Accord du participe passé: every French agreement case, explained

If you've ever stared at a sentence like "Les lettres qu'il s'est laissé écrire" and wondered why it isn't laissée, this article is for you.

There's a short answer and a long answer. The short answer: every past-participle agreement question in French reduces to one thing, where is the direct object, and who performs the action? The long answer is the dozen constructions below, including the handful that French speakers themselves get wrong.

New to this? Start with the beginner version first: Past participle agreement: the only 3 rules you actually need. It covers être, avoir, and the COD-placé-avant rule that handles 95% of cases. This post is the complete reference, the other 5% included.

The one question that governs everything

Before any rule, ask two things:

1. Which auxiliary? être or avoir (pronominal verbs use être but behave like avoir, more on that below).
2. Where is the direct object (COD), and does it come before the participle?

That's the whole engine. Everything else is just learning to spot the direct object in disguises.

Case 1: être verbs, agree with the subject

The easy one. If the auxiliary is être, the participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.

Elle est arrivée. Nous sommes partis. Les filles sont rentrées.

This covers the small motion / change-of-state set ("Dr & Mrs Vandertramp") and all pronominal verbs (which we treat separately, because they hide a trap).

Case 2: avoir + direct object after the verb, no agreement

The default with avoir: the participle stays bare (masculine singular).

J'ai mangé une pomme. Elle a vu ses amis. Nous avons fini le travail.

No object before the verb → nothing to agree with.

Case 3: avoir + direct object before the verb, agree with it

The COD-placé-avant rule. With avoir, the participle agrees with the direct object only when that object precedes the verb. This happens in exactly three shapes:

a) A pronoun (le, la, les):

Je les ai vues. (les = les filles) Tu l'as mangée. (l' = la pomme)

b) A relative clause with que:

La pomme que j'ai mangée était délicieuse. Les livres que tu as lus.

c) A question fronting the object with quel(le)(s):

Quelle robe as-tu choisie ? Combien de pommes as-tu mangées ?

The trap is telling a direct object from an indirect one, because only direct objects trigger agreement.

Case 4: indirect objects never trigger agreement

An indirect object is introduced (in the full sentence) by à or pour, and pronominalizes to lui / leur. It does not cause agreement, even placed before the verb.

J'ai téléphoné à Marie → Je lui ai téléphoné. (no agreement, lui is indirect) J'ai parlé à mes parents → Je leur ai parlé.

⚠️ The test: if the verb normally takes à before its object (parler à, téléphoner à, nuire à, succéder à), the preceding pronoun is indirect, so no agreement.

Case 5: the pronoun en, no agreement

When the direct object is en, the participle stays invariable.

Des pommes ? J'en ai mangé. (not "mangées") Des erreurs, qui n'en a jamais fait ?

Case 6: the neuter l' (= cela), no agreement

When l' stands in for a whole idea or clause (not a specific noun), it's neuter, so the participle stays masculine singular.

Ces exercices sont plus difficiles que je ne l'avais cru. (l' = "that they'd be difficult", neuter → no agreement)

Case 7: pronominal verbs, the big one

Pronominal verbs (se laver, se souvenir, s'écrire…) always use être, but they do not simply agree with the subject. They split into two groups. (For the full tour, see Pronominal verbs in French: the complete guide.)

7a) The reflexive pronoun is the direct object, agree with the subject

If se is the direct object, it precedes the verb, so the participle agrees.

Elle s'est lavée. (s' = herself, direct object) Ils se sont battus.

7b) The reflexive pronoun is indirect, no agreement

If se is indirect (the real direct object comes after), no agreement, exactly the avoir rule.

Elle s'est lavé les mains. (s' = "to herself" indirect; les mains is the direct object, after the verb) Elles se sont parlé. (parler à → indirect) Ils se sont succédé. Elles se sont téléphoné.

But if that real direct object is fronted, it precedes the participle, so agreement returns:

Les mains qu'elle s'est lavées. (now les mains is before the verb)

7c) Essentially pronominal & passive-sense verbs, always agree with the subject

Verbs that only exist in pronominal form (s'enfuir, se souvenir, s'évanouir, s'absenter, se repentir) and pronominals with a passive sense agree with the subject, because se can't be analyzed as an object.

Ils se sont souvenus. Elle s'est évanouie. Les cigognes se sont nichées dans les peupliers. La maison s'est bien vendue. (passive sense = a été vendue)

⚠️ Two famous exceptions: s'arroger follows the avoir rule, not the subject rule (les droits qu'il s'est arrogés). And se rendre compte never agrees, because compte is the direct object (elle s'est rendu compte).

Case 8: participle + infinitive (perception verbs), the agent test

With voir, entendre, sentir, regarder, écouter followed by an infinitive, the participle agrees with the preceding direct object only if that object performs the infinitive's action.

La cantatrice que j'ai entendue chanter. (she chants → she's the agent → agree) Les airs que j'ai entendu chanter. (the tunes are chanted, not chanting → no agreement)

Same logic with se voir + infinitive:

Ils se sont vu accorder des congés. (they didn't accord anything, congés were accorded to them → no agreement)

Case 9: faire + infinitive, always invariable

fait followed by an infinitive is always invariable. No exceptions.

