Pronominal Verbs in Compound Tenses

In compound tenses like the passé composé, all pronominal verbs are être verbs, which means two things:

1. The auxiliary verb is être
    
2. The past participle may need to agree with the subject in gender and number

In compound tenses, the reflexive pronoun precedes the auxiliary verb, not the past participle:

   Elle s'est couchée à minuit.
   She went to bed at midnight.

   Ils s'étaient vus à la banque.
   They had seen one another at the bank.

   Après m'être habillé, j'ai allumé la télé.
   After getting dressed, I turned on the TV.


Agreement with pronominal verbs

When pronominal verbs are in the compound tenses, the past participle has to agree with the reflexive pronoun when the pronoun is a direct object but not when it's an indirect object. So the trick is to figure out whether the reflexive pronoun is direct or indirect.

1. For most* pronominal verbs that are not followed by a noun, the reflexive pronoun is the direct object, so the past participle needs to agree with it.

   Nous nous sommes douchés.
   We showered.

   Marianne s'est fâchée.
   Marianne got mad.

2. Likewise, with a pronominal verb plus a preposition plus a noun, the reflexive pronoun is the direct object, so you need agreement:

   Elle s'est occupée du chien.
   She took care of the dog.

   Ils se sont souvenus de la pièce.
   They remembered the play.

3. When a pronominal verb is followed directly by a noun with no preposition in between, the reflexive pronoun is indirect, therefore there is no agreement:

   We bought ourselves a car.
   Nous nous sommes acheté une voiture.
   xxx Nous nous sommes achetés une voiture. xxx

   She told herself the truth.
   Elle s'est dit la vérité.
   xxx Elle s'est dite la vérité. xxx

4. When you have a sentence with a reflexive pronoun plus an object pronoun, the reflexive pronoun is always the indirect object, so there is no agreement with it. However, there is agreement with the object pronoun, per the rules of direct object pronoun agreement:

   We bought it (the book) for ourselves.
   Nous nous le sommes acheté. (Le livre is masculine)

   We bought it (the car) for ourselves.
   Nous nous la sommes achetée. (La voiture is feminine)

   She told it (the lie) to herself.
   Elle se l'est dit. (Le mensonge is masculine)

   She told it (the truth) to herself.
   Elle se l'est dite. (La vérité is feminine)

*5. For the following verbs, the reflexive pronoun is always an indirect object so the past participle does not agree with it:

   s'acheter   to buy (for) o.s.
   se demander   to wonder
   se dire   to say (to o.s. / e.o.)
   se donner   to give (to e.o.)
   s'écrire   to write (to e.o.)
   se faire mal   to hurt o.s.
   s'imaginer   to imagine, think
   se parler   to talk (to o.s. / e.o.)
   se plaire (à faire...)   to enjoy (doing...)
   se procurer   to obtain (for o.s.)
   se promettre   to promise (o.s. / e.o.)
   se rendre compte de    to realize
   se rendre visite   to visit (e.o.)
   se ressembler   to resemble (e.o.)
   se rire (de qqun)   to mock (someone)
   se sourire   to smile (at e.o.)
   se téléphoner   to call (e.o.)

Key:
   o.s. = oneself
   e.o. = each other

   We smiled at each other.
   Nous nous sommes souri.
   xxx Nous nous sommes souris. xxx

   They talked to each other.
   Elles se sont parlé.
   xxx Elles se sont parlées. xxx


More of this lesson
Pronominal voice, pronominal verbs, and reflexive verbs
Reciprocal verbs and idiomatic pronominal verbs
Pronominal verbs and word order with negation and questions
Pronominal verbs, compound tenses, and agreement
Pronominal verbs as infinitives or present participles
Pronominal verbs test

French grammar glossary