Je me suis dit

Question

Am I right in thinking that "me" is used indirectly here as there is no agreement with the past participle of dire (dit/e)

Accepted Answer

Hi Ian,
The rules of agreement of past participles in the case of reflexive verbs are quite complex but you are correct in thinking that there wouldn't be any agreement of the past participle as 'me' here is an indirect object ( also a reflexive pronoun)-
Je me suis dit = I said to myself
If you said-
Elle s'est lavée ( Elle a lavé elle-) here, the PP agrees with the direct object 'se' ( =elle)
contrast with -
Elle s'est lavé la tête, no agreement as the COD ( la tête)is after the verb.
Elles se sont écrit des lettres  ( they wrote letters to each other, 'se' here is an indirect object so no agreement)
Bonne Continuation!

Answer

“me” is a reflexive pronoun, but as the subject is female, normally the past participle would be modified. However conjugation tables show the participle “dit” to be invariant to number or gender.

Answer

I just checked Collins dictionary, which modifies “dit” in the reflexive case. It indicates the participle should be “dite” for a female subject.

Answer

I think Ian is correct, no agreement is required in this case.

There is one special case where the participle does agree - when the meaning is the same as "se déclarer".

"Elle s'est dite confiante que ..." = "She expressed confidence that ..."

Answer

The past particle of verbs does not indicate sex of speaker.