- The auxiliary verb is être
- The past participle may need to agree with the subject in gender and number
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:
Nous nous sommes acheté une voiture.
xxx Nous nous sommes achetés une voiture. xxx
We bought ourselves a car.
Elle s'est dit la vérité.
xxx Elle s'est dite la vérité. xxx
She told herself the truth.
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:
Nous nous le sommes acheté. (Le livre is masculine)
We bought it (the book) for ourselves.
Nous nous la sommes achetée. (La voiture is feminine)
We bought it (the car) for ourselves.
Elle se l'est dit. (Le mensonge is masculine)
She told it (the lie) to herself.
Elle se l'est dite. (La vérité is feminine)
She told it (the truth) to herself.
*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 raconter to tell (e.o.)
se rendre compte de to realize
se rendre visite to visit (e.o.)
se reprocher to criticize, blame (o.s. / 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: e.o. = each other o.s. = oneself
Nous nous sommes souri.
xxx Nous nous sommes souris. xxx
We smiled at each other.
Elles se sont parlé.
xxx Elles se sont parlées. xxx
They talked to each other.
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
