French Phrase
Ils se sont rencontrés l'année dernière.
Meaning
The sentence means 'They met last year.' It uses the passé composé to describe a completed action in the past, and the reflexive construction shows that the meeting was mutual.
When to use
Use this phrase when you want to tell someone about a past encounter between two or more people, especially in informal conversation or storytelling about recent events.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Ilssesontrencontrésl'annéedernière
Subject-Verb Agreement
The verb 'rencontrer' is conjugated in the passé composé with the auxiliary 'être' because it is used reflexively.
Past Participle Agreement
With reflexive verbs, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject when the reflexive pronoun is a direct object, so 'rencontrés' takes an -s for the plural 'ils'.
Reflexive Pronoun
The pronoun 'se' indicates that the action is performed mutually; it is placed before the auxiliary verb.
Time Expression Placement
Expressions of time like 'l'année dernière' usually come after the verb phrase in French.
🗨In Conversation
Tu sais comment ils se sont rencontrés ?
Do you know how they met?
Oui, ils se sont rencontrés l'année dernière à la conférence.
Yes, they met last year at the conference.
✕Common Mistakes
Ils se sont rencontré l'année dernière.
The past participle must agree with the plural subject 'ils', so add -s.
Ils se sont rencontrés l'année passé.
The adjective must agree in gender and number with 'année', so use 'dernière'.
Ils ont se sont rencontrés l'année dernière.
If you use 'avoir' as the auxiliary, the agreement rule changes; with 'être' it's correct.
↔Alternatives
Ils se sont rencontrés l'an dernier.
They met last year.
Ils se sont rencontrés l'année passée.
They met the previous year.
Ils se sont rencontrés l'année précédente.
They met the year before.
Cultural Tip
In French, the passé composé with reflexive verbs requires the past participle to agree with the subject when the reflexive pronoun functions as a direct object, which is the case here. Also, native speakers often shorten 'l'année dernière' to 'l'an dernier' in spoken French for smoother flow.