French I

In compound tenses like the passé composé, reflexive verbs use être as their helping (auxiliary) verb. The reflexive pronoun remains before the conjugated helping form of être, as follows:

• Je me suis lavé(e). (I washed myself.)

• Tu t'es préparé(e). (You didn't get ready.)

• Il s'est rasé. (He shaved.)

• Elle s'est couchée. (Didn't she go to bed?)

• Nous nous sommes peigné(e)s. (We combed our hair.)

• Vous vous êtes coiffé(e)(s). (You didn't do your hair.)

• Ils se sont impatientés. (They became impatient.)

• Elles se sont maquillées. (They put on their makeup.)

When the reflexive pronoun is used as a direct object, as in “Whom did they wash? Themselves! ” the past participle agrees with the reflexive pronoun: Ils se sont lavés. (They washed themselves.)

When the reflexive pronoun is used as an indirect object (“To/for whom did they wash something? For themselves!”), the past participle shows no agreement: Ils se sont lavé la figure. (They washed their faces.)