Some of the ‘être’verbs listed above may be used transitively (with a direct object),
e.g. sortir(to take/bring out); monter(to take/bring up); descendre(to take/bring down); rentrer
(to take/bring in). When they are used in this way, they form their passé composéwith AVOIR,
e.g. J’ai descendu la valise; Il a monté les bagages; Nous avons sorti les meubles.
Monterand descendrealso take avoirin expressions such as J’ai descendu l’escalier; Il a monté
la rue.c Agreement of the past participle in pronominal/reflexive verbs
There are three types of pronominal/reflexive verbs, which need to be distinguished when
discussing how their past participles agree:
i Real reflexive verbs, where the action by the subject is reflected back on the subject, i.e.
where the doer of the action is both subject and object of the verb, e.g. elle selave(‘she
washes herself’). Here the participle agrees with the sewhich is the preceding direct object:
elle s’est lavée.
In some cases the reflexive pronoun is not the direct object of the verb, but the indirect
object, e.g. elle s’est lavé les mains(the object, what she washed, is the hands, the seis only
indirectly involved). Here the participle never agrees.
ii Reciprocal verbs, which express the idea of two or more people doing something to each
other. Here the participle agrees with the seif it is the directobject, but not if it is indirect.
e.g. ils se sont vus(‘they saw each other’, direct object), but ils se sont écrit(‘they wrote to
each other’, indirect object).
iiiPronominal verbs, which look like reflexive verbs, but where the reflexive pronoun has
nothing to do with ‘oneself ’, e.g. se repentir(to repent), se souvenir de(to remember). Here
the participle agrees with the subject, e.g. elles se sont souvenues de l’histoire.
d Pay attention to word order when the verb in the passé composéis negative and/or inverted,
e.g. il n’est pasvenu; nous nel’avons pasvu; l’avez-vousvu?; ne l’avez-vous pasdéjà fait?
See for further information: Coffman Crocker, pp. 148–68
Ferrar, pp. 50–3, 70
Hawkins and Towell, pp. 158, 240–2
Judge and Healey, pp. 108–9, 223–5
L’Huillier, pp. 126–38
Price, pp. 319–20, 348–53
Turk and Vandaele, pp. 123–31, 148, 150, 198–9
The passé composé 9