During a bank heist (un braquage), things get chaotic. Hostages crouch, thieves seize the loot, and accomplices flee.
To describe these actions, French uses essentially pronominal verbs. These verbs only exist with a reflexive pronoun (like se). There is no non-reflexive version of them.
Some common essentially pronominal verbs include:
- s'accroupir (to crouch)
- s'enfuir (to flee)
- s'emparer de (to seize)
- se rebeller (to rebel)
- s'évanouir (to faint)
Passé Composé Agreement
In the passé composé, all pronominal verbs use the auxiliary verb être.
For essentially pronominal verbs, the agreement rule is wonderfully simple: the past participle always agrees with the subject in gender and number. You do not need to worry about complex direct object rules.
If the subject is feminine singular, add -e.
| The hostages panicked and the girl crouched. | Les otages ont paniqué et la fille s'est accroupie. |
| The thief's sister fled, but she fainted. | La sœur du voleur s'est enfuie, mais elle s'est évanouie. |
If the subject is masculine plural, add -s. If it is feminine plural, add -es.
| The women seized the loot and they fled. | Les femmes se sont emparées du butin et elles se sont enfuies. |
| The hostages rebelled against the thieves. | Les otages se sont rebellés contre les voleurs. |
| The victims often fainted during the heist. | Les victimes se sont souvent évanouies pendant le braquage. |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io