Difference between revisions of "Language/French/Grammar/Pronominal-verbs,-the-auxiliary-“être”-and-the-agreement-of-the-past-participle"
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=== Direct Object Pronoun === | === Direct Object Pronoun === | ||
A direct object pronoun is a word such as "me", "him", "us" and "them", which is used instead of the noun to stand in for the person or thing most directly affected by the action expressed by the verb. | A direct object pronoun is a word such as "me", "him", "us" and "them", which is used instead of the noun to stand in for the person or thing most directly affected by the action expressed by the verb. | ||
===Reflexive verb=== | |||
A reflexive pronominal verb expresses an action that the subject does on himself: | |||
*Tu te laves. | |||
You wash yourself. | |||
===Reciprocal verb=== | |||
The reciprocal pronominal verb expresses an action both accomplished and received by each of the actors in the action. | |||
*Toutes les étudiants se sont regardés. | |||
All the students looked at each other. | |||
Revision as of 13:44, 2 December 2021
Definitions
Pronominal Verbs
Pronominal verbs ("Les verbes pronominaux" in French), of which there are several categories, are verbs that are constructed with a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous) of the same person as the subject.
Auxiliaries
There are only 2 auxiliaries in French: "avoir" or "être". As "avoir", "être" is used to form compound tenses for some verbs.
Compound Tenses
Conjugations for the different French verb tenses and moods can be divided into 2 categories:
- simple and compound.
Simple tenses and moods have only 1 part (e.g., "je mange") whereas compound tenses and moods have 2 (e.g., "j'ai mangé").
Direct Object Pronoun
A direct object pronoun is a word such as "me", "him", "us" and "them", which is used instead of the noun to stand in for the person or thing most directly affected by the action expressed by the verb.
Reflexive verb
A reflexive pronominal verb expresses an action that the subject does on himself:
- Tu te laves.
You wash yourself.
Reciprocal verb
The reciprocal pronominal verb expresses an action both accomplished and received by each of the actors in the action.
- Toutes les étudiants se sont regardés.
All the students looked at each other.
Pronominal verbs, “être” and the agreement of the past participle
Pronominal verbs are always conjugated with "to be" with compound tenses. We need to know when the past participle is marked for agreement.
While the past participle of non-pronominal verbs that take to always agree with the subject (elle est arrivée, nous sommes arrivés, elles sont arrivées), the participle of pronominal verbs only agrees with a direct object pronoun.
For example:
Reflexive and direct object pronoun
- Je (feminine) me suis lavée à l'eau froide
I washed in cold water
- Elle était maladroite et s'était fréquemment blessée
She was clumsy and often injured herself
- Suzanne s'est très mal habillée
Suzanne dressed very badly
- Marianne s'est cachée dans l'armoire
Marianne hid in the cupboard
Where the meaning of the pronoun is reciprocal and it is a direct object
- Les deux équipes se sont rencontrées à Paris
The two teams met (each other) in Paris
- Nous nous sommes attendus les uns les autres avant de rentrer
We waited for each other before going home
- Jean-Pierre et Richard se sont rencontrés à Lyon
Jean-Pierre and Richard met in Lyons
- Marianne et sa mère se sont attendues à la gare
Marianne and her mother waited for each other at the station
Where the pronoun has no detectable reflexive or reciprocal meaning, but is an integral part of the verb, and is a direct object
- A la vue de tout ce sang, elles se sont évanouies
At the sight of so much blood, they fainted
- Ils se sont toujours repentis de ces paroles
They always regretted those words
- Ils se sont tus dès qu'ils ont vu le directeur
They kept quiet as soon as they saw the headmaster This includes when the pronominal verb is used as a passive:
- Les jeux vidéo se sont vendus comme des petits pains
Video games sold like hot cakes
BUT the past participle will not agree in any case where the pronoun is an indirect object. In particular this will be the case:
(i) where the non-pronominal version of the verb has a prepositional indirect object e.g. nuire à an, cacher qch à qn, écrire à an and therefore the se is seen as an indirect object:
- Elle s'est nui en faisant de telles demandes
She did herself harm by these requests
- Marianne s'est caché la vérité
Marianne hid the truth from herself
- Les participants se sont écrit
The participants wrote to each other
(ii) where the pronoun is indirect, given that the direct object is a body part:
- Je (fem) me suis lavé les mains avant de déjeuner
I washed my hands before lunch
- Elle s'est coupé le doigt parce qu'elle ne faisait pas attention
She cut her finger because she was careless
- Nathan s'est cassé la jambe en jouant au football
Nathan broke his leg playing football
NB: Where the pronoun is an indirect object (and hence the participle does not agree with it), the participle may nevertheless agree with a preceding direct object, as in:
- Les deux valises qu'il s'est achetées sont cassées
The two suitcases he bought are broken
- Combien de valises s'est-il achetées?
How many suitcases did he buy?