Past participle agreement is the rule that separates intermediate French from advanced French. Plenty of B1 learners can build a passé composé correctly; far fewer can predict whether to write écrit, écrite, écrits, or écrites without thinking. This page brings together the three agreement rules into a single decision tree so you can stop second-guessing yourself.
The trick is to recognize that there is not one rule — there are three, and the auxiliary tells you which to apply. Once you ask "être, avoir, or pronominal?" first, the rest falls into place. We will walk through each rule with enough examples to drill the pattern, and then close with a side-by-side comparison so the contrasts are visible.
The decision tree
Before you can agree a participle, ask one question: what is the auxiliary?
| Auxiliary | Agreement target | Example |
|---|---|---|
| être (maison d'être verbs) | SUBJECT | elle est partie |
| avoir | preceding DIRECT OBJECT (only) | la lettre que j'ai écrite |
| être (pronominal: se laver, se lever, etc.) | preceding DIRECT OBJECT — usually the reflexive pronoun | elle s'est lavée |
Notice that the avoir rule and the pronominal rule share the same logic — both look for a preceding direct object — but the pronominal rule has the special case that the reflexive pronoun is sometimes that object and sometimes not. We will get to that.
Rule 1: avec être (maison d'être verbs) — agree with the SUBJECT
The seventeen verbs of motion and change of state that take être as auxiliary — aller, venir, arriver, partir, entrer, sortir, monter, descendre, rester, tomber, naître, mourir, retourner, devenir, passer, rentrer, revenir — agree their past participle with the subject, exactly like an adjective.
Forms: masculine singular bare; feminine singular adds -e; masculine plural adds -s; feminine plural adds -es.
Elle est partie sans dire au revoir.
She left without saying goodbye.
Ils sont arrivés en retard à cause des grèves.
They arrived late because of the strikes.
Mes grand-mères sont nées en 1932 et 1935.
My grandmothers were born in 1932 and 1935.
Pierre est rentré de Marseille hier soir.
Pierre got back from Marseille last night.
Mes deux sœurs sont devenues médecins.
My two sisters became doctors.
The subject's gender and number do all the work. There is no preceding-direct-object hunting, no clitic to track. If you say Marie est… in front of an être-verb participle, you already know the participle ends in -e.
A small wrinkle for on. Grammatically, on is third-person singular and triggers a 3sg verb (on est, never on sont). But when on means "we" — overwhelmingly the case in modern spoken French — the participle agreement follows the real referent, not the grammatical 3sg form:
On est partis vers vingt heures, Marc et moi.
We left around eight, Marc and me. — masculine plural agreement, because 'on' refers to two men.
On est rentrées tard hier, Léa et moi.
Léa and I got home late yesterday. — feminine plural, because the speakers are two women.
This is the only case in standard French where the agreement target is not the literal grammatical subject.
Rule 2: avec avoir — agree with a PRECEDING DIRECT OBJECT (only)
With avoir, the participle is invariable by default. It only agrees when there is a direct object that precedes the verb. The subject is irrelevant — even a feminine plural subject changes nothing if no preceding direct object is present.
The default: invariable
Marie a mangé une pomme.
Marie ate an apple. — DO 'une pomme' follows the verb; mangé stays bare.
Les filles ont vu leurs cousins ce week-end.
The girls saw their cousins this weekend. — feminine plural subject, but DO follows the verb; vu stays bare.
Nous avons écrit trois lettres importantes.
We wrote three important letters.
If you find yourself wanting to write Marie a mangée, you have slipped into the être rule. With avoir, the subject does not trigger anything.
The three triggers: when the DO precedes
Three syntactic patterns put a direct object in front of the verb. Each one switches on agreement.
(a) Direct-object pronouns — le, la, l', les, me, te, nous, vous. They sit before the verb and trigger agreement with whatever they refer to.
Mes clés ? Je les ai cherchées partout, sans succès.
