Breakdown of Le concessionnaire a vendu la berline que j'ai essayée.
je
I
avoir
to have
vendre
to sell
essayer
to try
que
that (introducing a clause)
le concessionnaire
the dealer (m)
la berline
the sedan
Questions & Answers about Le concessionnaire a vendu la berline que j'ai essayée.
Why is there an extra 'e' at the end of essayée?
This is due to the rule of preceding direct object agreement. When a verb is conjugated with avoir in the passé composé, the past participle usually doesn't change. However, if the direct object comes before the verb, the past participle must agree with it in gender and number. Here, the direct object is que (referring to the feminine noun la berline), which comes before ai essayée, so we add an e to make it feminine.
Since both verbs are in the passé composé, why doesn't vendu also get an extra 'e' to agree with la berline?
Because of where the direct object is placed. For the verb a vendu, the direct object (la berline) comes after the verb. The past participle only agrees when the direct object comes before it. Therefore, vendu stays in its default, unchanged form.
What exactly is a concessionnaire? Does it refer to a concession stand?
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