Why "les a aidees"?

Carl C.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Why "les a aidees"?

Why does the text use "ce qui les a aidees"? "Rencontres quotidiennes" is plural. It seems to me it should be "ce qui les ont aidees."
Asked 4 years ago
CélineNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Bonjour Carl,

To add to Alan (Jim)’s and Maarten's answers:

‘ce qui’ = which

          = refers to the fact of ‘organiser des rencontres quotidiennes’

          = subject of 'a aidées’

Follow these links: ce qui  -   ce que

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée!

Jim J.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Hi Carl,

Seems to me that "les" as the direct object pronoun will be third person plural feminine appearing before the verb aider to make the past participle agree as "aidées".

The ce qui Is the relative of the subject which will be third person singular to justify the conjugation of avoir as 'a'.

I don't know the text nor have read it, but this is my guess as to what is the explanation to your query.

Hope this helps.

Alan (Jim)

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Completely agree with Alan. 

Remember in this situation when the direct object precedes passé composé with auxiliary «avoir» the past participle is in agreement with the direct object - «les» plural, and in this case feminine ; 

« avoir » in the auxiliary maintains agreement with the subject, which is « ce qui », an indefinite 3rd person singular 'relative pronoun'. 3rd person singular verb form always required to follow «ce qui».

( «Ceux qui» is 3rd person plural )

Carl C. asked:

Why "les a aidees"?

Why does the text use "ce qui les a aidees"? "Rencontres quotidiennes" is plural. It seems to me it should be "ce qui les ont aidees."

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