Reflexive verbs

A reflexive verb (in French, un verbe pronominal — a pronominal verb) describes an action that the subject does to itself. Think of a mirror: the person doing the action and the person receiving it are the same person.

Compare these two sentences:

• Je lave la voiture. (I wash the car.) — ordinary verb, the action goes outward to the car.
• Je me lave. (I wash myself / I get washed.) — reflexive verb, the action comes back to me.

That little extra word me ('myself') is what makes the second sentence reflexive. Every reflexive verb has one of these.

How to spot a reflexive verb in the dictionary. The infinitive always begins with se (or s' before a vowel). The se means 'oneself':

Reflexive infinitive	Literal meaning	Natural English
se laver	to wash oneself	to get washed
se lever	to raise oneself	to get up
s'appeler	to call oneself	to be called / one's name is
se reposer	to rest oneself	to rest / relax
s'amuser	to amuse oneself	to have fun

A friendly warning about English. English usually hides the 'self' idea. We say "I get up", not "I get myself up"; we say "my name is Marc", not "I call myself Marc". But French keeps the reflexive pronoun every single time. So you must add it even when English would not — this is the number-one beginner trap.

Worked mini-example. "I get dressed" feels like it has no 'self' word in English. In French the verb is s'habiller (to dress oneself), so you must say *je **m'*habille — never je habille. The m' is compulsory.

Every reflexive verb needs a reflexive pronoun sitting just before the verb. There are six, one for each subject. Learn them as a single block — they never change from verb to verb.

Subject	Reflexive pronoun	Means
je	me	myself
tu	te	yourself
il / elle / on	se	himself / herself / itself / oneself
nous	nous	ourselves
vous	vous	yourself / yourselves
ils / elles	se	themselves

Notice that nous and vous look exactly like their subjects — that makes them easy. The three that change are me, te, se.

Elision before a vowel. When the verb begins with a vowel or a silent h, the pronouns me, te, se drop their e and take an apostrophe — exactly the elision rule from pronunciation:

• je me appelle → je m'appelle (my name is)
• tu te amuses → tu t'amuses (you have fun)
• il se habille → il s'habille (he gets dressed)

The nous and vous pronouns never elide.

Worked mini-example. Choose the right pronoun for (nous) se reposer (to rest). The subject is nous, so the reflexive pronoun is also nous: nous nous reposons (we rest). Yes, you really do write nous twice — the first is the subject, the second is the reflexive pronoun. This looks odd at first but is completely correct.

Conjugating a reflexive verb is easy once you see the recipe: subject + reflexive pronoun + the verb conjugated normally. Most daily-routine reflexives are regular -er verbs, so the endings are the familiar -e, -es, -e, -ons, -ez, -ent.

Here is se laver (to get washed / wash oneself) in full:

Subject	Pronoun	Verb	Full form	English
je	me	lave	je me lave	I get washed
tu	te	laves	tu te laves	you get washed
il / elle / on	se	lave	il se lave	he gets washed
nous	nous	lavons	nous nous lavons	we get washed
vous	vous	lavez	vous vous lavez	you get washed
ils / elles	se	lavent	ils se lavent	they get washed

The verb part (lave, laves, lave, lavons, lavez, lavent) is conjugated exactly as if it were the ordinary verb laver — the only new thing is the reflexive pronoun in front.

Two small spelling-change reflexives to know. A couple of very common daily-routine verbs change a letter in some forms (they are still -er verbs):

• se lever (to get up) takes a grave accent in most forms: je me lève, tu te lèves, il se lève, nous nous levons, vous vous levez, ils se lèvent.
• s'appeler (to be called) doubles the l: je m'appelle, tu t'appelles, il s'appelle, nous nous appelons, vous vous appelez, ils s'appellent.

Notice the nous and vous forms are the 'plain' ones in both cases — the change disappears there.

A daily-routine starter pack.

Infinitive	English	Example (je)
se réveiller	to wake up	je me réveille (I wake up)
se lever	to get up	je me lève (I get up)
se laver	to get washed	je me lave (I get washed)
se brosser (les dents)	to brush (one's teeth)	je me brosse les dents (I brush my teeth)
s'habiller	to get dressed	je m'habille (I get dressed)
se reposer	to rest	je me repose (I rest)
s'amuser	to have fun	je m'amuse (I have fun)
se coucher	to go to bed	je me couche (I go to bed)

Worked mini-example. Describe your morning: "I wake up, I get up and I get dressed." Build each verb with its pronoun: *Je me réveille, je me lève et je **m'*habille. Note the elision in m'habille because habiller starts with a silent h.

Negatives — wrap ne … pas around the pronoun AND the verb. The reflexive pronoun stays glued to the verb, and the negative goes around the whole unit (pronoun + verb):

• Je me lève. (I get up.) → Je ne me lève pas. (I do not get up.)
• Il s'habille. (He gets dressed.) → Il ne s'habille pas. (He does not get dressed.)
• Nous nous reposons. (We rest.) → Nous ne nous reposons pas. (We do not rest.)

