Breakdown of Vous êtes-vous vu accorder l'hypothèque ?
être
to be
vous
you (plural/formal)
se voir
to see oneself
accorder
to grant
l'hypothèque (f)
the mortgage (f)
Questions & Answers about Vous êtes-vous vu accorder l'hypothèque ?
Why do we use vu accorder here instead of translating "Were you granted" literally as Avez-vous été accordé?
In French, verbs that take an indirect object (like granting something to someone) cannot usually be made strictly passive. Saying Vous avez été accordé sounds like you were granted to someone else! To express "I was granted/given/told X", French uses se voir + infinitive. It literally means "Did you see yourself granted the mortgage?"
Can you explain the word order of Vous êtes-vous vu?
The normal statement form is Vous vous êtes vu... (You saw yourself...). To make it a formal question, we use inversion with the passé composé. The auxiliary verb (êtes) and the subject pronoun (the first Vous) switch places and are joined by a hyphen. The reflexive pronoun (the second vous) stays right where it was, in front of the auxiliary verb.
If the subject Vous refers to a group of women, should vu be spelled with an extra 'e' or 's' (vues)?
No, vu stays exactly as it is (invariable) in this structure. When a pronominal verb like se voir is followed by an infinitive, the past participle only agrees if the subject is the one actually performing the action of the infinitive. Since the subject here is receiving the mortgage, not granting (accorder) it, vu never takes agreement here.
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