Reflexive Verbs & Pronouns in French

A verb is considered reflexive if the subject and the object of the verb are the same. This means that the subject is doing the action to itself, not to something or someone else. For instance, “I wash myself” is reflexive, while “I wash my car” is not reflexive.

Some verbs in French are commonly used in the reflexive form. Let us take a look at one example that you may be familiar with. The verb “appeler” means “to call,” e.g., “Ma mère m’appelle tous les vendredis” (My mom calls me every Friday).

However, the reflexive form of the verb “s’appeler,” which literally means “to call oneself,” is used to express one’s name. For instance, “Je m’appelle Pierre” means “My name is Pierre,” which is literally “I call myself Pierre.”

A reflexive verb is formed by preceding the verb in the infinitive with “se” or “s’” before a vowel or mute “h,” often translated as “oneself.”

Conjugation

There are many verbs in French that have reflexive forms. We will discuss some examples; however, let us first learn how to conjugate reflexive verbs. Consider the verb “se laver” (to wash oneself) as an example.

	Object Personal Pron.	e.g., se laver
je	me	lave
tu	te	laves
il/elle/on	se	lave
nous	nous	lavons
vous	vous	lavez
ils/elles	se	lavent

As shown in the table, we add the object personal pronoun before the verb. Note that the subject and object personal pronouns are of the same gender and number because the subject and the object are essentially the same.

Examples

Remember that when the verb is used in reflexive form, the infinitive is preceded with “se,” e.g., “se laver.” Here are more examples of reflexive verbs.

se lever	to get up	s’ennuyer	to get bored
se fâcher	to get mad	s’arrêter	to stop oneself
s’amuser	to have fun	se doucher	to take a shower
se preparer s’apprêter	to get ready	se brosser	to brush (one’s hair or teeth)
se coucher	to go to bed	se coiffer	to fix one’s hair
se reposer	to rest	se rassembler	to gather
se relaxer	to relax	se perdre	to get lost
se faire mal	to hurt oneself	s’inquiéter (de)	to worry (about)
se promener	to walk	se raser	to shave
se souvenir	to remember	se réjouir	to rejoice
se dépêcher	to hurry	se remettre (de)	to recover
s’asseoir	to sit down	se sentir	to feel
se fouler	to twist or sprain	se déshabiller	to undress oneself
se fatiguer	to get tired	se réveiller	to wake up
se saouler	to get drunk	s’habiller	to get dressed
se peigner	to comb one’s hair	se nuire	to harm oneself
se noyer	to drown	se moucher	to blow one’s nose
se marier	to get married	se maquiller	to put on makeup
s’intéresser à	to be interested in	s’habituer à	to get used to
s’imaginer	to imagine	s’inscrire à	to enroll or register
se fier à	to trust	se faire	to make oneself (a coffee, meal, etc.)
s’enrhumer	to catch a cold	s’énerver	to get annoyed
s’endormir	to fall asleep	se couper	to cut oneself
s’éloigner	to move away	s’effrayer	to be frightened

Let us look at some sentence examples:

Je m’ennuie vite à la maison.	I get bored fast at home.
Elle se lève toujours tôt.	She always gets up* early.*
Nous nous amusons beaucoup ensemble.	We have* a lot of fun together.*
Je me rase deux fois par semaine.	I shave* twice a week.*

One can add the reflexive pronoun to verbs that are not usually reflexive to make them reflexive, for example:

se parler	to speak to each other	se voir	to see each other
se comprendre	to understand each other	s’acheter	to buy oneself something

Some verbs are used only in reflexive form, such as “se suicider” (to commit suicide).

Change of Meaning in Reflexive Form

Some verbs change their meaning when they are used in reflexive form, for example:

ennuyer	to bore	s’ennuyer	to get bored
coucher	to lay down	se coucher	to lie down or go to bed
marier	to join in marriage	se marier	to get married
endormir	to put to sleep	s’endormir	to fall asleep

Auxiliary “Être” in Conjugation of Compound Tenses

Finally, keep in mind that all reflexive verbs use the auxiliary “être” when conjugated in the compound past, regardless of the auxiliary used by the non-reflexive form of the verb. For example:

Je me suis ennuyé hier soir.	I got bored last night.
Elle s’est réveillée tôt aujourd’hui.	She woke up* early today.*
Nous nous sommes beaucoup amusés hier.	We had* a lot of fun yesterday.*
Je me suis rasé la semaine dernière.	I shaved* last week.*
Elles se sont veus par hasard.	They saw each other* by accident.*

Remember that when “être,” is used as an auxiliary, the past participle takes the treatment of an adjective and must agree in gender and number with the subject.

Next: Expressions Using “Avoir” & “Faire”

Back to: French Lessons

Other lessons in Level IV:

Level IV – Intermediate

1. Degrees of Comparison

2. Partitives

3. Reflexive Pronouns & Verbs

4. Expressions Using “Avoir” & “Faire”

5. Present Subjunctive Tense I

6. Impersonal Verbs & Expressions

7. Future Perfect Tense

8. Interjections