To wash oneself Not all French reflexive verbs are

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1. THE REFLEXIVE VERBS
P.131
Example of a reflexive verb in English:
To wash oneself
Not all French reflexive verbs are reflexive in English.
However they use the same rule = adding a reflexive
pronoun (in French it comes before the conjugated verb)
Reflexive pronouns (only in the case of reflexive verbs):
Myself = me
Yourself = te
Himself, herself, itself = se
Ourselves = nous
Yourselves = vous
Themselves = se
EX:
SE LAVER (TO WASH ONESELF)
I wash myself = Je me lave
You wash yourself = Tu te laves
HE washes himself = Il se lave
We wash ourselves = Nous nous lavons
You wash yourselves = Vous vous lavez
They wash themselves = Ils se lavent
Some regular reflexive verbs that are not relfexive in
English:
Se lever (V ref.) = to wake up
Se coucher (V ref.) = to go to bed
Se doucher (V ref.) = to shower
Se brosser les cheveux = to brush one's hair
S'amuser (V ref.) = to have fun
S'ennuyer (V ref.) = to be bored
2.THE NEGATION
Add NE ... PAS around the conjugated verb
Present tense
EX:
Je mange (I eat)
Je ne mange pas (I do not eat)
For the near future (aller + infinitive) it goes around
ALLER conjugated
EX:
Je vais manger (I am going to eat)
Je ne vais pas manger (I am not going to eat)
Note: NE becomes N' if the verb starts with a vowel
EX:
J'apporte le livre
Je n'apporte pas le livre
For the PASSÉ COMPOSÉ (Present perfect) NE ... PAS goes
around the conjugated auxiliary
EX:
J'ai apporté le livre
Je n'ai pas apporté le livre
Note: for reflexive vers (with SE), the reflexive pronoun
is part of the conjugated verb, therefore NE ... PAS goes
around the verb WITH its pronoun.
EX:
SE COUCHER (TO GO TO BED)
Je me couche
Je ne me couche pas
3. P. 133 THE IMPERATIVE FORM
The conjuguaison stays the same as the regular indicative
present EXCEPT for the 2nd person (tu) of the 1st groupe
(-ER) where the S disappears (see in red).
Indicative Imperative Imperative Imperative Imperative
-ER
-ER
-ER
-IR
Aller
(negative)
Je mange
-
-
-
-
Tu manges
(You eat)
Mange!
(Eat!)
Finis!
(Finish!)
Vas!
(Go!)
Il mange
-
Ne mange
pas!
(Don't
Eat!)
-
-
-
Nous
mangeons
Mangeons!
Ne
mangeons
pas!
Finissons!
Allons!
Vous
mangez
Mangez!
Ne mangez
pas!
Finissez!
Allez!
Ils
mangent
-
-
-
-
Note: For the reflexive verbs (1.), at the IMPERATIVE FORM
(!) the reflexive pronoun comes after the verb preceded by
an hyphen. For the second person, TE becomes TOI at the
affirmative only.
SE LAVER (To wash oneself)
Lave-toi! (Wash yourself!)
Lavons-nous! (Let's wash ourselves!)
Lavez-vous! (Wash yourselves!)
BUT
Ne te lave pas! (Do not wash yourself!)
Ne nous lavons pas! (Let's not wash ourselves!)
Ne vous lavez pas! (Wash yourselves!)
SE COUCHER (TO GO TO BED)
Couche-toi! (Go to bed!)
Couchons-nous! (Let's go to bed!)
Couchez-vous! (Go to bed!)
BUT
Ne te couche pas! (Do not go to bed!)
Ne nous couchons pas! (Let's not go to bed!)
Ne vous couchez pas! (Do not go to bed!)