REFLEXIVE VERBS

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French Grammar: Worksheet 32
REFLEXIVE VERBS
In the sentence: “he is enjoying himself”, enjoy is a reflexive verb, that is to say, himself and he
refer to the same person. In the infinitive, the form of a reflexive verb is: "to enjoy oneself".
In French, a reflexive verb is a verb associated with a reflexive pronoun. In the infinitive, the
reflexive pronoun is se:
se + laver = to wash (oneself)
"se" is also used with il / elle and ils / elles (il se lave, elles se lavent). For the other pronouns (je,
tu, nous and vous), the reflexive pronouns are the same as the direct object pronouns (me, te,
nous, vous):
reflexive pronouns
me = (to) myself
te = (to) yourself
se=(to)himself/herself/itself/onese
lf/themselves
nous = (to) ourselves
vous = (to) yourself/
yourselves
je m'amuse = I (am) enjoy(ing) myself
tu t'amuses = you (are) enjoy(ing) yourself
il/elle s'amuse = he/she (is) enjoy(ing) himself/
herself
ils/elles s'amusent = they (are) enjoy(ing)
themselves
nous nous amusons = we (are) enjoy(ing)
ourselves
vous vous amusez = you (are) enjoy(ing)
yourself/yourselves
•
The "e" of me, te, se is dropped before a vowel (je m'amuse).
•
In the repeated forms of "nous nous" and "vous vous", the first "nous" and "vous" are subject
pronouns, the second ones are reflexive pronouns.
•
The reflexive pronoun corresponding to "on" is "se"
on s'amuse beaucoup (one enjoys oneself a lot/we enjoy ourselves a lot)
•
A verb that is reflexive in French is not necessarily reflexive in English. Here are some of the
most common reflexive verbs in French and their translation in English:
s'amuser
to enjoy oneself, to have a good time
to be called
s'appeler
to stop
s'arrêter
to sit down
s'asseoir
to hurry
se dépêcher
to go (away)
s'en aller
to get bored
s'ennuyer
to wash oneself/to get washed
se laver
to get up, to stand up
se lever
to happen
se passer
to have a walk
se promener
to recall, to remember
se rappeler
to remember
se souvenir (de)
to make a mistake
se tromper
to be situated
se trouver
Some of the reflexive pronouns are also used to indicate a reciprocal action involving two or more
persons:
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on s'aime (we love one another)
ils se détestent (they hate each other)
nous nous écrivons régulièrement (we write to one another regularly)
•
In the imperative, the reflexive pronoun is placed after the verb in the affirmative:
amuse-toi! (enjoy yourself!)
asseyons-nous! (let's sit down!)
souvenez-vous! (remember!)
but stays in its usual place -before the verb - in the negative form:
ne vous en allez pas! (don't go away!)
ne vous trompez pas! (don't make a mistake!)
•
When conjugated in the present perfect, all reflexive verbs take the auxiliary "être": (je me suis
trompé(e), tu t'es trompé(e), il/elle s'est trompé(e), nous nous sommes trompé(e)s, vous vous
êtes trompé(e)s, ils/elles se sont trompé(e)s)
Je me suis arrêté(e) aux feux (I stopped at the traffic lights)
Nous nous sommes dépêché(e)s pour ne pas être en retard
(we hurried along in order not to be late)
elles se sont trompées (they made a mistake)
See sheet 36 if you want to revise the agreement of the past participle
EXERCISES
A Insert the correct form of the reflexive verb in the present in the affirmative or negative
e.g (se coucher) oui, je.......très tard - oui, je me couche très tard
(s'ennuyer) non, nous........jamais - non, nous ne nous ennuyons jamais
1- (s'amuser) oui, ils ..................……….......... beaucoup.
2- (s'appeler) non, elle ..................……….......... Claire.
3- (se dépêcher) oui, je ..................……….......... de terminer mon travail.
4- (s'en aller) non, nous ..................……….......... tout de suite.
5- (s'arrêter) oui, tu dois ..................……….......... aux feux.
6- (s'asseoir) oui, elles ..................……….......... dans la salle d'attente.
7- (se souvenir) oui, on ..................……….......... des difficultés rencontrées.
8- (se rappeler) non, tu ..................……….......... l'adresse.
9- (se tromper) oui, il doit ..................………..........
10- (se voir) oui, ils ..................……….......... tous les mercredis.
appeler and rappeler have some irregular forms in the present (j'appelle,tu appelles, il appelle,ils
appellent)
s'asseoir is an irregular verb (je m'assieds, tu t'assieds, il s'assied, nous nous asseyons, vous vous
asseyez, ils s'asseyent)
salle (f) d'attente = waiting room
rencontrées = met
tous les = every
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B
Using the time indication given in brackets turn the following sentences into the past
e.g: je me trompe souvent (hier) - je me suis trompé(e) hier
I often make mistakes (yesterday) - I made a mistake yesterday
1- Nous nous levons à huit heures (dimanche).
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2- Est-ce que vous vous ennuyez aux conférences? (à la conférence de lundi dernier)
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3- Mon assistante se souvient de l'adresse de votre hôtel. (hier)
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4- Qu'est-ce qui se passe maintenant? (il y a quelques jours)
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5- Ils ne s'arrêtent pas pour déjeuner. (hier)
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C
Translate into French
1- We hurried up but we arrived late.
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2- I stopped at the bank.
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3- They telephone each other every Sunday.
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4- I think (that) the company is called Vélox.
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5- What's happening here?
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6- I got up early today in order to finish my report.
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7- We enjoyed ourselves a lot last night.
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8- What happened last Monday?
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9- They sat down on their luggage.
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10- I suddenly remembered his phone number.
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late = en retard today = aujourd'hui
a lot = (here) bien
last night = hier soir
luggage = bagages(m,pl)
s'asseoir has an irregular past participle : assis(e)
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