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GrammarA2reflexive verbspronominal

Reflexive verbs

Les verbes pronominaux

A2fr24 min

What you'll learn

  • Talk about daily routine
  • Place the reflexive pronoun correctly
  • Form the reflexive passé composé

Tips for this lesson

  • The reflexive pronoun (me/te/se...) always matches the subject and goes right before the verb.
  • Reflexive verbs describe an action you do TO YOURSELF: se laver = to wash oneself.
  • In the passé composé, ALL reflexive verbs use être, and the participle usually agrees.
Step 1 of 6
1Reading

In context

Read. Notice a small extra word (me/te/se...) before each verb — that's the reflexive pronoun.

Je me lève à sept heures. Je me lave et je m'habille vite. Mon frère se réveille plus tard. Nous nous couchons vers minuit.

Step 2 of 6
2The pattern

The pattern — reflexive pronoun + verb

The reflexive pronoun matches the subject and always sits directly before the verb.

Reflexive (pronominal) verbs describe an action the subject does to themselves — se lever (to get oneself up), se laver (to wash oneself), s'habiller (to dress oneself). Each subject pronoun pairs with its own reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se), which goes directly before the conjugated verb. Before a vowel, me/te/se elide to m'/t'/s'. Crucially, the reflexive pronoun cannot be dropped — "je lève" (I raise [something]) is a completely different, incomplete sentence from "je me lève" (I get up).

PronounReflexive pronounse lever
jeme (m')je me lève
tute (t')tu te lèves
il / elle / onse (s')il se lève
nousnousnous nous levons
vousvousvous vous levez
ils / ellesse (s')ils se lèvent
Common reflexive verbMeaning
se leverto get up
se laverto wash (oneself)
s'habillerto get dressed
se coucherto go to bed
se réveillerto wake up
s'appelerto be named/called

Je m'appelle Marie.

My name is Marie.

Literally 'I call myself Marie' — a fixed reflexive expression.

Nous nous levons tôt.

We get up early.

nous appears twice — once as subject, once as reflexive pronoun.

Elle s'habille vite.

She gets dressed quickly.

se → s' before the vowel in habille.

Ils se couchent tard.

They go to bed late.

Erreurs fréquentes

  • Je lève à sept heures.Je me lève à sept heures.

    Never drop the reflexive pronoun — 'je lève' alone means 'I raise [something]', not 'I get up'.

  • Il lève tôt.Il se lève tôt.

    Without se, this would mean 'he raises [something]' — completely different from 'he gets up'.

  • Je habille vite.Je m'habille vite.

    me elides to m' before the vowel in habille — don't skip the pronoun or the elision.

Exceptions & à retenir

  • Reflexive passé composé always uses être

    Unlike regular verbs (mostly avoir) or the small DR MRS VANDERTRAMP group, EVERY reflexive verb uses être in the past: je me suis levé(e), elle s'est habillée, ils se sont couchés — with the same agreement rule as A2-02.

  • Some verbs change meaning when reflexive

    appeler (to call someone) vs s'appeler (to be named); amuser (to amuse someone) vs s'amuser (to have fun) — the reflexive form often has a distinct, idiomatic meaning.

  • Reflexive pronoun order with negation

    The reflexive pronoun stays glued to the verb inside the ne...pas sandwich: je ne me lève pas tôt (not je me ne lève pas). ne comes before the pronoun+verb block.

Astuces & mémo

  • Treat the reflexive pronoun as glued to the verb — say them together as one chunk: je-me-lève, tu-te-lèves, il-se-lève.
  • se lever, se coucher, se laver, s'habiller, se réveiller together tell the story of a daily routine — learn them as a set.
  • In the passé composé, ALL reflexive verbs use être (not avoir) — je me suis levé(e), and the participle usually agrees with the subject.
Step 3 of 6
3Q&A drill

Match the reflexive pronoun

Match each subject pronoun to its reflexive pronoun.

  • Q1je
    A____________
  • Q2tu
    A____________
  • Q3il, elle, on
    A____________
  • Q4nous
    A____________
  • Q5vous
    A____________
  • Q6ils, elles
    A____________
Step 4 of 6
4Fill the blanks

Guided practice — add the reflexive pronoun

Complete each sentence with the correct reflexive pronoun.

Example
Je (1) lève à sept heures.
→ Je me lève à sept heures.
Exercice
Exercice
Tu (1) laves le matin ?
Exercice
Exercice
Elle (2) habille vite.
Exercice
Exercice
Nous (3) couchons tard.
Answer pool — drag onto a blank (or tap to fill the next one)
Next empty blank: 1
Step 5 of 6
5Word order

Build the sentence

Put the words in the correct order.

Example
mejelèvetôt→Je me lève tôt.
  1. Sentence 1
    Tap the words below to build the sentence.
  2. Sentence 2
    Tap the words below to build the sentence.
  3. Sentence 3
    Tap the words below to build the sentence.
  4. Sentence 4
    Tap the words below to build the sentence.
Step 6 of 6
6Speak freely

Produce it

Describe your daily routine using at least four reflexive verbs.

Ex.Je me réveille à six heures. Je me lave, je m'habille et je me prépare pour le travail. Le soir, je me couche vers onze heures.
  1. 1.À quelle heure vous levez-vous ?
  2. 2.Comment se passe votre matin ?
  3. 3.À quelle heure vous couchez-vous ?