ANDREW: This should be listed in Lesson 1 like this: Change also the current wording for V)

Vi) Past participle agreement of Intransitive Verbs of Motion (with ETRE)

Vii) Past participle agreement of Pronominal Verbs (with ETRE)

Agreement of past participles of PRONOMINAL VERBS

PRONOMINAL VERBS which are either REFLEXIVE or RECIPROCAL are conjugated with ETRE.

Ia).    Reflexive verbs

Reflexive verbs indicate an action the subject does to or for himself or herself. In most cases, the reflexive pronoun is a direct object. With these verbs, the past participle agrees with the direct object reflexive pronoun. If the reflexive pronoun is clearly an indirect object, however, there is no agreement with the past participle. To know whether the reflexive pronoun is a direct object or not:

·      Change the auxiliary TO BE into TO HAVE

·      Ask the question QUOI? ou QUI? after the verb

·      If the answer is the reflexive pronoun, then make the past participle agree with the reflexive pronoun.

Examples of reflexive verbs in the Passé composé follow:

Je me suis levé(e) tard ce matin.

(J'AI levé QUI? ME; so ME is the direct object, and the past participle 'levé' must agree with it). since we are not given any context to help us determine whether JE is feminine or masculine, we do write both é(e).

Elle s'est peignée.

(Elle A peignée QUI? SE; so SE is the direct object which replaces 'ELLE', and the past participle 'peigné' must agree in gender -- feminine -- and in number -- singular-- with it = peignée).

Nous nous sommes habillé(e)s.

(Nous AVONS HABILLÉ QUI? NOUS; so NOUS is the direct object which replaces 'NOUS', and the past participle 'habillé' must agree in gender -- ?? -- and in number -- plural-- with it = habillé(e)s). since we are not given any context to help us determine whether NOUS is feminine or masculine, we do write both é(e)s.

Vous vous êtes dépêché(e)(s) de sortir de la maison.

(Vous AVEZ DÉPÊCHÉ/ES QUI? VOUS; so VOUS is the direct object which replaces 'VOUS', and the past participle 'dépêché' must agree in gender -- ?? -- and in number -- plural-- with it = dépêché(e)(s). since we are not given any context to help us determine whether VOUS is feminine or masculine, or singular (for politeness) or plural we do write both é(e)(s).

Ils se sont reposés après la course.

(Ils ONT REPOSÉ QUI? SE; so SE is the direct object which replaces 'ILS', and the past participle 'reposé' must agree in gender -- masculine -- and in number -- plural-- with it = reposés).

Elles se sont couchées tôt.

(Elles ONT COUCHÉ QUI? SE; so SE is the direct object which replaces 'ELLES', and the past participle 'couché' must agree in gender -- feminine -- and in number -- plural-- with it = couchées).

Note that the past participle of the verb 'se rendre compte (to realize)' remains invariable, since the reflexive pronoun is an indirect object.

Ib).    Reflexive verbs with BODY PARTS

When reflexive verbs are used with a part of the body, the part of the body is

the direct object and the reflexive pronoun is the indirect object. There is, therefore, no agreement with the past participle. Examples follow where you can see the difference between both types of verbs:

Elle s'est lavée en vitesse ce matin.

No part of the body is mentioned in this sentence, so the rules explained in Ia) apply. Elle A LAVÉ QUI? SE; so SE is the direct object which replaces 'ELLE', and the past participle 'lavé' must agree in gender -- feminine -- and in number -- singular -- with it = lavée.

Elle s'est lavé les mains avant le repas.

In this example, a part of the body (les mains) is mentioned. If we ask the appropriate question in this situation such as 'Elle A LAVÉ QUOI? les mains; so LES MAINS is the direct object whereas SE is the indirect object given that Elle a lavé les mains À QUI? À ELLE. In this sentence, the direct object follows the verb, so no agreement takes place.

Elle s'est brossé les dents après le repas.

In this sentence, a part of the body (les dents) is mentioned. If we ask the appropriate question in this situation such as 'Elle A brossé QUOI? les dents; so LES DENTS is the direct object whereas SE is the indirect object given that Elle a brossé les dents À QUI? À ELLE. In this sentence, the direct object follows the verb, so no agreement takes place.

II.      Reciprocal verbs

Reciprocal verbs indicate an action two or more subjects do to or for one another. The involvement of more than one person implies that subjects of sentences are always in the plural form. The agreement rules which apply to the reflexive verbs apply also to this category of verbs.

Examples of reciprocal verbs in the Passé composé follow:

Vous vous êtes mariés l'été dernier?

(Vous AVEZ marié QUI? VOUS; so VOUS is the direct object which replaces 'l'un, l'autre', and the past participle 'marié' must agree in gender -- masculine -- and in number -- plural-- with it = mariés).

Ils se sont connus à l'école secondaire.

(Ils ONT connu QUI? SE; so SE is the direct object which replaces 'l'un, l'autre', and the past participle 'connu' must agree in gender -- masculine -- and in number -- plural-- with it = connus).

Elles se sont téléphoné hier soir et se sont parlé pendant deux heures.

In the first clause, if we ask the question: Elles ont téléphoné QUI? no answer is provided, because ON TÉLÉPHONE À QUELQU'UN in French, so SE is an indirect complement, therefore, no agreement takes place. The same happens in the second clause, given that ON PARLE À QUELQU'UN, so SE is an indirect object which brings no change to the past participle.

REMEMBER that on top of these two verbs, others such as SE DIRE, SE DEMANDER, S'ÉCRIRE, SE SOURIRE, etc. have an indirect reflexive pronoun. Supplementary examples are given here:

Ils se sont dit des bêtises.

If we ask the question: Ils ont dit QUOI? The answer is: LES BÊTISES, therefore, the direct object follows the verb. The reflexive pronoun SE is an indirect object: ON DIT des choses À QUELQU'UN. No agreement takes place.

Nous nous sommes demandé ce qu'il allait faire.

If we ask the question: Ils ont dit QUOI? The answer is: CE QU'IL FALLAIT FAIRE, therefore, the direct object follows the verb. The reflexive pronoun SE is an indirect objet: ON DEMANDE des choses À QUELQU'UN. No agreement takes place.

You're now ready to do some exercises. Return to the Homepage and Click on EXERCISES4 (LINK).