1.35: Verbes Pronominaux

A pronominal verb is a verb that is accompanied by a reflexive pronoun. In French, in the infinitive form, they can easily be recognized as they are always preceded by “se“. You are already familiar with one of those verbs :

▫︎ s’appeler, je m’appelle, tu t’appelles.. etc. to call oneself

To conjugate pronominal verbs in the present tense, you need to pay attention to both the pronoun and the verb form. See below the conjugaison of the French pronominal verbs se raser and s’habiller

Pronominal verbs fall into three major classes based on their meaning: reflexive, idiomatic and reciprocal.

1. Reflexive verbs.

The subject perform the action on himself/herself, as the words “himself/herself” express it. Here are some common reflexive verbs :

• s’asseoir to sit (down)
• s’habiller to get dressed
• se laver / se laver les mains to wash / to wash one’s hands
• se brosser les dents to brush one’s teeth
• se réveiller to wake up
• se lever to get up
• se coucher to lie down / to go to bed
• se promener to take a walk
• s’arrêter to stop

Practice

2. Reciprocal verbs.

They express a reciprocal action performed between two persons or more. The reflexive pronoun can then often be translated be “each other” Here are some common reciprocal verbs :

• s’aimer to love each other
• se détetester to hate each other
• se disputer to argue with each other
• s’embrasser to kiss each other
• se retrouver to meet

Practice

3. Idiomatic verbs.

Those verbs take a reflexive pronoun but do not express a reflexive or a reciprocal action. Here are some common idiomatic verbs :

• s’amuser to have fun
• se dépêcher to hurry
• s’ennuyer to be bored
• se marier to get married
• se trouver to be situated

In a simple negative sentence.

☞ Je ne m’amuse pas du tout.

When there is a conjugated verb + an infinitive verb .

☞ Je vais m’amuser. Je ne vais pas m’amuser.

Practice

The imperative form

1. The pronoun is placed after the imperative verb and a hyphen separates the verb and the pronoun

▫︎ Nous nous amusons ☞ Amusons-nous !

2. “Te” is replaced by the disjunctive pronoun “toi”

▫︎ Tu t’amuses ☞ Amuse-toi !

3. With the negative imperative no specific changes take place

▫︎ Tu ne t’amuses pas ☞ Ne t’amuse pas !

Practice

The past tense of the pronominal verbs

In the passé composé all pronominal verbs are conjugated with the auxiliary être.

☞ Je me suis beaucoup amusé ! I had lot of fun !

☞ Elle s’est levée à 8 heures ce matin. She got up at 8 this morning.

Similar to the list of verbs of movement which take être in the passé composé, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject.

☞ Elle s’est lavée. She washed herself.

☞ Elles se sont lavées. They washed themselves.

Past participle agreement exception

• When a direct object follows the reflexive verb there’s no need to make the agreement on the past participle. For example:

☞ Elle s’est lavé les mains. She washed her hands.

• Furthermore, in cases where the reflexive pronoun is an indirect object rather than a direct object, as in the verb se parler (parler à), there is no agreement.

☞ Elles se sont parlé. They spoke with each other.

Negation in the past tense

In the negative, the ne precedes the reflexive pronoun and the pas follows the auxiliary.

☞ Je ne me suis pas levé tôt. I didn’t get up early..

Practice

Note: When the verb isn’t pronominal, the verb avoir must be used as an auxiliary.

☞ Elle t’a blessé la main. She hurt your hand (verb = blesser)
☞ Elle s’est blessé la main. She hurt her hand (verb = se blesser)