Along with the conversational French phrases, I'm trying to pick up a little understanding of why the phrases are structured as they are. Right now, I'm reading in English Grammar for Students of French (which appears to be intended for people who want to compare the grammars) about Avoir and Être. The thing about Avoir and Être is, you can use them to create compound tenses, so that not everything you say comes out as present tense. Okay, this is goodness. Tell me how it works.
"When the auxiliary verb is avoir, the past participle agrees with the direct object, if the direct object comes before the verb in the sentence... If there is no direct object or if the direct object comes after the verb, there is no agreement and the past participate remains in its masculine singular form."
Oy. And little French kids learn this?
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