Language/French/Grammar/Pronominal-Verbs

Pronominal verbs

Pronominal verbs are accompanied by an unstressed pronoun which agrees with the subject, and is one of me, te, se, nous, vous. This can function as a direct object:

Direct object: se laver 'to wash (oneself)'

• 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 face'

literally: 'to wash the face to oneself

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

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

• laver la voiture 'to wash the car',
• se laver le visage 'to wash one's face'.

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'.

All pronominal verbs are conjugated with être in compound tenses.