w-full flex-col flex-grow\">\n<div class=\"min-h-[20px] text-message flex w-full flex-col items-end gap-2 break-words [.text-message+&amp;]:mt-5 overflow-x-auto whitespace-normal\" dir=\"auto\" data-message-author-role=\"assistant\" data-message-id=\"02b3e2b0-f49b-4468-b653-d37c31f1862c\">\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-col gap-1 empty:hidden first:pt-[3px]\">\n<div class=\"markdown prose w-full break-words dark:prose-invert light\">\n<h3><strong>Verb Agreement with <em>\u00catre<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>When using the auxiliary verb <em>\u00eatre <\/em>in compound tenses, the <strong>past participle must\u00a0agree in gender and number with the subject<\/strong>. Let&#8217;s look at an example in the <em>pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9:<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>Il est <strong>all\u00e9<\/strong> au march\u00e9.<\/em> (He went to the market.)<\/p>\n<p>If the subject is <strong>feminine<\/strong>, add an<strong><em>-e<\/em><\/strong> to the past participle:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>Elle est <strong>all\u00e9e<\/strong> au march\u00e9.<\/em> (She went to the market.)<\/p>\n<p>If the subject is <strong>plural<\/strong> (and masculine or mixed-gender), add an<strong><em> -s <\/em><\/strong>to the past participle:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"tw-target-text\" class=\"tw-data-text tw-text-large tw-ta\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"padding-left: 40px\" data-placeholder=\"Translation\" aria-label=\"Translated text\" data-ved=\"2ahUKEwiNgMfSmZiIAxWsKEQIHZl4FSYQ3ewLegQIBxAU\"><em>Charles et Anna sont <strong>all\u00e9s<\/strong> au march\u00e9.<\/em> (Charles and Anna went to the market.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" data-placeholder=\"Translation\" aria-label=\"Translated text\" data-ved=\"2ahUKEwiNgMfSmZiIAxWsKEQIHZl4FSYQ3ewLegQIBxAU\">And if the subject is <strong>both feminine and plural<\/strong>, add <em><strong>-es<\/strong>:<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em><span class=\"Y2IQFc\" lang=\"fr\">Julia et Anna sont <strong>all\u00e9es<\/strong> au march\u00e9.<\/span><\/em> (Julia and Anna went to the market.)<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s important to note that t<span data-offset-key=\"169:1\">he subjects <\/span><em><span class=\"mark_italic mark_bold\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">je<\/span><\/em><span data-offset-key=\"169:3\"> (I) and <\/span><em><span class=\"mark_italic mark_bold\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">tu<\/span><\/em><span data-offset-key=\"169:5\"> (you) can either be masculine or feminine, as can <em>no<\/em><\/span><em><span class=\"mark_italic mark_bold\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">us <\/span><\/em><span class=\"mark_italic mark_bold\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">(we)<\/span><span data-offset-key=\"169:7\"> and <\/span><em><span class=\"mark_italic mark_bold\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">vous<\/span><\/em><span class=\"mark_italic mark_bold\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\"> (you).<\/span><span data-offset-key=\"169:9\">\u00a0The past participle must agree accordingly. Here are some examples:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>Je suis <strong>parti<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 I left (<strong>male<\/strong> speaker)\u00a0<br \/>\n<em>Je suis <strong>partie<\/strong><\/em> <em>\u2014 <\/em>I left (<strong>female<\/strong> speaker)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>Tu es <strong>rest\u00e9<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 You stayed (addressing a <strong>male<\/strong>)\u00a0<br \/>\n<em>Tu es <strong>rest\u00e9e<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 You stayed (addressing a <strong>female<\/strong>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"markdown prose w-full break-words dark:prose-invert light\">\n<p><span data-offset-key=\"169:9\"><em>O<\/em><\/span><em><span class=\"mark_italic mark_bold\" data-slate-leaf=\"true\">n<\/span><\/em><span data-offset-key=\"169:11\"> (we\/one) can either be masculine or feminine and singular or plural, depending on who it refers to. It can be used to replace the subject <em>nous<\/em> (we) in informal speeches or it can represent an indefinite subject.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>When <em>on<\/em> represents an indefinite subject to speak in a general way, we use the masculine singular agreement:<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <em>On est <b>fatigu\u00e9 <\/b>apr\u00e8s un marathon.<\/em> \u2014 One is tired after a marathon.<\/p>\n<p>If<em> on<\/em> replaces <em>nous <\/em>(we) to speak in a more informal way, it represents a group of people and requires agreement with the plural:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>On est <strong>all\u00e9s<\/strong> au cin\u00e9ma hier soir.<\/em> \u2014 We went to the movies last night. (referring to a group of males)<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>On est <strong>all\u00e9es<\/strong> au cin\u00e9ma hier soir.<\/em> \u2014 We went to the movies last night. (referring to a group of females)<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Verb Agreement with <em>Avoir<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>When using <em>avoir<\/em> as the auxiliary verb, the past participle generally <strong>does not<\/strong> <strong>agree<\/strong> with the subject. For example:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>J\u2019ai <strong>mang\u00e9<\/strong> la pomme.<\/em> (I ate the apple.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"tw-target-text\" class=\"tw-data-text tw-text-large tw-ta\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"padding-left: 40px\" data-placeholder=\"Translation\" aria-label=\"Translated text\" data-ved=\"2ahUKEwjB1-f3wp2IAxW3fDABHQhCLsgQ3ewLegQIBxAU\"><span class=\"Y2IQFc\" lang=\"fr\"><em>Il a <strong>mang\u00e9<\/strong> la pomme.<\/em> (He ate the apple.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"tw-data-text tw-text-large tw-ta\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"padding-left: 40px\" data-placeholder=\"Translation\" aria-label=\"Translated text\" data-ved=\"2ahUKEwjB1-f3wp2IAxW3fDABHQhCLsgQ3ewLegQIBxAU\"><span class=\"Y2IQFc\" lang=\"fr\"><em>Elle a <strong>mang\u00e9<\/strong> la pomme.<\/em> (She ate the apple.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"tw-data-text tw-text-large tw-ta\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"padding-left: 40px\" data-placeholder=\"Translation\" aria-label=\"Translated text\" data-ved=\"2ahUKEwjB1-f3wp2IAxW3fDABHQhCLsgQ3ewLegQIBxAU\"><em>Nous avons <strong>mang\u00e9<\/strong> les pommes.