The same thing just happened to me.  Shouldn't the past participle always be plural with "nous"?

pam asked, their 17 auxiliary  verbs in the passer composé using être, but i saw there are few more. i am confuse.

They had great fun last weekend.

Would the meaning be the same without "great"?

Chris: Sorry, I should have quoted the English translation from the page.  It does not utilise the word 'great'.  It just says they 'had fun' which (to have fun) is the base meaning of s'amuser (no bien required).

However, I do understand after reading Cécile's explanation that this is about intensifying the 'fun' element of the meaning, much like the bien in "j'aime bien...," when referring to objects (not people) I suppose.

Many thanks to you both!

Hi Martin,

There is no "mettre" in this sentence because the verb " se maquiller" already means "to put one's make-up on". You can't say "I made myself up" in English. (Well, you could, but it would mean something completely different).

-- Chris.

Hi Bill, I believe there's been a useful and detailed discussion already on this subject. You should be able to find it. 

-- Chris. 

Cécile - could you explain this example more, I don't see the difference. Don't both cases have an object which doesn't precede the verb?

Ils se sont lavé les mains,( They washed their hands) but ils se sont lavés les mains à l'eau froide (They washed their hands in cold water).

Your examples do clarify but bring up another question. Why use a reflexive verb when the object is not the self?  Why not say, “Elles ont préparé une soupe.”

Hi Paul,

You will find an excellent explanation of all possible cases along with examples here:

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/agreement-with-pronominal-verbs/

Greetings, -- Chris.

Why?

-- Chris

P.S.: See my reply to your later post.

Cecile and Chris, Your posts on this topic were excellent. Thank you so much. 

In addition, I want to say that I agree with the person below who said this type of sentence (with reflexive verbs where the past participle does not agree with the subject) should be left out of lessons at earlier levels, for instance Lower Intermediate, which is my level. Why? Because we already have a heavy load of things to remember and understand. The brain only holds so much new information at one time. Leave it until later. As a career teacher, I believe there is a principle of providing an appropriate level of difficulty for each student's current achievement level.

Then again, if it is thought appropriate to include it, PUT IT IN THE LESSON. Don't just throw it in during a test when we have never seen it before.

And last, if you are going to toss it into a test, at least let us know right away, that yes, the test answer given is correct. It's not so much that I needed an explanation right now. I needed someone to say, Yes, the answer we gave is correct. No, it is not an error. 

But, thank you for the clear answer you two gave.

Hi Pekka,

As you know, the French sentence is in the perfect tense (vous êtes devenue). And I agree with you that for the English translation the perfect tense (you have become) would be more natural.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Hi John,

You are correct, it ought to be, "Nous nous sommes brossés les cheveux." Or, if it is a purely female group, "Nous nous sommes brossées les cheveux."

The site Alan quotes in his reply is a good one to check.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Hi Chris,

No, actually it should be "Nous nous sommes brossé les cheveux", because there is a direct object "les cheveux" which comes after the verb. This is explained on the link given - case 3 1/2

There's also some discussion of this in the other Q&As for this topic.

Actually, no. In the case of être, the participe always agrees.

-- Chris.

Hi Alan, that's a VERY interesting point, indeed. According to the site, there should not be an agreement of the participle. However, I asked two native French speakers, one of them a French (as a second language) teacher, and both said that the participle needs to match the subject in the example we are discussing

I did some more internet research and found confirmation the rule you found on Laura's site. So it seems I did learn something new today! Thanks!!

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Elle s'est cassé la jambe. -- She broke her legs (no agreement).
Quelle jambe s'est-elle cassée? -- Which leg did she break? (agreement)

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Hi John

thanks for the link above relating to  the Laless site. It makes sense now. Krissa