Breakdown of Chacun s'est entendu dire qu'un garant était nécessaire.
être
to be
un
a / an (masculine)
dire
to say, to tell
que
that (introducing a clause)
nécessaire
necessary
chacun
each one
s'entendre
to be told (s'entendre + infinitive)
le garant
the guarantor (m)
Questions & Answers about Chacun s'est entendu dire qu'un garant était nécessaire.
How does s'est entendu dire translate to "was told"? Why not use the standard passive voice?
In French, verbs that take an indirect object with à (like dire à quelqu'un) cannot be put into the standard passive voice. You cannot say Chacun a été dit. To express this passive idea, French uses s'entendre or se voir plus the infinitive. S'entendre dire translates literally to "to hear oneself be told," which functions as the natural equivalent of "to be told."
Would entendu need to agree if the subject were feminine, like Chacune?
No, it would still be Chacune s'est entendu dire. When s'entendre is followed by an infinitive, the past participle only agrees if the subject is the one performing the action of the infinitive. Since the person is not doing the saying (they are being told by someone else), entendu remains invariable.
Why use the imperfect était instead of the present est?
This sentence uses reported speech. Because the introductory action happened in the past (s'est entendu dire), the tense of the reported statement must shift backwards. The original quote was likely Un garant est nécessaire (present). Shifted into the past, that present tense becomes the imperfect était.
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