Language/French/Grammar/Pronominal-Verbs

From Polyglot Club WIKI
< Language‎ | French‎ | Grammar
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This lesson can still be improved. EDIT IT NOW! & become VIP
Rate this lesson:
5.00
(one vote)

French-Language-PolyglotClub.png
Pronominal verbs

[CHANGED]

What's a Pronominal Verb in French?[edit | edit source]

Pronominal verbs ("Les verbes pronominaux" in French), of which there are several categories, are verbs that are constructed with a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous) of the same person as the subject.

This pronoun is always placed before the verb.

Examples[edit | edit source]

  • Tu t'es promenée à la campagne.

You took a walk in the countryside.

  • Il s'est arrêté.

He stopped.

  • Je m’étais perdu.

I got lost.

  • Nous nous sommes retournés

We turned around

  • Vous vous êtes souvenus du chemin.

You remembered the way.

  • Ils se regardent dans le mirroir

They look at each other in the mirror

Subject-Verb Agreement of Pronominal Verbs in French[edit | edit source]

Pronominal verbs go with an unstressed pronoun that agrees with the subject, and is one of me, te, se, nous, vous. It can work as a direct object:

Direct object: se laver 'to wash (oneself)'[edit | edit source]

  • je me lave
  • tu te laves
  • Paul se lave
  • Virginie se lave
  • nous nous lavons
  • vous vous lavez
  • ils se lavent
  • elles se lavent

or as an indirect object:

Indirect object: se laver le visage 'to wash one's hands'[edit | edit source]

literally: 'to wash the hands'

  • je me lave les mains
  • tu te laves les mains
  • Paul se lave les mains
  • Virginie se lave les mains
  • nous nous lavons les mains
  • vous vous lavez les mains
  • ils se lavent les mains
  • elles se lavent les mains

Some verbs exist in both a pronominal and non-pronominal form, as "laver" does:

  • laver la salle de bain

to wash the bathroom

  • se laver le corps

to wash one's body

Others are always pronominal, for example:

  • s'évanouir

to faint

  • s'enorgueillir de

to take pride in

  • s'évertuer à

to try very hard to


⚠ Important: All pronominal verbs are conjugated with the auxiliary "être" in compound tenses.


Video: French Made Easy: Reflexive Verbs[edit | edit source]

Other Chapters[edit | edit source]

Table of Contents

Nouns


Determiners


Personal and impersonal pronouns


Adjectives


Adverbs


Numbers, measurements, time and quantifiers


Verb forms


Verb constructions


Verb and participle agreement


Tense


The subjunctive, modal verbs, exclamatives and imperatives


The infinitive


Prepositions


Question formation


Relative clauses


Negation


Conjunctions and other linking constructions

Videos[edit | edit source]

Learn French - Pronominal Verbs ( Reflexive and Reciprocal Verbs ...[edit | edit source]

Learn French Grammar I Pronominal verbs with a passive meaning ...[edit | edit source]

Asking questions using French pronominal verbs - YouTube[edit | edit source]

Contributors

Maintenance script


Create a new Lesson