Final answer:
When using direct object pronouns with the passé composé in French, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the direct object pronoun when it precedes the verb. This applies when the auxiliary verb is ‘avoir.’
Step-by-step explanation:
When using direct object pronouns with the passé composé in French, it's essential to remember a key grammatical rule that impacts the agreement of the past participle. Direct object pronouns in French are me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les, and they replace the nouns that receive the action of the verb. When used with verbs conjugated in the passé composé, if the direct object pronoun precedes the verb, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the direct object pronoun.
Here is an example for clarity:
Elle a mangé les pommes. (She ate the apples.) – No agreement because the direct object les pommes follows the verb.Elle les a mangées. (She ate them.) – Agreement because les (them) is a direct object pronoun that precedes the verb, mangé becomes mangées to match the feminine plural object it replaces.
Additionally, when the auxiliary verb is être rather than avoir, the past participle always agrees with the subject pronoun. However, this rule for agreement with the direct object pronoun only applies when avoir is used as the auxiliary.