La maison qu'il a fait construire. (never "faite") Elle s'est fait couper les cheveux. Elle s'est fait faire une robe.

Case 10: laisser + infinitive, and why s'est laissé écrire is invariable

Here's the case that sent you here. Two rules converge, and both point to no agreement.

The traditional rule: like the perception verbs, laissé + infinitive agrees only if the preceding direct object does the action of the infinitive.

Les enfants qu'il a laissés partir. (the children leave → agent → agree, traditionally) Les lettres qu'il s'est laissé écrire. (the letters are written, they don't write → not the agent → no agreement)

In "les lettres qu'il s'est laissé écrire", que (= les lettres) is the direct object of écrire, the thing being written. He let someone write the letters for himself. The letters are the patient, never the writer, so laissé stays invariable.

The modern rule (1990 rectifications, endorsed by the Académie française): laissé + infinitive is now made invariable in every case, aligned with fait.

Elle s'est laissé mourir. Je les ai laissé partir.

So under both systems, "les lettres qu'il s'est laissé écrire" is correct with no agreement. The old rule blocks it because the letters aren't the agent; the new rule blocks it unconditionally.

Case 11: verbs of measure, price & duration

courir, coûter, valoir, peser, mesurer, vivre, durer, régner. When the element before the participle is a complement of measure (not a true object), no agreement.

Les deux heures que j'ai couru. (measure → invariable) Les mille euros que ça a coûté. Les 87 ans qu'elle a vécu.

Used figuratively, these verbs take a real direct object and do agree:

Les efforts que ça m'a coûtés. (figurative object → agree) Les dangers que nous avons courus. La folle époque qu'elle a vécue.

Case 12: impersonal verbs & implied infinitives, invariable

Impersonal verbs (il faut, il y a, weather) never agree, they have no real subject or direct object:

Que de force il lui a fallu ! Les chaleurs qu'il a fait cet été.

An implied (understood) infinitive after pu, dû, voulu, su, cru, permis leaves the participle invariable:

Je leur ai prêté toutes les économies que j'ai pu (leur prêter). Ils ont pris les mesures qu'il a fallu (prendre).

The master decision tree

Auxiliary être (non-pronominal)? ───────────────► agree with SUBJECT
Pronominal verb?
   ├─ essentially pronominal / passive sense ───► agree with SUBJECT
   │     (except s'arroger → avoir rule)
   └─ reflexive is a true object?
         ├─ reflexive = direct object ──────────► agree with SUBJECT
         └─ reflexive = indirect (real COD later)► NO agreement
Auxiliary avoir?
   ├─ direct object BEFORE the verb ────────────► agree with that OBJECT
   │     (pronoun / que / quel)
   ├─ direct object after, or none ─────────────► NO agreement
   ├─ object is "en" or neuter "l'" ────────────► NO agreement
   ├─ object is indirect (lui, leur) ───────────► NO agreement
   ├─ + infinitive (perception): object is agent?► agree only if YES
   ├─ fait + infinitive ────────────────────────► NEVER agree
   ├─ laissé + infinitive ──────────────────────► invariable (1990 reform)
   ├─ measure verb (coûté, vécu, couru) literal ► NO agreement
   └─ impersonal / implied infinitive ──────────► NO agreement

Frequently asked questions

Why is there no agreement in "les lettres qu'il s'est laissé écrire"?

With laisser + infinitive, the participle agrees only if the preceding direct object performs the action of the infinitive. The letters are written, they don't write, so laissé stays invariable. And since the 1990 spelling reform, laissé + infinitive is invariable in every case anyway, exactly like fait.

Does the past participle with avoir ever agree?

Yes, but only when the direct object comes before the verb: a pronoun (je les ai vues), que (la pomme que j'ai mangée), or quel (quelle robe as-tu choisie ?). There's no agreement when the object follows, when it's indirect (lui, leur), or when it's the pronoun en (des pommes, j'en ai mangé).

Do pronominal (reflexive) verbs agree with the subject?

Only when the reflexive pronoun is the direct object. Elle s'est lavée (s' = herself, direct → agree) vs elle s'est lavé les mains (s' = to herself, indirect → no agreement). Essentially pronominal verbs like s'enfuir and se souvenir always agree with the subject.

Is "fait" followed by an infinitive ever variable?

No. fait + infinitive is always invariable: la maison qu'il a fait construire, elle s'est fait couper les cheveux. Since the 1990 rectifications, laissé + infinitive follows the same invariable rule.

Why doesn't "les deux heures que j'ai couru" agree?

Because with verbs of measure (courir, coûter, valoir, peser, vivre), the element before the verb is a complement of measure, not a direct object, so there's no agreement. Used figuratively they take a real object and do agree: les efforts que ça m'a coûtés.

Reading the rules is not the same as applying them

You can understand every case above and still freeze mid-sentence, because agreement is a production decision made in real time: spot the object, place it, check the agent, match gender and number. The only fix is reps.

Bonjour Verbs drills exactly this, typed-answer sentence completion like "Les pommes que j'ai ____ (manger) étaient délicieuses", with stepwise feedback the moment you miss an agreement, so the rule becomes reflex instead of a puzzle you re-derive every time.

Conjugate the most common French verbs →