Je me suis fâché parce qu'il avait vidé mon tiroir.

Questions & Answers about Je me suis fâché parce qu'il avait vidé mon tiroir.

Why is avait vidé used here instead of the passé composé (a vidé)?
Avait vidé is in the plus-que-parfait (pluperfect) tense. We use it to talk about a past action that happened before another past action. In this sentence, the emptying of the drawer happened before you got angry (Je me suis fâché). It perfectly matches the English "had emptied".
Why do we use suis instead of ai in Je me suis fâché?
To say "to get angry", French uses the reflexive verb se fâcher (literally, "to anger oneself"). In the passé composé, all reflexive verbs use être as their auxiliary verb, which is why it is Je me suis fâché. If you used avoir (J'ai fâché...), you would be saying that you made someone else angry!
If a woman is speaking, does the spelling of fâché change?
Yes, it becomes fâchée. Because this reflexive verb uses the auxiliary être, the past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number.
Is there a connection between the word tiroir (drawer) and the verb tirer?
Yes! The noun tiroir comes directly from the verb tirer, which means "to pull". A drawer is simply a thing that you pull open. Remembering this connection makes tiroir much easier to memorize.

Learn Je me suis fâché parce qu'il avait vidé mon tiroir 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