Giáo trình động từ tiếng Pháp - Part I Living in the Here and Now: The Present Indicative - Chapter 5 pot

Chapter 5
Reflecting on Pronominal Verbs
(Reflexive, Reciprocal, and Idiomatic)
In This Chapter
ᮣ Explaining reflexive verbs
ᮣ Clarifying reciprocal verbs
ᮣ Discussing idiomatic verbs
T
he pronominal verb is one of the trickiest concepts for native English-speakers to under-
stand. You may be scratching your head, wondering how you can tell whether a verb
is pronominal or not. Don’t worry. You can easily tell because the infinitive is preceded by
the pronoun
se (or s’ if the verb begins with a vowel or a mute h). For example, se laver
(to wash oneself), s’amuser (to have fun), and s’habiller (to get dressed) are all pronominal
verbs.
This chapter focuses on the three types of pronominal verbs: reflexive, reciprocal, and
idiomatic. They may seem tricky, but you do catch a few breaks: You conjugate pronominal
verbs the same way you conjugate regular French verbs, and the pronominal pronouns
(which each verb has) are the same whether the verb is reflexive, reciprocal, or idiomatic. If
you want more information about reflexive verbs and giving commands, check out Chapter 8,
and see Chapter 7 for information on using reflexive verbs when answering negatively.
Understanding Reflexive Verbs
Every pronominal verb has a pronominal pronoun in front of it. With reflexive verbs, this
pronoun is often referred to as the reflexive pronoun. The addition of the reflexive pronoun
doesn’t necessarily change the meaning of the verb, but it alerts you that the subject is doing
the action on itself.
Laver (to wash) and se laver (to wash oneself) are a great example. Je lave
la voiture
means I’m washing the car. The subject, je, is performing an action on something or
someone else — in this case,
la voiture. Add a reflexive pronoun and you get Je me lave,

which means I wash/am washing myself. Now the subject is performing the action on itself.
Before you can conjugate reflexive verbs, you need to know about their unique pronouns.
Table 5-1 shows a list of subject pronouns and their corresponding reflexive pronouns. You
use these pronouns when you want to imply that the subject is doing the action on itself.
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Table 5-1 Subject Pronouns and the Corresponding Reflexive Pronouns
Subject Pronouns Reflexive Pronouns
je me
tu te
il/elle/on se
nous nous
vous vous
ils/elles se
I conjugate the verb laver first as nonreflexive and then as reflexive so that you can
compare the two. Remember that
laver is a regular -er verb. (You can check out
Chapter 2 for more about present-tense regular verb conjugations.)
laver (
to wash something or someone
)
je lave nous lavons
tu laves vous lavez
il/elle/on lave ils/elles lavent
Je lave le bébé. (
I am washing the baby.
)
se laver (
to wash oneself
)
je me lave nous nous lavons

tu te laves vous vous lavez
il/elle/on se lave ils/elles se lavent
Elle se lave. (
She washes/is washing herself.
)
With Je lave la voiture and Je lave le bébé, the subject is performing the action on
something (the car) or someone (the baby) else. However, with
Je me lave, the sub-
ject is doing the action on itself. Thus, you use a reflexive verb.
Drop the
e from the pronouns me, te, and se and add an apostrophe before a verb
that begins with a vowel or a mute
h. The verb s’habiller (to dress) serves as an
example.
s’habiller (
to dress oneself/to get dressed
)
je m’habille nous nous habillons
tu t’habilles vous vous habillez
il/elle/on s’habille ils/elles s’habillent
Nous nous habillons. (
We get/are getting dressed.
)
The following verbs in Table 5-2 can be reflexive or nonreflexive. When the subject is
doing the action not on itself but on someone or something else, don’t use a reflexive
pronoun. When the subject is doing the action on itself, use the reflexive pronoun.
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Table 5-2 Common French Reflexive Verbs

