Reflexive / Pronominal Verbs
Reflexive verbs describe actions that someone does to themselves, and they always pair with a reflexive pronoun like me, te or se. This guide walks through how to recognize, conjugate, and use them.
Formation
A reflexive verb is shown in the dictionary with a se in front, and you attach the matching reflexive pronoun to that when you conjugate. The basic pronouns are me, te, se, nous, vous, and se.
| French Example | English Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ☀️ Je me réveille à sept heures. | I wake up at seven o’clock. | Morning routine |
| 🪞 Tu te regardes dans le miroir. | You look at yourself in the mirror. | Formation example |
| 🧴 Elle se lave les mains avant de manger. | She washes her hands before eating. | Reflexive with body parts |
| 🍵 Nous nous asseyons à la table. | We sit down at the table. | Plural subject |
| 🧑🍳 Vous vous préparez le café. | You (formal) prepare coffee for yourselves. | Polite form |
| 🛏️ Ils se couchent après dîner. | They go to bed after dinner. | Reflexive plural |
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Usage
Use a reflexive verb when the subject performs the action on themselves, or sometimes for actions that affect one's routine, experience, or state.
| French Example | English Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 🧼 Je me lave le visage chaque matin. | I wash my face every morning. | Personal care |
| 🧑🍳 Elle se prépare un sandwich. | She prepares a sandwich for herself. | Reflexive with indirect object |
| 🧶 Nous nous amusons en famille. | We have fun as a family. | Reciprocal meaning |
| 🚪 Ils se sont parlé avant de partir. | They spoke to each other before leaving. | Reciprocal past tense |
| 📅 Je me souviens de la recette. | I remember the recipe. | Idiomatic usage |
| 🧾 Elle s’est trompée dans la liste. | She made a mistake in the list. | Reflexive for error |
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Negative and Questions
In negatives, place the reflexive pronoun between ne and the verb. In questions with inversion, the reflexive pronoun stays in place and the verb inverts with the subject if needed.
| French Example | English Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|
| ❌ Je ne me lève pas trop tôt le dimanche. | I don’t get up too early on Sundays. | Negation placement |
| ❓ Est-ce que tu te couches tard ce soir? | Are you going to bed late tonight? | Yes/no question |
| 🧴 Pourquoi te laves-tu les mains si souvent? | Why do you wash your hands so often? | Inversion question |
| 🙅 Nous ne nous préparons pas pour la fête. | We are not getting ready for the party. | Plural negation |
| 📢 Ne vous couchez pas sans dire bonne nuit! | Don’t go to bed without saying goodnight! | Negative command |
| 🛎️ Tu ne te réveilles pas avec le bruit? | Don’t you wake up with the noise? | Negative question |
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Past Tense (Passé Composé)
Reflexive verbs use être as the auxiliary in the passé composé, and the past participle normally agrees in gender and number with the preceding reflexive pronoun when it acts as a direct object.
| French Example | English Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 🌅 Je me suis levé à six heures ce matin. | I got up at six o’clock this morning. | Agreement with subject |
| 🧼 Elle s’est lavé les mains avant de cuisiner. | She washed her hands before cooking. | No agreement with body part |
| 🧑🍳 Nous nous sommes préparés des assiettes. | We prepared plates for ourselves. | Plural agreement |
| 🚿 Il s’est douché rapidement avant l’arrivée des invités. | He showered quickly before the guests arrived. | Simple past action |
| 🙋 Ils se sont inscrits au cours de cuisine. | They signed up for the cooking class. | Reflexive in figurative sense |
| 💤 Je ne me suis pas couché tard hier. | I did not go to bed late yesterday. | Negative passé composé |
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Double Object Verbs
Some pronominal verbs have indirect and direct objects, so agreement depends on whether the reflexive pronoun is a direct or indirect object. When the reflexive pronoun is indirect, the past participle does not agree.
| French Example | English Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 🧑🍳 Je me prépare une tasse de thé. | I prepare myself a cup of tea. | Reflexive + indirect object |
| 🍞 Elle se fait souvent livrer du pain. | She often has bread delivered to herself. | Se + faire construction |
| 🥗 Nous nous coupons des parts de salade. | We cut ourselves portions of salad. | Double object with se |
| 📧 Il se regarde envoyer un message. | He watches himself sending a message. | Uncommon usage |
| 🧴 Tu te donnes beaucoup de travail aujourd’hui. | You are giving yourself a lot of work today. | Reflexive with donner |
| 🍽️ Ils se servent de l’eau pour boire. | They serve themselves some water to drink. | Pronominal with servir |
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Special Cases
There are reciprocal verbs where se refers to two or more people acting on each other, and some verbs change meaning when used reflexively versus non-reflexively. Also, in commands the reflexive pronoun flips to a \-toi / \-vous / \-nous form.
| French Example | English Translation | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 🧾 Elle s’est rendu compte de l’erreur. | She realized the mistake. | Idiomatic reflexive |
| 🧑🎨 Il se bat pour sa place au marché. | He fights for his spot at the market. | Figurative meaning |
| 🧑🍳 Je me suis mis à préparer le gâteau. | I started preparing the cake. | Se mettre à + infinitive |
| 🧴 Elle s’est laissé convaincre par la recette. | She let herself be convinced by the recipe. | Passif réfléchi |
| 📝 On se dit souvent “à demain” après les cours. | We often say “see you tomorrow” after class. | Reciprocal expression |
| 🚶 Ils se sont échappés avant la fermeture. | They escaped before closing. | Pronominal verb meaning |
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Summary
Reflexive verbs always pair with a matching pronoun like me or se, use être in compound tenses, and the past participle usually agrees when the pronoun is a direct object. They show actions done to oneself, routines, reciprocal acts, or sometimes changed meanings.
Last updated: Sun Sep 14, 2025