# FR: qui vous ai référés



## sleepymarmot

Jean-Paul gives Antoine and his wife the telephone number of a journalist, a friend of him, and says them: "Dites-lui que c'est moi que vous ai référés."

My try: "Tell him it's me that I....???"

Anyone could help me and explain me why "référés" is in the plural?
Thanks in advance
Marmot


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## JohnGivrolta

Hi Sleepymarmot.

"référés" is in the plural because it refers to "vous" which is a plural form in this sentence and is the preceding direct object, therefore the past participle of the verb has to agree with it. Another example is "Les choses que j'ai vues". Doesn't this rule exist in Italian too? That is what I was lead to believe.


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## Suehil

You had it right in the title '...*qui *vous ai référés'.  'Tell them I sent you'.  
'Référés' is plural because 'vous' is the (plural) object and comes before the verb.


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## Xanthius

Yes, I thought both of those, but didn't post, becuase for that to be true there must be a verb 'Référér'.  Seems sensible so far, but it doesn't exist the WR dictionary... so I'm a little confused....??????


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## JohnGivrolta

Maybe the WR dictionary needs updating. Check out the dictionary on the site called linternaute. I tried posting the link earlier, but was informed that I can only post URLs to other sites after having made at least 30 posts here.


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## itka

I can't understand what you're writing here !

"référer" is intransitive and cannot stand in such a sentence. Who wrote it ?
The link to linternaute here, shows it clearly.

I can't give you a better sentence because I don't understand the meaning...and I'm very surprised that you seem to do !

Which translation would you give ?

... But the 's' at the end of "référés" has been clearly explained !


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## Punky Zoé

Je suis d'accord avec itka, en français référer ne s'utilise pas (plus ?) dans ce sens. On dirait (comme en anglais) "C'est moi qui vous ai envoyés/adressés à lui".


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## KaRiNe_Fr

Ou alors : « Dites-lui que vous venez de ma part »...


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## sleepymarmot

Bonjour à tous, 
en lisand toutes vos réponses, je suis un petit peu confuse. J'ai contrôlé la phrase et "référés" est vraiment pluriel, bien que intransitif. 
("Appellez-le, dites-lui que c'est moi qui vous ai référés. Il va vous raconter son histoire".)
So, is it a grammatical error? I've read it in a French-Canadian novel.
Marmot


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## itka

_"Dites-lui que c'est moi que vous ai référés."_ means nothing at all, in french.

1. The word "référer" is not right in your sentence. You must replace this verb by another possibility. Look at the examples Karine and Punky Zoé gave you.

2. Anyway, *que* (object) must be replaced by *qui* (subject)

3. *If* this verb would exist with that meaning, and *if* it were transitive (admitting an object) *it would be* correct to put it in plural with an s.
_"Dites-lui que c'est moi qui vous ai repérés"_ for instance. ("vous" is an object and it is placed before the verb, so the past participle must agree with it, masculine, plural).

In your sentence, the verb "référer" is used as transitive. Its object is "vous".


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## sleepymarmot

Thank you very much, Itka, it's very clear. 
Marmot


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## Nicomon

Everyone is right. It should be _Dites-lui que vous appelez de ma part/que c'est moi qui vous ai donné ses coordonnées / que c'est moi qui vous envoie, etc._

The verb « _référés_ » has no business there. However, it is unfortunately a very common anglicism or rather "calque" in Quebec.  A literal translation of_ Call him; tell him I'm the one who referred you._ 

_Référer_ is also often used by mistake to mean _recommander_. 

Here's a little extract from the BDL and there are several wrong and corrected examples on the page. 


> C’est sous l’influence de l’anglais qu’on a tendance à employer _référer_ (quelqu’un ou quelque chose) _à_ dans le sens d'« envoyer à, diriger vers, adresser à ».


 And here's a petite capsule

But now, I'm curious to know what you're reading, and who this French-Canadian author is?


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## sleepymarmot

Thank you Nicomon, you've really helped me to understand! 



Nicomon said:


> But now, I'm curious to know what you're reading, and who this French-Canadian author is?


 
The author is Patrick Sénécal, but I don't know which is the novel, because it's only a passage, and the precise source it's not mentioned. Is he well-known in Canada?
Thanks a lot, again!
MARmot


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## Nicomon

sleepymarmot said:


> The author is Patrick Sénécal, but I don't know which is the novel, because it's only a passage, and the precise source it's not mentioned. Is he well-known in Canada?


 
I personally haven't read any of his work - so I can't comment on his style -  but he's well known to those who like horror thrillers.  One of his books  « Le Seuil » was made into a movie, in 2003.  I only saw the previews.  

For those who like the style... here's an article on his latest book _Le vide_. I won't read it.


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