The rules of agreement for verbs of perception in the compound tenses are a bit different than for other

verbs. Rather than agreeing with the direct object, as for most verbs conjugated with avoir in the compound tenses, verbs of perception only require agreement when the subject precedes the verb.

1) If the subject* of the infinitive precedes the verb of perception, there is agreement: J'ai vu tomber la fille I saw the girl fall La fille que j'ai vue tomber Je l'ai vue tomber J'ai regard les enfants crire I watched the children write Les enfants que j'ai regards crire Je les ai regards crire J'ai entendu arriver les tudiants I watched the students arrive Les tudiants que j'ai entendus arriver Je les ai entendus arriver

2) There is no agreement with the direct object* of the infinitive. J'ai vu les enfants crire les lettres Enfants is the subject, lettres is the direct object. Even if we leave out enfants, lettres is still the direct object, so there is no agreement: J'ai vu crire les lettres I saw the letters get written Les lettres que j'ai vu crire Je les ai vu crire J'ai entendu le monsieur lire une histoire Monsieur is the subject, histoire is the direct object: J'ai entendu lire une histoire I heard a story get read L'histoire que j'ai entendu lire Je l'ai entendu lire J'ai cout une fille chanter les cantiques Fille is the subject, cantiques is the direct object: J'ai cout chanter les cantiques I listened to the hymns (get) sung Les cantiques que j'ai cout chanter Je les ai cout chanter

*How do you know whether the noun or pronoun that precedes the verb is the subject or the direct object? If it is the person or thing performing the action of the infinitive, it is the subject of

the infinitive and follows agreement rule 1. If it is not performing the action but rather is being performed on by the infinitive, it is the direct object and follows rule 2.