Learn French: Elles se sont bien préparées pour faire bonne impression. - They prepared well to make a good impression.

Elles se sont bien préparées pour faire bonne impression.

They prepared well to make a good impression.

Breakdown of Elles se sont bien préparées pour faire bonne impression.

Questions & Answers about Elles se sont bien préparées pour faire bonne impression.

Why does this sentence use sont instead of ont?

In French, all reflexive verbs (verbs that use a reflexive pronoun like se) use être as their helper verb in the passé composé. Even though preparing isn't a verb of motion, the fact that it is reflexive (se préparer) means you must use sont here.

Why is there an extra -es at the end of préparées?

Because this verb uses être as its helper verb, the past participle usually has to agree with the subject. The subject Elles is feminine plural, so you add an -e for feminine and an -s for plural to the base past participle préparé.

Why is bien placed between sont and préparées?

Short, common adverbs like bien (well), mal (badly), and beaucoup (a lot) are placed directly between the helper verb (sont) and the past participle (préparées) when using the passé composé.

Why does the sentence say pour faire to mean "to make"?

When you want to express "in order to" do something in French, you use the preposition pour followed by an infinitive verb. Here, pour faire translates perfectly to "in order to make".