Faut-il simplifier les règles d’accord du participe passé?

Abstract

It is very difficult spelling correctly the past participle in French, because the agreement is conditioned by complex rules mobilizing the much debated ‘direct object’ notion. This article aims to present several solutions – presently under discussion – with the idea of simplifying the direct object agreement formulation or rules content. Whatever is the selected option, it is showed that a reappraisal will only cause local effects; it would inevitably affect the grammatical discourse’s various fields, especially the complements doctrine. A possible introduction of a simplification should otherwise be based on a better knowledge of the way the speakers spontaneously make their participles agrees in writing or orally. Finally, if we don’t want this going unheeded, each spelling simplification plan should require previous suitable measures to prepare social conditions of its establishment.