Reflexive Verbs
Reflexive verbs in French can be a little tricky, but if you remember a
few basic rules you should do ok. The reflexive pronoun might throw
a lot of people off at first, but then they find out that the reflexive
verbs follow the same rules for conjugaison and tense formation as any other
verb. Here is a handout to help you learn them.
Reflexive verbs are preceeded by an object pronoun that agrees with the
subject of the sentence. The reflexive pronouns are:
je = me (m' before a vowel or silent 'h') nous = nous
tu = te (t' before a vowel or silent 'h') vous = vous
il/elle = se (s' before a vowel or silent 'h') ils/elles = se (s' before
a vowel or silent 'h')
We've already seen some examples of this, Je m'amuse. and Elle
se lève. (Note that in many cases the English equivalents are
nonreflexive.) In dictionaries reflexive verbs are listed under
the infinitive form, proceeded by the third person reflexive pronoun se.
So remember to make the pronoun agree with the subject of the sentence
when you write your sentences. For example:
s'amuser: to have fun (literally, to amuse oneself)
Nous nous amusons au cours de français.
Making Questions
Making questions with reflexive verbs follow the same pattern as non reflexive
verbs.
Intonation Tu te lèves tôt demain?
With est-ce que Est-ce que tu te lèves tôt demain?
With inversion Te lèves-tu tôt demain? (The object pronoun
remains in front of the verb.)
With n'est-ce pas Tu te lèves tôt demain, n'est-ce pas?
Negation
With reflexive verbs in negative sentences ne is placed before the
object pronoun and pas, rien, jamais are placed after
the verb.
Je ne me lève pas tôt.
Je ne me lève jamais tôt.
Used as an infinitive with anothe verb
When a reflexive verb is used in the infinitive after another verb the
reflexive pronoun agrees with the subject of the sentence.
Je n'aime pas me lever tôt.
Nous allons nous lever tôt demain.
In the passé composé
(We're going to learn the passé composé of reflexive verbs
in chapter 7. I'm giving it to you now for completeness. You won't be
required to know this for the test until we cover it in class.)
Reflexive verbs use être as the auxiliary verb to form the passé
composé, not avoir. If the reflexive pronoun is the direct
object the past participle agrees in gender and number with it.
The reflexive pronoun preceeds the auxiliary verb directly.
Elle se lève. Elle s'est levée.
Elles se lèvent. Elles se sont levées.
Se lèvent-elles? Se sont-elles levées?
If the reflexive pronoun is the indirect object (as when referring
to parts of the body) there is no agreement between the past participle
and the reflexive pronoun.
se laver - to wash
Elle se lave. She washes.
Elle s'est lavée. She washed herself.
Elle s'est lavé les cheveux. She washed her hair.
(Les cheveux is the direct object, se is the indirect object.)
In negative sentences in the passé composé the reflexive
pronoun still preceeds the auxiliary verb directly.
Elle ne s'est pas lavée.
Ne s'est-elle pas lavée?
As you just saw, the reflexive pronoun preceeds the auxiliary verb and
inversion occurs between the subject pronoun and the auxiliary.
Reflexive pronouns will come after the verb in the case of affirmative
commands, which we'll cover in a later chapter.