30/05/2026
Let’s dive into one of the trickiest grammar rules in French which often causes big headaches to French learners : when using a pronominal verb (se regarder, se laver, se rappeler etc...) in compound tenses like the passé composé, what is the ending of the past participle?
"Pronominal verbs are conjugated with être in compound tenses, so the past participle should agree with the subject, right?"
Well... It depends.
Here you must distinguish three cases :
Example 1: Elle s’est lavée.
Here, the reflexive pronoun “se” is the direct object of the verb and refers to the subject itself (she washed herself). Since the direct object precedes the verb, the past participle agrees with it:
→ lavée
Example 2: Elle s’est lavé les mains.
Here, “les mains” is the direct object of the verb, while “se” functions as an indirect object. Since the direct object comes after the verb, there is no agreement:
→ lavé
Example 3: Les mains qu’elle s’est lavées plus tôt sont de nouveau sales.
Here, the direct object “les mains” is placed before the verb (introduced by “que”). Therefore, the past participle agrees with it:
→ lavées
I hope this short explanation will help you to better understand this difficult aspect of French grammar!
If you want to know more about the passé composé in French, a full module will be soon available here:
https://www.learnanewlanguage.net/modules-de-cours
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