French Grammar Explained /
Past tense - The "passé composé" with pronominal verbs
How are you doing with the past tense so far?
Uhm, I keep forgetting which verbs I need to use with être but otherwise I'm doing fine.
Great! Let's do a small revision, how would you put this sentence into the past tense:
Maria va au ciné à 19h.
Maria goes to the cinema at 7pm.
I think I would say:
Maria est allé au ciné à 19h.
Maria went to the cinema at 7pm.
You forgot something!
Mmh let me think...
I know! I forgot the little -e at the end that shows it's feminine.
Maria est allée au ciné à 19h.
Maria went to the cinema at 7pm.
Excellent !
Now, there is another category of verbs that will need to use être in the past tense, those are the verbs of daily activities (reflexive verbs) → se + infinitive.
Il s'est douché à 7 heures du matin.
Dimanche, elle s'est réveillée à 10 heures.
Nous nous sommes levés tard mercredi.
We (masculine plural) got up late on Wednesday.
Nous nous sommes levées tard mercredi.
We (feminine plural) got up late on Wednesday.
Oh no, more things to remember! :(
Don't worry! We've got plenty of exercises and a video for you!