Breakdown of Les mimes que j'ai vus marcher ici sont très drôles.
je
I
être
to be
ici
here
très
very
drôle
funny
avoir
to have
voir
to see
marcher
to walk
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
que
that (introducing a clause)
le mime
the mime
Questions & Answers about Les mimes que j'ai vus marcher ici sont très drôles.
Why is there an "s" on vus when it is followed by the infinitive marcher?
With verbs of perception (like voir or entendre) followed by an infinitive, the past participle agrees with the preceding direct object only if that object is performing the action of the infinitive. Here, the preceding direct object is que (representing Les mimes), and the mimes are the ones doing the walking (marcher). Therefore, vus adds an s to agree with the masculine plural mimes.
How would the spelling change if the mimes were receiving the action instead of doing it?
If the preceding direct object receives the action of the infinitive, there is no agreement. For example, if you said "The mimes that I saw being applauded," it would be Les mimes que j'ai vu applaudir. Because the mimes are not clapping, vu does not agree with them and remains in its default singular form.
Why do we use que instead of qui right after Les mimes?
Could marcher mean "to work" or "to function" in this sentence?
No. While marcher is frequently used in conversational French to mean "to function" (like a machine) or "to go well" (like a plan), it literally means "to walk" when referring to a physical movement made by living beings, which is the only meaning that makes sense for these mimes.
Learn Les mimes que j'ai vus marcher ici sont très drôles and more in French
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free