Agreement of past participle

Patricia C.C1Kwiziq community member

Agreement of past participle

In a recent Kwizbot about the article with days of the week/weekend, an example was given « Ce weekend, on est allés au Futuroscope ». Why is the past particle plural?  « We » is implied but the subject is « on ».

Asked 3 weeks ago
Maarten K.C1Kwiziq Q&A super contributorCorrect answer

Patricia, 

I know this question has been asked and answered here previously but can’t find a link presently. 

The verb associated with ‘ on ‘ always conjugates in 3rd person singular, but there is a more complicated ‘ rule ‘ of agreement of past participles and adjectives ( that not even all French speakers know ).

The attached to the Laura Lawless site discusses the nuances of agreement of adjectives and past participles following ‘ on ‘. 

Regardless of the other uses, when replacing the subject pronoun ‘ nous ‘, with ‘ on ‘, there will usually be agreement in number/gender following ‘ on ‘ ( just as there would have been with nous in Kwiziq material ), as that is the usual approach on this site.

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/subject-pronoun-on/

 

Patricia C.C1Kwiziq community member

Thank you. I understand that it is more a personal choice but in learning situation, check opinon of teacher.

CécileKwiziq Native French Teacher

Just to add to what Maarten has said, Patricia, please take a look at the following lesson, which explains the different uses of the subject pronoun on -

On can mean either we/one/people (French Subject Pronouns)

Patricia C. asked:

Agreement of past participle

In a recent Kwizbot about the article with days of the week/weekend, an example was given « Ce weekend, on est allés au Futuroscope ». Why is the past particle plural?  « We » is implied but the subject is « on ».

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