Breakdown of L'homme qui s'est fait pirater a signalé la fraude.
être
to be
l'homme
the man (m)
qui
who
avoir
to have
signaler
to report
se faire
to get oneself
pirater
to hack
la fraude
the fraud
Questions & Answers about L'homme qui s'est fait pirater a signalé la fraude.
Why is it pirater (infinitive) instead of piraté (past participle) like in English?
In the French se faire construction, faire is always followed by an infinitive verb. Even though English translates this passive idea with a past participle ('got hacked'), French uses the infinitive pirater to express the action.
If the subject was feminine, would fait need an extra 'e' for agreement?
No, it stays exactly as fait. When faire is followed directly by an infinitive, its past participle never changes to agree with the subject or the reflexive pronoun. For example, La femme qui s'est fait pirater uses the exact same spelling.
Could I say L'homme qui a été piraté instead?
Yes, that is the standard passive voice and means 'The man who was hacked.' However, spoken French frequently uses the se faire + infinitive structure (meaning 'to get oneself [actioned]') to express things happening to a person, especially for negative events, services, or accidents.
What happens to the meaning if I remove the reflexive pronoun s'?
The reflexive pronoun s' (short for se) is crucial because it shows the action happened to the man himself. If you dropped it and said L'homme qui a fait pirater, it would change into a standard causative and mean 'The man who had [someone or something else] hacked' as a deliberate order, rather than him being the victim.
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