My keys? I looked for them everywhere, with no luck. — les = clés (f.pl) → cherchées.
La voiture, on l'a vendue le mois dernier.
The car, we sold it last month. — l' = voiture (f.sg) → vendue.
Elle m'a invitée à son mariage.
She invited me to her wedding. (female speaker → invitée)
(b) The relative pronoun que — when que introduces a relative clause, the antecedent is the direct object inside that clause, and the participle agrees with it.
Les livres que tu as lus pendant les vacances étaient excellents.
The books you read on vacation were excellent. — livres (m.pl) is the DO of lire, preceding via que → lus.
C'est la pomme que j'ai mangée hier.
That's the apple I ate yesterday. — pomme (f.sg) → mangée.
Voici la voiture qu'il a achetée la semaine dernière.
This is the car he bought last week. — voiture → achetée.
The contrast with qui matters: qui is the subject of its clause and never triggers preceding-DO agreement. Les amis qui ont mangé (no agreement on mangé) versus Les amis qu'il a invités (agreement on invités).
(c) Fronted question phrases with quel(le)(s) + N or combien de + N
Quels livres as-tu achetés cette année ?
Which books did you buy this year? — quels livres (m.pl) is the fronted DO → achetés.
Quelle pomme a-t-il mangée ?
Which apple did he eat? — quelle pomme → mangée.
Combien de bouteilles de vin avez-vous commandées pour la fête ?
How many bottles of wine did you order for the party? — bouteilles (f.pl) → commandées.
What does NOT trigger agreement (with avoir)
Three blind spots that English speakers regularly fall into:
- Indirect objects (lui, leur) never trigger agreement, even when they precede. Je leur ai parlé — parlé stays bare. The verb is parler à quelqu'un, so leur is indirect.
- The partitive en never triggers agreement. Des pommes ? J'en ai mangé trois — bare mangé, despite en being preverbal.
- The subject, regardless of gender or number. Les filles ont mangé — bare mangé.
For the full rule with extra edge cases, see agreement with avoir.
Rule 3: pronominal verbs (also être) — agree with the PRECEDING DIRECT OBJECT
Pronominal verbs — se laver, se lever, s'habiller, se souvenir, se parler, etc. — all take être as auxiliary. But their agreement does not mechanically follow the subject. Officially, they follow the avoir rule: agreement with a preceding direct object.
The reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se) is preverbal by definition. The question is whether it functions as the direct or indirect object of the verb. That determines whether it triggers agreement.
Case A: the reflexive pronoun IS the direct object → AGREE
In se laver, se lever, s'habiller, se réveiller, se coucher, se promener, se baigner, the action is done to the subject. The reflexive pronoun is the direct object. Agreement appears, and because the DO is the same person/gender/number as the subject, the agreement looks like simple subject agreement.
Elle s'est levée à six heures pour attraper le train.
She got up at six to catch the train. — se = direct object → levée (f.sg).
Ils se sont couchés très tard hier soir.
They went to bed very late last night. — se = DO → couchés (m.pl).
Nous nous sommes promenées dans le Marais tout l'après-midi.
We strolled through the Marais all afternoon. — feminine plural speakers → promenées.
This case is so common that many textbooks describe it as "agree with the subject." That works as a shortcut, but it hides the real logic — and the real logic is what saves you in cases B and C.
Case B: the reflexive pronoun is INDIRECT → DO NOT AGREE
A small but very important set of verbs takes the preposition à: parler à quelqu'un, dire à quelqu'un, écrire à quelqu'un, téléphoner à quelqu'un, sourire à quelqu'un, ressembler à quelqu'un, succéder à quelqu'un, plaire à quelqu'un, nuire à quelqu'un. When these go reflexive, the pronoun is indirect (it stands in for à + person). It is preverbal, but it is not a direct object — so it does not trigger agreement.
Ils se sont parlé pendant des heures.
They talked to each other for hours. — parler à → se is IO → no agreement; parlé stays bare.
