les raies Manta qui nous ont envoûtées.

Question

In this phrase from the solution to "Un voyage de rêve", the word "nous" presumably refers to a father, mother and children. So why the final "e" in "envoûtées"? I'd use "envoûtés" here.

Accepted Answer

Well spotted Sally! and thank you for bringing this to our attention.
The error has now been corrected.
This is one of mine so mea culpa!  and as you see,  it is easy for a little 'faute d'inattention' to  creep in a text surreptitiously!
Good analysis Chris!
Bonne Continuation!

Answer

Hi Sally,Not sure about this - don't have sight of the text.The verb envoûter is transitive so I see "nous" as the direct object pronoun placed before the verb.That might explain the past participle ending "ées", but I note that the subject is grammatically feminine and plural but the auxiliary is avoir not être. In conclusion, I'm inclined to think that the direct object pronoun nous is feminine plural and the P.P. agrees with it.Jim

Answer

Maybe it is Les Raies that are doing the envoûting?

Answer

If "nous" represents a mixed-gender group, I would, indeed, expect "envoûtés". As the Raies Manta are the subject (and not the object) and the verb is a form of avoir (and not être) I would not expect the participle to be matched to the subject.

Answer

That's the point Chris -- Sally has presumed the gender of nous as being mixed to justify her query about P.P. concordance. If this is not the case and the direct object pronoun nous is indeed feminine, then there is no error as I see it-- otherwise, if Sally is correct then there needs to be an error report submitted. Who of us has actually read the text? I have not, so am working in the dark.

Jim