Question 1

Why do we use suis instead of ai in Je me suis préparé?

Accepted Answer

Se préparer (to get ready / to prepare oneself) is a reflexive verb, which you can spot by the reflexive pronoun me. In the passé composé, all reflexive verbs use the auxiliary verb être (like je suis) instead of avoir.

Question 2

If a woman were speaking, how would this sentence change?

Accepted Answer

Two things would change! First, the past participle would need an extra e to agree with a female subject because reflexive verbs use être: Je me suis préparée. Second, the adjective at the end would change to its feminine form: mais je suis nerveuse.

Question 3

Why doesn't professionnel have a double l and an e at the end?

Accepted Answer

Adjectives in French must agree with the noun they describe. The word for interview, un entretien, is masculine, so we use the masculine singular form professionnel. If it were a feminine noun, you would use professionnelle.

Question 4

I've seen the word interview in French. Can I use it instead of entretien?

Accepted Answer

Usually, no. In French, une interview (borrowed from English) is specifically a journalistic interview, like for a newspaper, magazine, or TV show. For a job or professional meeting, you should always use un entretien.

Je me suis préparé pour l'entretien professionnel, mais je suis nerveux.

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