Breakdown of Tous les tambours que nous avons entendu battre étaient énormes.
être
to be
nous
we / us (object pronoun)
avoir
to have
entendre
to hear
le
him, it (masculine direct object pronoun)
tout
all, everything
que
that (introducing a clause)
battre
to beat
énorme
enormous
le tambour
the drum
Questions & Answers about Tous les tambours que nous avons entendu battre étaient énormes.
Why doesn't entendu agree with the preceding direct object que (meaning les tambours)?
Normally, a past participle used with avoir agrees with a preceding direct object. However, for verbs of perception (like entendre or voir) followed by an infinitive, you only make the agreement if the object is actually performing the action of the infinitive. Since the drums (les tambours) are not doing the beating, entendu remains invariable and does not get an -s.
Why is the active verb battre used here when the English translation says "being beaten"?
In French, when an infinitive follows a verb of perception, you always use the active form of the infinitive, even if the meaning is passive. French avoids using a passive construction like être battus in this specific structure.
How would the grammar change if we heard drummers playing, rather than drums being beaten?
If the direct object is actually performing the action of the infinitive, the past participle does agree! For example, "The musicians we heard playing" would be translated as "Les musiciens que nous avons entendus jouer". Because the musicians are the ones doing the playing, entendus gets an -s to agree with les musiciens.
Why does the sentence use the passé composé (avons entendu) for one verb, but the imparfait (étaient) for the other?
Avons entendu is in the passé composé because the act of hearing the drums was a specific, completed event. Étaient, on the other hand, is in the imparfait because it describes a past physical state or characteristic (being enormous) that serves as background information.
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