Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs have a reflexive pronoun (me te se nous vous se) that refers back to the subject.

Reflexive verbs = subject acts on itself.

Verbes pronominaux

Je me lave = I wash myself

Reflexive pronouns: me (myself) te (yourself) se (himself/herself/itself) nous (ourselves) vous (yourselves) se (themselves).

The six reflexive pronouns.

me / te / se / nous / vous / se

Conjugate reflexive verbs by placing the reflexive pronoun between the subject and the verb.

Reflexive pronoun goes between subject and verb.

Je me lève / Tu te lèves / Il se lève / Nous nous levons

In the negative the ne goes before the reflexive pronoun.

Negation: ne before the reflexive pronoun.

Je ne me lève pas / Il ne se rase pas

Essential reflexive verbs: se lever (get up) se coucher (go to bed) se laver (wash) s'habiller (get dressed) se souvenir (remember).

Core reflexive verbs to memorize.

se lever

Some verbs change meaning when made reflexive: appeler (to call) → s'appeler (to be called/named).

Some verbs change meaning with reflexive pronoun.

Je m'appelle Marie = My name is Marie (lit. I call myself)

In the passé composé all reflexive verbs use être as auxiliary.

Reflexive verbs → être in passé composé.

Je me suis levé(e) / Elle s'est habillée / Ils se sont parlé

The past participle of reflexive verbs agrees with the reflexive pronoun (when it is a direct object).

Past participle agrees with direct object reflexive pronoun.

Elle s'est lavée (se = direct object) / Elle s'est lavé les mains (les mains = direct object)

Reciprocal reflexive verbs express actions done to each other: nous nous téléphonons (we call each other).

Reciprocal reflexives = each other / one another.

Ils se regardent = They look at each other

Some verbs are always reflexive (pronominal) and cannot be used without the pronoun: se souvenir se méfier s'enfuir.

Always-reflexive verbs have no non-reflexive form.

Je me souviens (not je souviens) / Il se méfie