You’re writing a professional email and you’re stuck on the ending: “she informed me” or “she informed me”? The answer hinges on one element, and it’s not the subject “she”. The agreement depends on the gender of the person referred to by “m'”, that is, you, the person receiving the information.
The direct object before the past participle: the mechanism that decides the agreement
In “she informed me”, the verb inform is conjugated in the passé composé with the auxiliary avoir. The general rule is well known: the past participle used with avoir agrees with the direct object, provided that it is placed before the verb.
Let’s ask the question: she informed whom? The answer is “m'” (me). This pronoun is indeed the direct object of the verb inform. Since it is placed before the participle, the agreement is triggered.
Confusion arises when we look at the subject “she” instead of the referent of “m'”. If you are a man, we write “she informed me”. If you are a woman, we write “she informed me”.
The subject of the sentence, whether masculine or feminine, does not change the ending of the participle. To delve deeper into the agreement of she was informed, the same logic applies in the passive construction.
To inform someone or to speak to someone: why the verb construction changes everything
The most common trap does not come from the rule itself, but from the confusion between direct and indirect objects. With the verb inform, the construction is direct: you inform someone. The pronoun “m'” is therefore a direct object, and the agreement applies.
Compare this with the verb speak: you speak to someone. In “she spoke to me”, the pronoun “m'” is an indirect object (it replaces “to me”). The past participle with avoir never agrees with an indirect object, even when placed before the verb. Therefore, we write “she spoke to me”, regardless of the gender of the person concerned.
This test works to quickly resolve:
- If the verb is constructed with a direct object (to inform someone, to warn someone, to call someone), the participle agrees with this direct object when it is placed before.
- If the verb is constructed with an indirect object (to speak to someone, to phone someone, to write to someone), the participle remains invariable.
- In case of doubt, rephrase the sentence in the present: “she informs me” (she informs whom? me = direct object) or “she speaks to me” (she speaks to whom? to me = indirect object).
Agreement of the past participle “informed”: concrete cases that pose problems
Beyond the basic rule, certain constructions cause hesitation even among experienced writers.
“She keeps me informed”: a false twin
In this sentence, “informed” is not a past participle conjugated with avoir. It functions as an attribute of the direct object “me”. The verb “to keep” maintains a state: she keeps me (in the state of being) informed. The agreement is still made with the person referred to by “me”, but the grammatical mechanism is different. The rule of the direct object placed before avoir does not apply here.
“She informed us”: the plural comes into play
When “m'” becomes “us”, the participle takes the plural form. If the group referred to by “us” is entirely feminine, we write “she informed us”. If the group is mixed or masculine, we write “she informed us”. The masculine prevails in mixed groups, in accordance with traditional grammatical rules.
“She informed me that the meeting was postponed”
Here, the verb inform is followed by a subordinate clause introduced by “that”. The direct object of the verb is no longer “m'” but the entire subordinate clause (she informed about what? that the meeting was postponed). The pronoun “m'” then becomes an indirect object (she informed whom about what? she informed me about that). In this construction, the participle remains invariable, whether the person is a man or a woman.
This nuance is the least known, and it varies according to the grammatical analysis adopted. Some grammarians consider that “m'” remains a direct object in this construction. In practice, invariability is the most common form in professional usage.
Quick method to no longer hesitate between informed and informed
Rather than an artificial mnemonic, a two-step check is sufficient for each sentence:
- Identify the pronoun placed before the participle and ask yourself if it is a direct or indirect object. Rephrase if necessary: “she informs whom?” If the answer is direct (without a preposition), it is a direct object.
- Determine the gender (and number) of the person represented by this direct object. The agreement follows: “informed” in masculine singular, “informed” in feminine singular, “informed” in masculine plural, “informed” in feminine plural.
- If the verb is followed by “that” or “of + infinitive”, check that the pronoun is indeed a direct object and not an indirect object reclassified by the construction.
This check takes a few seconds and applies to all transitive direct verbs conjugated with avoir: warned/warned, called/called, contacted/contacted. The logic is always the same: identify the direct object, check its position, agree in gender and number.
The most common mistake remains to base the agreement on the subject “she”. By keeping the reflex to look for the direct object before the participle, most cases of hesitation regarding “informed” or “informed” are resolved.
