When does the French past participle agree?
With être as the auxiliary, the participle agrees with the subject. With avoir, it agrees only when a direct object comes before it in the sentence — otherwise it does not change at all. Reflexive verbs take être but follow the avoir logic underneath, which is why they look inconsistent.
With être, agree with the subject
The verbs of motion and change of state that take être — aller, venir, partir, arriver, naître, mourir and the rest — agree with their subject in gender and number, exactly like an adjective.
Elle est allée au marché.
She went to the market.
Feminine subject, so allée.
Ils sont partis.
They left.
Nous sommes arrivées.
We arrived.
An all-female nous takes arrivées.
With avoir, only for a preceding direct object
The default with avoir is no agreement at all. It appears only when the direct object has already been mentioned before the verb — as a pronoun, in a relative clause, or in a question with quelle. If the object comes after the participle, nothing changes.
J'ai vu la maison.
I saw the house.
Object follows — no agreement.
La maison que j'ai vue.
The house that I saw.
Object precedes — vue.
Je l'ai vue.
I saw it/her.
Pronoun precedes — vue.
Reflexives follow the avoir logic
Reflexive verbs use être, which suggests they should agree with the subject, and usually they appear to. But the real rule is the avoir one applied to the reflexive pronoun: agreement happens when that pronoun is the direct object. When it is indirect — as with se laver plus a body part — there is no agreement.
Elle s'est lavée.
She washed (herself).
Se is the direct object — agreement.
Elle s'est lavé les mains.
She washed her hands.
Les mains is the direct object, so no agreement with se.
Common mistakes
Elle est allé.
Elle est allée.
Être auxiliaries agree with the subject, and the subject is feminine.
La lettre que j'ai écrit.
La lettre que j'ai écrite.
Que refers to la lettre, a direct object placed before the verb, so the participle agrees.
Elle s'est lavée les mains.
Elle s'est lavé les mains.
Here se is indirect — the direct object is les mains, and it follows the verb, so nothing agrees.
Frequently asked questions
Does agreement change the pronunciation?
Usually not, which is why it is mainly a writing problem. But it does when the participle ends in a consonant — écrit against écrite, mis against mise — and those are audible, so it is not purely orthographic.
Do French people get this wrong?
Regularly, particularly the avoir cases, and it is one of the standard traps in French dictation exercises at school. Getting it right marks careful writing rather than basic competence.
Is there a simple order to learn it in?
Learn the être agreement first — it is consistent and very common. Add the preceding-direct-object rule for avoir next. Leave the reflexive cases until both are automatic, because they are built on the avoir rule.