A preceding direct object (or objet direct précédent in French)  is often written as the acronym p.d.o. 

The term p.d.o appears always in the context of a past participle of the passé composé (or other compound tenses), which always reflects its gender and number.

Sometimes, the .p.d.o appears as a pronoun directly in front of (i.e. preceding) the verbal clause (i.e. passé composé) -->

Cette mangue, je l'ai dégustée. This mango, I savored it. The p.d.o (here, the pronoun l') precedes the verbal clause (i.e. appears in front of it) and reflects its gender and number singular-feminine)

Some other times, if the passé composé is used inside a relative clause, the antecedent to this relative clause may potentially be the p.d.o despite not preceding directly the passé composé verbal clause.

Voici les mangues que ma mère a achetées au supermarché. Here are the mangos that my mother bought at the supermarket. 

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Below, you will find sentences that contain preceding direct objects, underlined and in bold for your convenience.

As-tu reçu la lettre que je t'ai écrite? [Have you received the letter that I wrote you?]

Ces enfants-là, je les ai nourris pendant des dizaines d'années. [These children, I fed them for decades.]

 

Sa femme, il l'a rencontrée pour la première fois dans un bar. His wife, he met her for the first time at a bar.

Ce ne sont les graines que nous avons semées. These are the seeds that we sowed. 

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