Grammaire – Les verbes réfléchis

Français 2

1. In English, sometimes the action of a verb is directed – or reflected back on the subject. When this happens, the verb may be followed by a reflexive pronoun, such as myself, yourself, him/herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves.

Les verbes réfléchis

a. I looked at myself in the mirror.

b.The children dress themselves for school.

c. He made himself some dinner.

Par exemple --

2. Reflexive verbs are used when the same person performs and receives the action of the verb. Since the subject also receives the action, an additional pronoun is needed. This is called the reflexive pronoun.

En français…

NOTE: The pronoun se used before the infinitive identifies the verb as reflexive. Par ex. –

•se laver = to wash oneself vs.

•laver = to wash

3. To form a reflexive verb, use the correct form of the verb and the reflexive pronoun that agrees with the subject.

Par exemple…

se laver (to wash oneself)Je me lave

Nous nous lavons

Tu te laves Vous vous lavez

Il/Elle/ se laveOn • Paul These noun • Anne subjects take• Le garçon the same form• La fille as their pronouns!

Ils/Elles se lavent• Paul et Luc These noun• Anne et Lise subjects take• Les garçons the same form• Les filles as their pronouns!

Shorten me to m’

te to t’

se to s’

Par exemple…

4. Before a verb that begins with a vowel or silent h…

Je m’habille

Nous nous habillons

Tu t’habilles Vous vous habillezIl/Elle/ s’habilleOn • Paul These noun • Anne subjects take• Le garçon the same form• La fille as their pronouns!

Ils/Elles s’habillent• Paul et Luc These noun• Anne et Lise subjects take• Les garçons the same form• Les filles as their pronouns!

s’habiller (to dress oneself)

ne comes before the reflexive pronoun and pas follows the verb.

Par ex. – Il se lève, mais il ne s’habille pas tout de suite.

5. In the negative…

the reflexive pronoun agrees with the subject.

Par exemple – Demain, nous allons nous lever tôt. (Tomorrow, we are going to get up early.)

6. When a reflexive verb follows another verb,

Je Nous

Tu Vous

Il/Elle/On Ils/Elles

7. Modèle: Essayez la conjugaison du verbe se lever (to get up)… NOTE: The singular side and 3rd person plural forms of this verb will magically grow an accent grave over the first “e.”

se lever (to get up)

Je me lève Nous nous levons

Tu te lèves Vous vous levez

Il/Elle se lève On

Ils/Elles se lèvent

A. se réveiller – to wake up

Je me réveille à 6 heures. (I wake up at 6:00.)

8. Some other reflexive verbs that are good to know are:

B. se brosser – to brush Elle se brosse. (She brushes her hair.)

Tu te brosses les dents. (You brush your teeth.)

C. se sécher – to dry oneself

Elle se sèche les cheveux. (She dries her hair.)

D. se raser – to shave oneself

Jacques se rase le matin. (Jacques shaves in the morning.)

E. se maquiller – to put on makeup

Marie se maquille le matin.(Marie puts on makeup in the morning.)

F. se peigner – to comb one’s hair

Je me peigne. (I comb my hair.)

G. se coiffer – to do one’s hair

Tu te coiffes. (You do your hair.)

H. se déshabiller – to undress oneself

Je me déshabille. (I undress myself.)

I. se coucher – to go to bed

Ils se couchent à 11 heures. (They go to bed at 11:00.)

Les autres verbes réfléchis importants sont…

J. s’appeler – to call (onself); to be namedEx. – Je m’appelle Lise. (I call myself Lise./ My name is Lise.) Note: This verb takes an extra “l” for the entire singular side and the 3rd person plural forms.

K. se dépêcher – to hurry (oneself)Ex. – Nous nous dépêchons le matin.

(We hurry {ourselves} in the morning.)

Fin!