<\/em> (We ate the apple.)<\/p>\n<p>However, if there&#8217;s a direct object preceding the verb, the past participle agrees with that object:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>La pomme que j\u2019ai <strong>mang\u00e9e<\/strong> \u00e9tait d\u00e9licieuse.<\/em> (The apple that I ate was delicious.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>La pomme qu&#8217;il a <strong>mang\u00e9e<\/strong> \u00e9tait d\u00e9licieuse.<\/em> (The apple that he ate was delicious.)\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In these examples, the past participle <em>(mang\u00e9e) <\/em>agrees with the feminine singular object <em>(la pomme), <\/em>not with the subject. If we make the object plural <em>(les pommes),<\/em> the verb form must also be plural <em>(<span class=\"Y2IQFc\" lang=\"fr\">mang\u00e9es)<\/span>:<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"tw-data-text tw-text-large tw-ta\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"padding-left: 40px\" data-placeholder=\"Translation\" aria-label=\"Translated text\" data-ved=\"2ahUKEwj67J6-2KyIAxUg6ckDHTK9FF4Q3ewLegQIBxAU\"><em><span class=\"Y2IQFc\" lang=\"fr\">Les pommes que j&#8217;ai <strong>mang\u00e9es<\/strong> \u00e9taient d\u00e9licieuses.<\/span><\/em> (The apples that I ate were delicious.)<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Verb Agreement with Reflexive Verbs<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The rule we just went over applies to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/reflexive-verb-conjugation-french\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reflexive verbs<\/a> as well. When using reflexive verbs in compound tenses, the past participle must agree with the direct object if it precedes the verb. For example:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>Elle s\u2019est <strong>lav\u00e9e<\/strong>.<\/em> (She washed herself.)<\/p>\n<p>Here, the past participle agrees with the reflexive pronoun, which is also the direct object. If the direct object comes after the verb, then there&#8217;s no agreement:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>Elle s\u2019est <strong>lav\u00e9<\/strong> les mains.<\/em> (She washed her hands.)<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Compound Verbs with Multiple Auxiliaries<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In complex sentences involving multiple auxiliaries or verbs, the past participle agrees with the nearest preceding direct object or subject as required:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px\"><em>Il est parti avec les cl\u00e9s que je lui avais donn\u00e9es.<\/em> (He left with the keys I had given him.)<\/p>\n<p>In this example, <strong><em>parti <\/em><\/strong>is used with the auxiliary verb <strong><em>est<\/em> (from <em>\u00eatre<\/em>)<\/strong> to form the <em>pass\u00e9 compos\u00e9.<\/em> It agrees with the subject <strong><em>il<\/em> (he)<\/strong> in gender and number. Since <em>il<\/em> is singular and masculine, the past participle is also in the masculine singular form: <em><strong>Il est parti<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Donn\u00e9es<\/em><\/strong> is used with the auxiliary verb <strong><em>avais<\/em> (from <em>avoir<\/em>)<\/strong> in the past perfect tense. It agrees with the direct object <strong><em>les cl\u00e9s<\/em> (the keys)<\/strong> because the direct object precedes the verb. Since <em>les cl\u00e9s<\/em> is plural and feminine, the past participle <em>donn\u00e9<\/em> becomes <em>donn\u00e9es<\/em> to agree: <em><strong>les cl\u00e9s que je lui avais donn\u00e9es<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>French verb agreement is an essential component of mastering the language. While it may seem overwhelming at first, with practice it will start to feel more natural.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>You can get familiar with French verb agreement by consuming native content like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-movies-to-learn-french\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">French movies<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/french\/french-tv-series-to-learn-french\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TV shows<\/a>. For learner support, you can use an immersive language learning program like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/french\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FluentU<\/a>. <p><strong>FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n<p><\/p> \r\n<p>You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/fluentu-learn-language-videos\/id917892175\">the iOS app<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.fluentflix.fluentu&amp;hl=en&amp;gl=US\">Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\n<p><i><a data-bid=\"1\" data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/try\/april-sale-3331\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)<\/a><\/i>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\r\n  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/site\/\/3\/NativeAdFrench.jpg\" alt=\"FluentU Ad\" \/>\r\n  <p style=\"text-align: center\">\r\n    <button class=\"btn-blue\" style=\"border: none;font-size: 18px;text-align: center;padding: 0.75rem 1.5rem;cursor: pointer\">\r\n      Try FluentU for FREE!\r\n    <\/button>\r\n  <\/p>\r\n<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In French, verbs must agree with their subjects in number and person, and in certain cases, with gender as well. This can affect everything from simple present tense conjugations to&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":778,"featured_media":246198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"Guide to French Verb Agreement | FluentU French Blog","description":"Understanding French verb agreement is essential if you want to use the language correctly. It involves changing the form of the verb depending on the subject, whether it's singular or plural and sometimes its gender. Check out this guide to French verb agreement to master this important aspect of the language."},"footnotes":""},"categories":[570,577],"tags":[],"coauthors":[492],"class_list":["post-117971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-french","category-french-grammar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/778"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117971"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246199,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117971\/revisions\/246199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117971"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=117971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}