The order is always ne + [reflexive pronoun] + [verb] + pas. Do not split the pronoun from the verb.

Questions — the easy way for beginners. The simplest, fully-correct way to ask a reflexive question is to add est-ce que at the front (or just use a rising voice):

• Est-ce que tu te lèves tôt ? (Do you get up early?)
• Est-ce que vous vous amusez ? (Are you having fun / having a good time?)
• Tu te couches à quelle heure ? (What time do you go to bed?) — rising intonation, no inversion needed.

Inversion (for recognition). In more formal French the subject and verb swap and join with a hyphen, but the reflexive pronoun stays in front: Te lèves-tu tôt ? (Do you get up early?), Comment vous appelez-vous ? (What is your name?). You only need to recognise this; est-ce que is perfectly acceptable for your own answers.

Worked mini-example. Make "We don't go to bed late" negative. Verb: se coucher. Subject nous → pronoun nous. Wrap it: Nous ne nous couchons pas tard. (We do not go to bed late.) The ne … pas surrounds nous couchons as one block.

To talk about the past ("I got up", "she woke up"), you use the perfect tense (passé composé). There is one golden rule you must never forget:

Reflexive verbs ALWAYS form the perfect tense with être, never avoir.

The recipe is: subject + reflexive pronoun + present tense of être + past participle.

Here is se laver (to get washed) in the perfect tense:

Subject	Form	English
je	je me suis lavé(e)	I got washed
tu	tu t'es lavé(e)	you got washed
il	il s'est lavé	he got washed
elle	elle s'est lavée	she got washed
nous	nous nous sommes lavé(e)s	we got washed
vous	vous vous êtes lavé(e)(s)	you got washed
ils	ils se sont lavés	they got washed (m.)
elles	elles se sont lavées	they got washed (f.)

The agreement rule. Because the auxiliary is être, the past participle agrees with the subject, just like the être verbs of motion (allé, venu…):

• feminine subject → add -e: elle s'est lavée.
• masculine plural → add -s: ils se sont lavés.
• feminine plural → add -es: elles se sont lavées.
• masculine singular → no change: il s'est lavé.

The endings -é, -ée, -és, -ées all sound identical when spoken, so agreement mainly matters in writing (Paper 4).

Building it step by step. To say "she got up":

1. Subject = elle; reflexive pronoun = se → s' before the vowel of est.
2. Auxiliary = present of être for elle = est.
3. Past participle of se lever = levé; subject is feminine singular → add -e = levée.
4. Result: Elle s'est levée. (She got up.)

Worked mini-example. "My sisters woke up early." Verb se réveiller; subject mes sœurs (feminine plural) → use elles. Auxiliary sont; participle réveillé + -es (fem. plural) = réveillées. Answer: Mes sœurs se sont réveillées tôt. (My sisters woke up early.)

Reflexive verbs are not only about washing and dressing. Several high-frequency verbs you will need for the exam are reflexive even though the 'self' idea is hidden in English.

Feelings and states.

Reflexive verb	English	Example
s'appeler	to be called	Je m'appelle Léa. (My name is Léa.)
se sentir	to feel	Je me sens bien. (I feel well.)
s'ennuyer	to be/get bored	Je m'ennuie en classe. (I'm bored in class.)
s'intéresser à	to be interested in	Je m'intéresse au sport. (I'm interested in sport.)
se fâcher	to get angry	Il se fâche vite. (He gets angry quickly.)
s'inquiéter	to worry	Ne t'inquiète pas ! (Don't worry!)

Things going wrong (very common in stories).

Reflexive verb	English	Example
se tromper	to make a mistake / be wrong	Je me suis trompé(e). (I made a mistake.)
se dépêcher	to hurry	Dépêche-toi ! (Hurry up!)
se perdre	to get lost	Nous nous sommes perdus. (We got lost.)

'Each other' — the reciprocal meaning. With a plural subject, a reflexive verb can mean the people do the action to each other:

• Ils se parlent. (They talk to each other.)
• Nous nous retrouvons au café. (We meet up / meet each other at the café.)
• Elles s'aiment. (They love each other.)

The imperative (giving an order). When you tell someone to do a reflexive action, the pronoun moves after the verb and te becomes toi:

• Lève-toi ! (Get up!) — from se lever.
• Dépêche-toi ! (Hurry up!) — from se dépêcher.
• Asseyez-vous, s'il vous plaît. (Sit down, please.) — from s'asseoir.

Worked mini-example. Tell a friend "Don't worry, hurry up!" Use s'inquiéter and se dépêcher. Negative imperative keeps the pronoun before: *Ne **t'*inquiète pas ; positive imperative moves it after: dépêche-toi . Answer: Ne t'inquiète pas, dépêche-toi !