Verb Translation
s’appeler
to call oneself, to be named
s’arrêter
to stop oneself
s’habiller
to dress oneself, to get dressed
se baigner
to bathe oneself
se brosser
to brush oneself
se coiffer
to do/style one’s hair
se coucher
to go to bed, to put oneself to bed
se couper
to cut oneself
se laver
to wash oneself
se lever
to get up, to get oneself up
se maquiller
to put makeup on oneself
se peigner
to comb one’s hair
(literally,
to comb oneself
)
se promener
to take oneself for a walk, to stroll

se raser
to shave oneself
se réveiller
to wake oneself up
When you use a part of the body with a reflexive verb, you need definite articles
before the part of the body rather than the possessive adjectives that you use in
English. A definite article means
the in English and in French is le (masculine singu-
lar),
la (feminine singular), l’ (masculine or feminine singular beginning with a vowel
or mute
h), or les (masculine or feminine plural). For example, I wash my face in
French is “Je
me lave la figure.” It literally means I wash the face to myself.
Now it’s your turn to take a stab. The following practice exercises can help you get a
better grasp of reflexive verbs. In these exercises, determine whether the subject is
doing the action on itself or on someone/something else. Choose the reflexive or non-
reflexive verb and conjugate it in the sentence. I provide the translations in the
Answer Key.
Q. Elle _________________ (peigner/se peigner) les cheveux.
A. Elle se peigne les cheveux. (She is combing her hair.)
Q. Nous _________________ (brosser/se brosser) les dents.
A. Nous nous brossons les dents. (We are brushing our teeth.)
1. Elle _________________ (maquiller/se maquiller) la poupée.
2. Je _________________ (réveiller/se réveiller) à six heures.
3. Tu _________________ (couper/se couper) ton bifteck.
4. Ils _________________ (laver /se laver).
5. Nous _________________ (brosser/se brosser) les cheveux.
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Looking At Reciprocal Verbs
Reciprocal verbs are another type of pronominal verb and they reciprocate the action
of the subject pronouns. The meaning is
each other or to each other. Nous nous
aimons
(we love each other) and ils se parlent (they are speaking to each other) are
two examples. Because the subject pronoun
on can often refer to a plural subject pro-
noun like
we or even they, it can also be used in reciprocal constructions. Check out
the following examples:
On
s’écrit tous les jours. (We write to each other every day.)
On
se voit souvent. (We see each other often.)
Remember that even when
on has a plural meaning, you always conjugate the verb in
the third person singular.
Table 5-3 lists the common reciprocal verbs.
Table 5-3 Common French Reciprocal Verbs
Verb Translation
s’aimer
to love each other
s’écrire
to write to each other
s’embrasser
to kiss each other
se comprendre
to understand each other

se connaître
to know each other
se dire
to say to each other
se disputer
to argue with each other
se parler
to speak to each other
se promettre
to promise each other
se quitter
to leave each other
se regarder
to look at each other
se rencontrer
to meet each other
se retrouver
to find each other
se téléphoner
to call each other
se voir
to see each other
After you’ve had a chance to familiarize yourself with reciprocal verbs, take a moment
to try the following practice exercises. In these exercises, conjugate the following
verbs and then translate the sentences.
Q. Nous _________________ (se rencontrer) souvent.
A. Nous nous rencontrons souvent. (We meet each other often.)
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6. Ils _________________ (se promettre).
__________________________________________________________________________________
7.
Vous _________________ (se dire) au revoir.
__________________________________________________________________________________
8.
Nous _________________ (se voir).
__________________________________________________________________________________
9.
On _________________ (s’écrire).
__________________________________________________________________________________
10.
Elles _________________ (se comprendre).
__________________________________________________________________________________
Attempting Idiomatic Verbs
The last type of pronominal verbs is idiomatic — those verbs whose meaning can’t be
understood from the usual meaning of the verb. In other words, the same verb has
one meaning when it is nonpronominal and a different meaning when it is pronominal.
To help you understand the difference between the idiomatic and the usual meaning
of a verb, check out the following example:
Il ennuie sa soeur. (He is bothering his sister.)
Il s’ennuie. (He is bored.)
As you notice from the preceding example, when you use the verb
ennuyer in its non-
pronominal form, it means something completely different than in its pronominal form.
This is the case for all idiomatic pronominal verbs. These verbs become idiomatic
when you use them in their pronominal form because their meaning changes, some-
times even drastically. You can’t translate idiomatic expressions word for word
because separately they have a different meaning than when they’re idiomatic.
If you already know that