Elles se sont écrit toutes les semaines pendant un an.
They wrote to each other every week for a year. — écrire à → IO → no agreement.
Nous nous sommes téléphoné juste avant son départ.
We phoned each other right before his departure. — téléphoner à → IO → no agreement.
Les deux sœurs se sont ressemblé toute leur vie.
The two sisters looked alike their whole lives. — ressembler à → IO → no agreement.
This is the case that rewards knowing the rule. If you operate on the "agree with the subject" shortcut, you will write elles se sont parlées, which is wrong. The fix is to ask: parler takes which preposition? à. So the reflexive is indirect. No agreement.
Case C: a real direct object follows → DO NOT AGREE on the participle (it's already "used up" the agreement slot)
When a pronominal verb has another direct object — typically a body part or a piece of clothing — the reflexive pronoun is automatically reinterpreted as indirect (essentially: to oneself). The direct object is the noun that follows. Since that noun follows the verb, it does not trigger agreement either. The participle stays bare.
Elle s'est lavé les mains avant de passer à table.
She washed her hands before sitting down to eat. — DO 'les mains' follows the verb; se is reinterpreted as IO ('to herself'); no agreement on lavé.
Ils se sont brossé les dents avant de se coucher.
They brushed their teeth before going to bed. — same pattern; brossé stays bare.
Marie s'est cassé la jambe en faisant du ski.
Marie broke her leg skiing. — cassé stays bare; la jambe is the DO and it follows the verb.
The contrast with case A is sharp:
Elle s'est lavée.
She washed (herself). — no other DO; se is the DO; agreement → lavée.
Elle s'est lavé les mains.
She washed her hands. — les mains is the DO; se is IO; no agreement → lavé.
This pair is the textbook drill for the pronominal rule. If you can produce both correctly, you have understood the underlying logic.
A bonus subtlety for completeness: if the DO of case C is fronted (becomes preverbal), agreement reappears — because now there is a preceding direct object after all.
Les mains qu'elle s'est lavées étaient sales.
The hands she washed were dirty. — DO 'les mains' is now preverbal via que → lavées.
This is rare in practice, but it confirms that the system is consistent: the rule is always "preceding direct object."
A side-by-side comparison
The same verb in the three configurations, just to make the contrast visible:
| Configuration | Example | Agreement |
|---|---|---|
| être (maison d'être) → subject | Elle est partie. | partie (f.sg, with subject 'elle') |
| avoir, no preceding DO → bare | J'ai mangé la pomme. | mangé (no agreement) |
| avoir, preceding DO → DO | La pomme que j'ai mangée. | mangée (with 'la pomme') |
| pronominal, reflexive = DO → reflexive | Elle s'est lavée. | lavée (with 'se' = DO = elle) |
| pronominal, reflexive = IO → bare | Ils se sont parlé. | parlé (no agreement) |
| pronominal, real DO follows → bare | Elle s'est lavé les mains. | lavé (no agreement) |
Two points worth highlighting from this table. First, avoir and pronominal are governed by the same logic — preceding direct object. The pronominal rule is a special case of the avoir rule once you realize the reflexive pronoun is sometimes the DO, sometimes not. Second, être (maison d'être) is a separate system: it uses subject agreement, like an adjective, full stop.
Comparison with English
English has zero past-participle agreement of any kind. I ate, she ate, the apples I ate, they have eaten — the form eaten never changes. So the rules above are foreign to English speakers in a very specific way: there is nothing in your native grammar that even maps to the concept "the participle has to agree with something."
The first thing English speakers tend to do is to default to the être rule (subject agreement) because it most resembles English adjective agreement (in languages they may have studied like Spanish). When they apply the subject-agreement instinct to avoir verbs, they over-mark: Marie a mangée — wrong. When they then over-correct and stop agreeing entirely, they under-mark: La pomme que j'ai mangé — also wrong.
The path through is: identify auxiliary, then apply the right rule. Drill until that two-step is automatic.
