Breakdown of Les violonistes avec qui tu as étudié, je les ai entendus jouer.
je
I
tu
you (informal singular)
avec
with
qui
who
avoir
to have
étudier
to study
jouer
to play
entendre
to hear
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
les
them (direct object pronoun)
le violoniste
the violinist (m)
Questions & Answers about Les violonistes avec qui tu as étudié, je les ai entendus jouer.
Why does entendus have an -s at the end?
This is the core rule for verbs of perception (like entendre, voir, écouter) followed by an infinitive. The past participle agrees with the preceding direct object (les, referring to les violonistes) only if that object is performing the action of the infinitive. Since the violinists are the ones doing the playing (jouer), entendus agrees with them and takes a plural -s.
When would a verb of perception NOT agree with the preceding direct object?
If the preceding object is the receiver of the action instead of the doer, the past participle stays invariable. For example, if you said, "The sonata that I heard played" (La sonate que j'ai entendu jouer), entendu does not get an -e because the sonata isn't doing the playing; it is being played.
Why isn't there any agreement on étudié? Doesn't it also refer to the violinists?
Past participles conjugated with avoir only agree with a direct object that comes before them. In the first clause, qui is the object of the preposition avec (with whom), making it an indirect object. Because there is no preceding direct object for étudier, the participle stays as étudié.
Why is the sentence phrased as "The violinists..., I heard them play" instead of a simpler structure?
This is a very common conversational structure in French called left-dislocation. Speakers often announce the main topic of the sentence upfront (Les violonistes avec qui tu as étudié), pause slightly, and then state the main clause using a pronoun (les) to refer back to it. It adds emphasis and makes long sentences easier to process.
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