Italiano — Participle agreement with avere
In compound tenses with avere the participle is usually invariable, but it agrees in gender and number with a direct-object pronoun that comes before the verb: l'ho vista, li ho visti, ne ho comprati due.
How it works
With the clitics lo, la, li, le (and often ne) placed before avere, the participle ending changes to match: Ho visto Marta → l'ho vista; Ho visto i libri → li ho visti; Ho comprato delle mele → ne ho comprate tre. With a full noun object after the verb, the participle stays in -o: Ho visto Marta.
Examples
| Clitic / example | Gender & number of the object |
|---|---|
| lo → L'ho visto | masculine singular |
| la → L'ho vista | feminine singular |
| li → Li ho visti | masculine plural |
| le → Le ho viste | feminine plural |
| ne (m) → Ne ho comprati due | partitive ne, masculine |
| ne (f) → Ne ho comprate tre | partitive ne, feminine |
Good to know
Agreement is obligatory with the third-person clitics lo, la, li, le (lo and la elide before ho, so both are written l'ho). With the pronouns mi, ti, ci, vi it is optional: ci ha visti or ci ha visto are both accepted. There is no agreement when the object noun follows the verb: say Ho comprato le mele, not «ho comprate le mele».