Breakdown of À cause de la panique, les employés se sont enfuis.
être
to be
l'employé
the employee (m)
à cause de
because of
s'enfuir
to flee (run away, escape)
Questions & Answers about À cause de la panique, les employés se sont enfuis.
Why is there an s at the end of enfuis?
S'enfuir (to flee) is an "essentially pronominal" verb, meaning it only exists with a reflexive pronoun like se. For these types of verbs, the past participle always agrees with the subject. Since les employés is plural, we add an s to make it enfuis.
Why does this use être (se sont) instead of avoir?
All pronominal (reflexive) verbs use être in the passé composé. Since s'enfuir always requires that reflexive pronoun (se), it will always take être as its helping verb.
How do I know the past participle of s'enfuir is enfui?
It follows the exact same pattern as its base verb fuir (to flee), which has the irregular past participle fui. You simply keep the en- prefix.