Language/French/Grammar/Pronominal-verbs,-the-auxiliary-“être”-and-the-agreement-of-the-past-participle

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Pronominal verbs, the auxiliary “être” and the agreement of the past participle

Pronominal verbs are always conjugated with être in their compound tenses, and the question arises as to when the past participle is marked for agreement.

Whereas the past participle of non-pronominal verbs which take être always agrees with the subject (elle est arrivée, nous sommes arrivés, elles sont arrivées), the participle with pronominal verbs only agrees with a direct object pronoun.

For example:

Where the meaning of the pronoun is reflexive and it is a direct object

  • Je (fem) 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?

Other Chapters

Table of Contents

Nouns


Determiners


Personal and impersonal pronouns


Adjectives


Adverbs


Numbers, measurements, time and quantifiers


Verb forms


Verb constructions


Verb and participle agreement


Tense


The subjunctive, modal verbs, exclamatives and imperatives


The infinitive


Prepositions


Question formation


Relative clauses


Negation


Conjunctions and other linking constructions

Contributors

Maintenance script


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