# FR: nous nous sommes parlé - accord



## amazingdonut

Hello everyone,

I help first year (university) French students overcome grammar problems, but believe there may be a mistake in the notes I was provided with, but I'm not sure. This is concerning the use of pronouns.

"... mais j'ai parlé à Claire et ella m'a parlé au téléphone le soir."

This is transformed into the following:

"... mais nous nous sommes parlé au téléphone le soir."

My question is: should it be "nous nous sommes parlé*es*"? (The person who's speaking is also female). If not, can you explain why not?

Thanks in advance!


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## tilt

No, it shouldn't.
The reflexive pronoun works as an indirect object here (_nous avons parlé *à* nous_), so no agreement is to be made.

It would be different with a direct transitive verb, like in _nous nous sommes appelées_ (_nous avons appelé nous_).


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## amazingdonut

Ah... I was thinking it was the case that you would add an 's' whether you had a direct object or an indirect object with a verb which takes être in the past tense. I understand now. Thank you very much for the prompt reply.


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## Moon Palace

I believe this article could be helpful on reflexive verbs in the past.


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## Kyroso Fetola

Bonjour a tous! je veux savoir comment dit-on: 

It has been too long since we have spoken to each other, en francais.

Ma tentative: 

Ca fait trop longtemps que nous nous avons parle (no accents).

merci  d'avance!


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## arundhati

Ça fait trop longtemps que nous ne nous sommes pas parlé.
See here for the accents.


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## Kyroso Fetola

merci beaucoup! , if possible, could you briefly explain why parler uses the auxiliary "etre" instead of "avoir" or recommend a website which has a lesson on this or similar topics.


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## bloomiegirl

Try this page for some instances of verbs that take _être_. Note 2 at the bottom of the page mentions the verb _*se parler*_. By the way – it's just a technicality here – but in your sentence the verb _*se parler*_ is reciprocal (re: "each other") rather than pronominal (re: "oneself"). As I said, it's just a technicality, *se parler* always takes _être_.


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## danny_1952

C'est l'auxiliaire _être_ qui est utilisé à la voix passive et à la voix pronominale. Il se conjugue avec _avoir_ à la voix active et aux temps composés.


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## Kyroso Fetola

ah so when it is reflexive it uses etre, terrific! thanks.


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## secasey

Should it not be "nous ne nous sommes pas parlés" (with an 's' at the end of 'parlé') as you are using 'etre' and speaking in the plural? Please correct me if I'm wrong!


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## guillaumedemanzac

I understood that most *reflexive* verbs use *être* and therefore agree; so two ladies would say *nous nous sommes parlées* - though perhaps this grammatical explanation is too simplistic for the DFA ( MFA in French). The *accents (*à ç è é ê î etc.) on this site are conveniently placed just above this typing space and  on the right end of the tool bar.

guillaume


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## bloomiegirl

secasey said:


> Should it not be "nous ne nous sommes pas parlés"  (with an 's' at the end of 'parlé') as you are using 'etre' and speaking in the plural? [...]





guillaumedemanzac said:


> I understood that most *reflexive* verbs use *être* and therefore agree; so two ladies would say *nous nous sommes parlées*  [...]


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Two women (whether ladies or not) would write "_nous nous sommes *parlé*_" – *no agreement* because the object is necessarily an indirect object:
_Elle a parlé... à qui? Elle a parlé à l'autre femme, et l'autre femme lui a *parlé* aussi. Donc, ellles se sont *parlé*.
_
But you don't take my word for it... Here's the relevant part from the link on my previous (September 2007) post: 


> _There are only two cases with pronominal verbs where the past participle does not agree:_
> 1.  When the pronominal verb is followed by a direct object.
> Compare:  *Elles* se sont lavé*es*, but *elles* se sont lav*é les mains.*
> 2.  With verbs where the reflexive pronoun is an indirect object, such as *
> se parler, se demander, se dire, s'écrire, se sourire*, and *se téléphoner*.
> *Ils* se sont téléphon*é*



Or, even more authoritative, here's a webpage that quotes Grevisse and gives the same information. It doesn't lend itself to cut-and-paste, so just launch the link.


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## Nicomon

Hello,

I'll just add to bloomie's post  *this page* from the *BDL* (Banque de dépannage linguistique) which in my opinion is an excellent tool, and though not as thorough, sometimes easier to consult than Grevisse. 

In this specific case, it is # 4 A (blue lettering mine) :





> A) *Verbe pronominal de sens réciproque** *
> Le sujet désigne plusieurs êtres qui agissent les uns sur les autres.
> Le participe passé s'accorde si le pronom est COD.
> 1. Mes parents *se sont consultés* à ce sujet.    Ont consulté *qui*?  = Direct objet > agrees
> 
> Le participe passé ne s'accorde pas si le pronom est complément indirect (CI).
> 1. Marie et Lucie *se sont téléphoné* tous les jours  Ont téléphoné *à qui *=  Indirect objet > no agreement


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## danny_1952

Bonjour,

Non, il s'agit d'un verbe "accidentellement" pronominal. L'accord du participe passé ne se fait pas avec le sujet. Voir les exemples d'accord des verbes de ce type à la page Web suivante : http://home.ican.net/~galandor/grammair/partici3.htm.

Bonne journée!

Danielle


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## bloomiegirl

No "s" on "_parlé_" in "_nous nous sommes parlé_" […]


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