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### The exception to the *avoir* rule

In the *passé composé*, verbs conjugated with *avoir* usually do not change their past participle. However, there is one major exception: **when the direct object comes before the verb, the past participle must agree with it in gender and number**.

Just like with *être* verbs, you add an **-e** for feminine singular, an **-s** for masculine plural, and **-es** for feminine plural.

This happens in two very common situations.

### Agreement with *que*

When you use the relative pronoun **que** (or **qu'**) to say "that", the object appears before the verb. The past participle must agree with the noun that **que** refers to.

If the noun is masculine plural (*les produits*), add an **-s**:

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If the noun is feminine (*la télévision*, *la réclamation*), add an **-e**:

{{item:870003}}

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### Agreement with direct object pronouns

Direct object pronouns like **le**, **la**, **l'**, and **les** also come before the verb. When using these in the *passé composé*, the past participle must agree with the noun the pronoun replaces.

If you replace a masculine plural noun like *les responsables* with **les**, add an **-s**:

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If the pronoun **l'** replaces a feminine singular noun like *la tablette*, the past participle takes an **-e**:

{{item:870013}}

And if the pronoun **les** replaces a feminine plural noun like *les chaussures*, add **-es**:

{{item:870014}}

You will often see both of these agreement rules used together when handling customer service complaints and returning defective items!

{{item:870020}}

Past participle agreement with preceding objects (je l'ai vue)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular 'to be' and indefinite articles (je suis un...)

Singular definite articles (le, la, l')

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Question	Answer
the product	le produit
defective	défectueux
The products that you sold are defective.	Les produits que vous avez vendus sont défectueux.
to deliver	livrer
the flaw / the defect	le défaut
The television that they delivered has a flaw.	La télévision qu'ils ont livrée a un défaut.
the complaint / the claim	la réclamation
There is an error in the complaint that I sent.	Il y a une erreur dans la réclamation que j'ai envoyée.
the manager / the person in charge (person responsible)	le responsable
to contact	contacter
The managers? I contacted them this morning.	Les responsables ? Je les ai contactés ce matin.
satisfied	satisfait
She is not satisfied with the dress that she bought.	Elle n'est pas satisfaite de la robe qu'elle a achetée.
The client has never received the products that you sent.	Le client n'a jamais reçu les produits que vous avez envoyés.
to replace	remplacer
The tablet is defective, so the store replaced it.	La tablette est défectueuse, alors le magasin l'a remplacée.
There is a problem with these shoes; the employee replaced them.	Il y a un problème avec ces chaussures ; l'employé les a remplacées.
These women are not satisfied, so the manager contacted them.	Ces femmes ne sont pas satisfaites, alors le responsable les a contactées.
The employee found the error and corrected it.	L'employé a trouvé l'erreur et l'a corrigée.
I have never seen the tablet that you replaced.	Je n'ai jamais vu la tablette que vous avez remplacée.
The manager read the complaints and understood them.	Le responsable a lu les réclamations et les a comprises.
to refund / to reimburse	rembourser
The jacket that you delivered has a defect. Have you refunded it?	La veste que vous avez livrée a un défaut. Vous l'avez remboursée ?
The defective products? The store refunded them yesterday.	Les produits défectueux ? Le magasin les a remboursés hier.

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