Breakdown of Elle s'est fait coudre une nouvelle jupe.
être
to be
un
a / an (masculine)
elle
she
faire
to do, to make
Questions & Answers about Elle s'est fait coudre une nouvelle jupe.
Why is it fait and not faite, since the subject is Elle and the sentence uses être?
In French, when the past participle fait is followed immediately by an infinitive (like coudre here), it is always invariable. It never adds an -e or -s to agree with the subject or the preceding object. This is a strict exception for the causative construction (faire + infinitive).
What is the purpose of the s' in s'est fait coudre?
Why does this sentence use est instead of a for the past tense of faire?
Normally, faire uses avoir as its helping verb (for example, elle a fait). However, because the reflexive pronoun s' was added, the verb becomes reflexive (se faire). In French, all reflexive verbs require être in compound tenses like the passé composé.
Why can't I literally translate "had a skirt sewn" using the verb avoir?