If reflexive verbs always use the auxiliary verb 'etre', why is it 'Quand elle m'a embrassé' and not 'Quand elle m'est embrassé'
Avoir or être
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Avoir or être
Esther,
this is not the reflexive (pronominal) verb " s'embrasser ", but the standard verb " embrasser ' preceded by the direct object ' me ", with the subject being 'elle'. ‘Embrasser’ conjugates in compound tenses with ‘avoir’.
In other words, this is not a reciprocal action. In English, this is "she kissed me" ( and 'me' is male, as determined by the French past participle ), not "we kissed each other".
The reciprocal statement in French, requiring the pronominal, would be " on s'est embrassés " or ' nous nous sommes embrassés ' - 'we kissed each other'.
Difficult I know, but a number of verbs can be in standard or pronominal form, and the context and conjugation of the verb both convey information.
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/glossary/voice/la-voix-pronominale
https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/embrasser/28656
https://www.wordreference.com/fren/embrasser
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