Breakdown of Les femmes se sont emparées du butin et elles se sont enfuies.
être
to be
la femme
the woman
et
and
elles
they (feminine)
Questions & Answers about Les femmes se sont emparées du butin et elles se sont enfuies.
Why do both emparées and enfuies agree with the feminine plural subject?
Because both s'emparer (to seize) and s'enfuir (to flee) are essentially pronominal verbs. This means they are always used with a reflexive pronoun (you cannot simply say emparer). For essentially pronominal verbs, the past participle always agrees with the subject in the passé composé.
Since the verb fuir exists, why is s'enfuir treated as essentially pronominal?
While fuir (to flee or to leak) is a standard verb, s'enfuir (to run away) is considered a distinct, essentially pronominal verb by French grammar rules. Because its meaning is strictly tied to its reflexive form, it follows the rule of always making the past participle agree with the subject.
Why do we use du butin instead of just le butin?
Is it mandatory to repeat elles se sont after the word et?
Yes, it is structurally necessary here. Unlike in English where we can just say 'and fled', French generally requires you to repeat the reflexive pronoun and the auxiliary verb (and usually the subject pronoun) when connecting two separate pronominal verbs in the passé composé.