Log inSign up

Nous avons fini le bricolage nous-mêmes.

Nous avons fini le bricolage nous-mêmes.
We finished the DIY ourselves.
From Lesson 346:Adverbial even and self pronouns (même / -même)·French

Questions & Answers about Nous avons fini le bricolage nous-mêmes.

Why does mêmes have an "s" in nous-mêmes?
When attached to a pronoun to mean "oneself" or "ourselves," même agrees in number with that pronoun. Since nous refers to multiple people here, même becomes plural and takes an "s."
Could I say Nous nous-mêmes avons fini le bricolage to mean "We ourselves finished the DIY"?
It is much more natural in French to place the emphatic pronoun at the end of the sentence or clause. While English speakers often put "ourselves" right next to the subject "we," French places nous-mêmes after the verb and object to emphasize that the group did the work entirely on their own.
What kind of activities does le bricolage cover?
Le bricolage is a broad term for do-it-yourself (DIY) projects. It covers everything from home improvement and repairing things around the house to casual arts, crafts, and tinkering. The related verb is bricoler.
Since nous is plural, why doesn't the past participle fini take a plural "s"?
Because the auxiliary verb is avoir. In the passé composé with avoir, the past participle only changes to agree with a direct object if that object is placed before the verb. Here, the direct object is le bricolage, which comes after avons fini, so the participle remains unchanged.

Learn Nous avons fini le bricolage nous-mêmes 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
Start learning French →