Common Mistakes
❌ Marie a allée au cinéma hier soir.
Incorrect — aller is on the maison d'être list and takes être, not avoir.
✅ Marie est allée au cinéma hier soir.
Marie went to the movies last night.
❌ Les filles ont mangées une glace après le déjeuner.
Incorrect — with avoir, the participle does not agree with the subject. The DO 'une glace' follows the verb, so no agreement: mangé.
✅ Les filles ont mangé une glace après le déjeuner.
The girls had an ice cream after lunch.
❌ Les pommes que j'ai acheté au marché ce matin sont délicieuses.
Incorrect — preceding DO 'les pommes' (f.pl) triggers agreement: achetées.
✅ Les pommes que j'ai achetées au marché ce matin sont délicieuses.
The apples I bought at the market this morning are delicious.
❌ Elles se sont parlées pendant deux heures au téléphone.
Incorrect — parler à quelqu'un: the reflexive 'se' is indirect, not direct. No agreement: parlé.
✅ Elles se sont parlé pendant deux heures au téléphone.
They talked to each other for two hours on the phone.
❌ Elle s'est lavée les mains avant de manger.
Incorrect — 'les mains' is the direct object and follows the verb. The reflexive 'se' becomes indirect ('to herself'). No agreement: lavé.
✅ Elle s'est lavé les mains avant de manger.
She washed her hands before eating.
❌ Quelles chansons as-tu chanté à la fête ?
Incorrect — fronted DO 'quelles chansons' (f.pl) triggers agreement: chantées.
✅ Quelles chansons as-tu chantées à la fête ?
Which songs did you sing at the party?
Key takeaways
- Step one is always the auxiliary. Être maison d'être? Avoir? Pronominal? Each has its own rule.
- Être (maison d'être) → agree with the subject. Like an adjective. Elle est partie. Ils sont arrivés. Elles sont nées.
- Avoir → agree only with a preceding direct object. Three triggers: pronouns (le/la/les/me/te/nous/vous), the relative que, fronted quel(le)(s) + N or combien de + N. The subject never matters.
- Pronominal → agree with the preceding direct object (which is usually, but not always, the reflexive pronoun). When the reflexive is indirect (se parler, se dire) or when a real DO follows (se laver les mains), no agreement.
- Most agreements are silent in speech (parlé/parlée/parlés/parlées all sound the same). For consonant-final participles (écrit, mis, pris, fait, dit, mort, ouvert, peint), agreement is audible — see the pronunciation page.
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Start learning French→Related Topics
- Past participle agreement with avoirA2 — The rule that French native speakers themselves struggle with: when avoir-conjugated participles agree with a preceding direct object, and when they don't.
- L'Accord du Participe Passé avec ÊtreA2 — How to make the past participle agree with the subject when the auxiliary is être — gender, number, the masculine-default for mixed groups, the on-puzzle, and where the agreement is silent vs. audible.
- L'Accord du Participe Passé des Verbes PronominauxB1 — Pronominal verbs use *être* in compound tenses but follow a different agreement rule than other *être* verbs: the past participle agrees with the reflexive pronoun *only when that pronoun is the direct object*. Body-part constructions and verbs taking *à quelqu'un* are the trap.
- L'Accord et la Prononciation du ParticipeB1 — When past participle agreement is silent and when it is audible. Most -é/-i/-u participles agree only on paper, but the consonant-final participles (écrit, mis, pris, fait, dit, mort, ouvert, peint) make agreement heard in speech.
- Choosing the auxiliary: avoir or êtreA2 — Almost every French compound tense uses avoir — but a small set of verbs takes être instead. The choice is determined by the verb, not the speaker, and getting it right is the foundation of every compound tense in French.
- Le Passé Composé: OverviewA1 — The passé composé is French's main spoken past tense — used for completed past events, formed with avoir or être plus a past participle. It does the work that English splits between simple past (I ate) and present perfect (I have eaten).