Breakdown of Après s'être rendu au commissariat, le complice a tout avoué.
être
to be
avoir
to have
au
to the / at the (masculine singular)
tout
all, everything
avouer
to confess
après
after
le complice
the accomplice
se rendre
to surrender
le commissariat
the police station
Questions & Answers about Après s'être rendu au commissariat, le complice a tout avoué.
Why is it s'être rendu instead of avoir rendu after après?
Because the verb here is the reflexive verb se rendre (meaning to surrender or to go). Just like in the passé composé, all reflexive verbs use être as their helper verb. To form the past infinitive, you use the infinitive of être followed by the past participle rendu.
Where does the reflexive pronoun go in a past infinitive construction?
The reflexive pronoun (in this case, se) goes right before the infinitive helper verb. Because the helper is être, which starts with a vowel, se drops its 'e' and becomes s', giving us s'être rendu.
Does the past participle rendu need to agree with the subject here?
Why is tout placed in the middle of a avoué?
In compound tenses like the passé composé, short indefinite pronouns like tout (everything) and rien (nothing) are placed between the helper verb (here, a) and the past participle (avoué).
Learn Après s'être rendu au commissariat, le complice a tout avoué and more in French
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free