Grammar: Passé Composé reflexive

ByFast French

Reflexive verbs (called “verbes pronominaux” in French) are always conjugated with être in the Passé Composé.

Se réveillerMeaning
je me suis réveilléI woke up, have woken up
tu t’es réveilléyou woke up, have woken up
il s’est réveilléhe woke up, has woken up
nous nous sommes réveilléswe woke up, have woken up
vous vous êtes réveillésyou woke up, have woken up
ils se sont réveillésthey woke up, have woken up

Agreement in number & gender

Their past participles must always agree in number and gender with the reflexive pronoun’s number and gender.

ExampleMeaningGender/Number
Je me suis demandéI wondered, have wonderedmasculine/singular
Elle s’est couchéeShe went to bedfeminine/singular
Vous vous êtes bien amusésYou enjoyed yourselves, you have enjoyed yourselvesmasculine/plural
Elles se sont disputéesThey had an argumentfeminine/plural
Il s’est raséHe shaved, has shavedmasculine/singular
Tu t’es dépêchéeYou hurried upfeminine/singular

Negative

To make a reflexive verb negative in the Passé Composé, correct positioning is important. The “ne” is placed before the reflexive pronoun and “‘pas” is placed after the conjugated part of être.

ExampleMeaningGender/Number
Je ne me suis pas demandéI didn’t wonder, haven’t wonderedmasculine/singular
Elle ne s’est pas couchéeShe didn’t go to bed, hasn’t gone to bedfeminine/singular
Vous ne vous êtes pas bien amusésYou didn’t enjoy yourselves, haven’t enjoyed yourselvesmasculine/plural
Elles ne se sont pas disputéesThey didn’t have an argument, haven’t arguedfeminine/plural
Il ne s’est pas raséHe didn’t shave, hasn’t shavedmasculine/singular
Tu ne t’es pas dépêchéeYou didn’t hurry up, haven’t hurried upfeminine/singular

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