We come across certain verb forms in French like the following.
se laver
Se brosser
Se raser
Se couper
Se coiffer
The verbs having the above forms in infinitive are known as pronominal verbs in French .
The French term would be , " Les verbes pronominaux " . Why are they called like that ?
The " se" represents a personal pronoun which depends on the subject. According to the
subject " se" changes to one of the following forms. "Me, te. Se, nous vous , se ". These six
pronouns can be either Direct Object Pronouns ( COD) or Indirect Object Pronouns ( COI)
depending on the verb and the context.The purpose of this note is very limited.
In certain cases of passé composé of these verbs, the past participle agrees in number
and gender with the direct object ( COD= Complément d' Objet Direct ) when it is
placed before the past participle . We shall study few such cases .
1. Se Laver - To wash oneself
Je me suis lavé (e)
Tu t'es lavé (e)
Il s'est lavé .
Elle s'est lavée .
Nous nous sommes lavé (e)s
Vous vous êtes lavé(e)s
Ils se sont lavés .
Elle se sont lavées .
In all the above cases, the pronouns and the subjects are one and the same. The subject
performs the action on itself. The subject acts on itself. Such verbs are called Reflexive
verbs . They are one category of Pronominal verbs in French . In the above cases, all the
pronouns are COD. They are placed before the past participle . Therefore , the past participle
agrees in number and gender with COD. Since the COD and the subject represent the
same person , we may say the past participle agrees in number and gender with the subject.
Now study the following sentences.
Je me suis lavé les mains. - I washed my hands.
Elle s'est lavé les mains. - She washed her hands.
Nous nous sommes lavé les mains. - We washed our hands.
In all the above sentences , the past participle remains invariable . Why ?
Kindly note that in the above sentences, in each case, there is a COD. ( les mains )
Since the COD comes after the past participle " lavé", there is no agreement and
the past participle remains invariable.
When the COD is replaced by the Direct Object Pronoun " LES ", the above sentences
can be written by replacing " les mains " by " les" . Remember now the position of " les" .
It should be placed before the auxiliary verb . In that case, it is before the past participle .
When the COD is placed before the past participle, the past participle agrees in number
and gender with the COD. Have a look at these sentences.
Je me les suis lavées .
Elle se les est lavées .
Nous nous les sommes lavées .
Have you understood ?
But how to know if the verb has a COD ? There is a way. Conjugate the sentence
with " avoir" as auxiliary verb by removing the personal pronoun and put a question " Quoi
or Qui . See If it makes sense and a reply is received.
J'ai lavé quoi ? Les mains .
Therefore COD exists and it is " les mains ".
Now observe the following sentences.
1. Il s' est brossé les dents. - He brushed his teeth.
In the above sentence , the COD is " les dents". It comes after the past participle.
Hence , no agreement .
Il se les est brossés.
In the above sentence " les" is COD.
Therefore , there is agreement with past participle as it comes before the past participle.
2. Il s'est rasé .
He shaved himself.
In the French sentence " se " is COD.
There is agreement .
3. Il s'est rasé les cheveux . - He shaved his hair.
In the above sentence , the COD is " les cheveux "
Therefore , there is no agreement as the COD is after the past participle.
Il se les est rasés .
In the above sentence , COD is " les" . It comes before the past participle.
Hence there is agreement .
4. Elles se sont coiffées . - They f) hair dressed themselves..
In the above sentence , the COD is " se ".
I recall the method of finding out COD which I mentioned earlier.
Elles ont coiffé qui ?
Eux-mêmes = se
Therefore , there is agreement as COD is before past participle.
5. Elle s'est coupée les doigts. - She cut her fingers.
In the above sentence , COD is " les doigts " . Since it is placed after the past participle,
there is no agreement .
But replace " les doigts" by " les".
Elle se les est coupés .
Since the COD is now before the past participle, there is agreement .
In this note, I have given you examples of REFLEXIVE VERBS. In the next note,
I will take up " RECIPROCAL VERBS " to examine the question of agreement .
Learners get confused over this subject. It is a little tricky one for the non francophones.
Please study slowly and assimilate . Try to do exercises from standard grammar books.
Happy learning !
Please point out inadvertent errors , if any.
Sayee Jayaraman
08/04/2015
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