Can you tell me how to make this part of French easier to understand?!?

Question

How can you make the direct object in a french sentence with que and que, (in the past), show agreement easier for me? I am totally confused. I get how the direct object has to come before the verb, but does that mean before the que or qui?

Answer 1

The rule states that a past participle must agree with its direct object if the direct object precedes it.

With a "que" clause, the direct object is normally right before the "que" as in

La robe que j'ai achetee est tres belle. "Robe" is the subject of the sentence but the direct object of the "que" clause and thus the extra "e" for agreement.

Another example: J'ai vu les memes films que tu as vus. "Films" is the direct object of the "que" clause thus the extra "s".

One more example: Connais-tu les filles que j'ai rencontrees? "filles" is the direct object of the "que" clause thus the agreement "es"

In each example the direct object comes right before the "que" and that normally is the case.

"Qui" is used as a subject, therefore the rule does not apply. Je vois le garcon qui a gagne le match. I see the boy who won the game. "Match" is the direct object of the "qui" clause. It comes after the verb, therefore no agreement is needed. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Ex: La pomme que j'ai mangée n'était pas très bonne.

What did you eat? la pomme.
La pomme is before que. Therefore, "mangé" has an "e" at the end.

Other ex:
La fenêtre qu'il/elle a cassée est celle de Mme Dupont
(See, it doesn't matter if the personne who broke it was a man or a woman. What's important is what has been broken.
BUT: Il/elle a cassé la fenêtre de Mme Dupont: no "e" after "cassé")

Basically, the way we learn it in France: What did you break? The window. It is before "que".

Yes, it has to be before "que". It has to be in the principal clause, and not the subordinate.

Hope that helped.

Answer 3

It's only with "que" because only "que" is used as a relative pronoun with direct objects; "qui" is used as a relative pronoun with subjects, not direct objects.

Think of a relative clause as a second sentence that has been joined to the first, with "que" taking the place of the repeated information about the direct object, like this:

Je connais la fille.
+ Tu as invité la fille à la fête.
= Je connais la fille que tu as invitée à la fête.

Notice that the second "la fille" is replaced with "que," so "que" acts almost like a direct object pronoun. Compare with a sentence in which we actually do replace "la fille" with a direct object pronoun:

Je connais la fille.
+Tu l'as invitée à la fête.
=Je connais la fille que tu as invitée à la fête.

See how the "que" simply replaces the direct object pronoune "la", and how when the direct object pronoun, whether it is "la" or the relative pronoun "que" preceds the verb in the past tense, the past participle "invité" has to be made to agree with it? It's the same thing.

Another thing to think about is this: In the sentence "Je connais la fille que tu as invitée à la fête," "invitée" is both part of the past tense verb AND an adjective describing the girl. You can say she was "the invited girl" just as when you eat an apple you can say afterwards that it was an "apple eaten." Past participles are both parts of verbs and adjectives descrbing the direct object, which is why agreement is necessary.

Other examples:
"C'est la lampe qu'il a brisée" = "That's the lamp he broke" (Note that you can describe it as "the broken lamp").
"Je dois rendre les livres que j'ai empruntés." = "I ought to return the books that I borrowed." (Note that I can call them "the borrowed books".)
"Nous avons mangé la tarte que votre mère a cuite." = "We ate the pie that your mother baked." (Note: the baked pie.)

Hope that helps!

Answer 4

- In the present tense:

Qui ? (pour les personnes) après le verbe

Quoi ? (pour les choses) après le verbe

right ?

Exemple (1): Je vois l'homme.

Question : Je vois qui ?

Réponse : l'homme (homme est le COD)

In the past tense --> J'ai vu l'homme.

l'homme que j'ai vu.
* we use "que" because "homme" is the object.

If "homme" were the subject, ex: J'ai vu l'homme qui marchait dans la rue.
* we use "qui" because "homme" in this case is the subject.


Exemple (2): Je vois la voiture

Question : Je vois quoi ?

Réponse : voiture (voiture est le COD)

In the past tense --> J'ai vu la voiture.

la voiture que j'ai vue.
* we add "e" to the end of the verb coz voiture is feminine, and it came before the verb "voir". But we say:
J'ai vu la voiture qui roulait...etc..