Subject agreement

Anita P.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Subject agreement

In the sentence “Depuis qu’elle s’est fait mal avec le couteau l’année dernière” , why is it not “faite” as the subject is elle, or is it because it’s le couteau that hurt her and not a feminine object noun ?

Asked 4 years ago
CécileKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hi Anita,

No, it is correct... 'faire'  behaves differently and becomes invariable in certain cases like this one - se faire mal = to get hurt 

You will say -

Elle s'est fait mal au genou = She hurt her knee

or 

Elles se sont fait mal en courant They hurt themselves running

It is the same if 'se faire' is followed by another verb in the infinitive, the past participle of 'faire' will be invariable -

Elles se sont fait construire une maison à la campagne = They had a house built in the countryside

Breaks all the rules but true!

However, in the expression 'se faire à quelque chose' which means to get used to something the past participle will agree in the normal way -

Elle s'est faite à cette idée de déménagement = She has got used to this idea of moving

Hope this helps!

Brian E.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

I found your response on “faire/fait” very informative! Thanks Cécile. 

Subject agreement

In the sentence “Depuis qu’elle s’est fait mal avec le couteau l’année dernière” , why is it not “faite” as the subject is elle, or is it because it’s le couteau that hurt her and not a feminine object noun ?

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