Je vous avez dit - French Mistake

Mistakes will always be made in French, and now you can learn from them.

Wrong: Je vous avez dit

Right: Je vous ai dit

Explanation: This type of mistake is usually made when speaking, rather that writing, and out of carelessness rather than bad grammar. Because the object pronoun comes before the verb, and nous and vous are both subject and object, French learners will sometimes go into autopilot and conjugate the verb for the pronoun directly in front of the verb: "je vous avez dit,", "il nous avons donné," "elle vous aimez,", "est-ce que tu nous voyons ?" etc.

If you struggle with this, you might find it helpful to say je vous ai dit and similar phrases out loud 5 or 10 times a day, to help your mouth and ear get used to this construction. If you're a very visual person, writing them might help too, just to reinforce the lesson.

Related lessons: French pronouns | Verb conjugation