ennuyer means to bother, you may have difficulty translating
il s’ennuie correctly. Why does it refer to boredom instead? That’s just the nature of
idiomatic verbs or expressions in any language. Imagine trying to tell a nonnative
English-speaker that she’s the “apple of your eye” or that you “got up on the wrong
side of the bed,” and you’ll see what I mean. To a native speaker, it’s a common
enough phrase; translated literally into another language, it doesn’t make much
sense. The bottom line: If you’re aware of what an idiom is and you try to remember
the idioms in this chapter, you’ll end up understanding more French and sounding
more like a native when you speak.
These idiomatic verbs include the pronominal pronouns, just like the reflexive and
reciprocal verbs do, and are conjugated the same way.
Table 5-4 compares the “plain” usual verb with its idiomatic counterpart.
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Table 5-4 Comparing the Usual Verb with the Idiomatic Verb
Usual Verb Translation Idiomatic Verb Translation
aller
to go
s’en aller
to go away, to leave
amuser
to amuse, to entertain
s’amuser
to have fun
débrouiller
to disentangle
se débrouiller
to manage
demander

to ask
se demander
to wonder
dépêcher
to dispatch
se dépêcher
to hurry, to be in a hurry
douter
to doubt
se douter de
to suspect
ennuyer
to bother
s’ennuyer
to be bored
entendre
to hear
s’entendre
to get along
inquiéter
to disturb someone
s’inquiéter
to become worried
mettre
to put, to place
se mettre à + infinitive
to begin
(
to do something
)

occuper
to occupy, to hold
s’occuper de
to be in charge of,
to take care of,
to deal with
passer
to go, to pass
se passer de
to do without
rappeler
to call back
se rappeler
to remember, to recall
rendre
to give back, to return
se rendre compte de
to realize
servir
to serve
se servir de
to use
tromper
to deceive, to disappoint
se tromper de
to be mistaken, to be
wrong
Try translating these sentences and conjugating the pronominal verbs.
Q. Mom takes care of the children.
A. Maman s’occupe des enfants.

11.
We get along.
__________________________________________________________________________________
12.
I am going away.
__________________________________________________________________________________
13.
They are seeing each other.
__________________________________________________________________________________
14.
David is in a hurry.
__________________________________________________________________________________
15.
We are bored.
__________________________________________________________________________________
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In the following group of practice exercises, conjugate the verb and then translate the
sentence. In each question, I add some adverbs after the verbs to make the sentences
more interesting. (Check out Chapter 2 for common adverbs.)
Q. Nous _________________ (s’écrire) souvent.
__________________________________________________________________________________
A. Nous nous écrivons souvent. We write to each other often.
16. Tu _________________ (s’énerver) rarement.
__________________________________________________________________________________
17.
Vous _________________ (se disputer) souvent.
__________________________________________________________________________________
18.

Je _________________ (s’habiller) vite.
__________________________________________________________________________________
19.
Ils _________________ (se coucher) tard.
__________________________________________________________________________________
20.
Nous _________________ (s’entendre) bien.
__________________________________________________________________________________
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Part I: Living in the Here and Now: The Present Indicative
Answer Key
In this section you can find all the answers to the problems in this chapter. I also provide
the translations for these questions to help you understand what you’re conjugating.
a
Elle maquille la poupée. (She puts makeup on the doll.)
b
Je me réveille à six heures. (I get up at 6 o’clock.)
c
Tu coupes ton bifteck. (You are cutting your steak.)
d
Ils se lavent. (They get/are getting washed.)
e
Nous nous brossons les cheveux. (We are brushing our hair.)
f
Ils se promettent. (They promise each other.)
g
Vous vous dites au revoir. (You are saying goodbye to each other.)

h
Nous nous voyons. (We see each other.)
i
On s’écrit. (We write to each other, or they write to each other.)
j
Elles se comprennent. (They understand each other.)
k
Nous nous entendons.
l
Je m’en vais.
m
Ils se voient.
n
David se dépêche.
o
Nous nous ennuyons.
p
Tu t’énerves rarement. You rarely become irritated.
q
Vous vous disputez souvent. You argue with each other often.
r
Je m’habille vite. I get dressed quickly.
s
Ils se couchent tard. They go to bed late.
t
Nous nous entendons bien. We get along well.
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