Putting French reflexive verbs in the passé composé isn’t hard, but man, it’s long. In order to deal with this cumbersome structure, I made an acronym to help students:
It’s not hard, but you do have to PREPP* yourself to put reflexives in the passé composé!
PR = Pronom Réfléchi
You have to start with the pronom réfléchi. Let’s use se laver as an example as we go through the steps:
E = forme du verbe ETRE
After the reflexive pronoun comes a conjugated form of the verb être:
PP = Participe Passé
The last piece is adding the past participle of the verb:
* = remember the rule about ETRE!
When I break down the passé composé (see here), I remind kids: when you use êêêêêêtre there’s an eeeeextra step! And what’s that eeeeextra step? It’s making sure everything agrees:
So, there you have it: Always remember to PREPP* yourself to take on reflexives in the passé composé. I hope this little acronym helps both you and your students. As an added bonus, you can get my introductory handout for reflexive verbs in the passé composé for 50% off through 10/1/19 here.