Pronominal verbs are verbs that, put simply, include pronouns. These pronouns are me, te, se, nous, and vous and are used as either direct objects or indirect objects, depending on the verb that they modify. When proniminal verbs are conjugated in perfect tenses, être is used as the auxiliary verb. There are three types of pronominal verbs: reflexive verbs, reciprocal verbs, and naturally pronominal verbs.

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Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs reflect the action on the subject.

• Je me lave. - I wash myself.
• Nous nous lavons. - We wash ourselves.
• Ils se lavent. - They wash themselves.

Reflexive verbs can also be used as infinitives.

• Je vais me laver. - I'm going to wash myself.

Either the conjugated verb or the infinitive can be negated each with slightly different meanings.

• Je ne vais pas me laver. - I'm not going to wash myself.

In perfect tenses, the past participles agree with the direct object pronoun, but not the indirect object pronoun, in gender and plurality. Therefore it would only agree when the reflexive pronoun is the direct object. Also remember that the past participle does not agree with the direct object if it goes after the verb.

• Elle s'est lavée. - She washed herself.
• Nous nous sommes lavé(e)s. - We wash ourselves.
• Elle s'est lavé les mains. - She washed her hands.
• Nous nous sommes lavé les mains. - We washed our hands.

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Reciprocal Verbs

With reciprocal verbs, people perform actions to each other.

• Nous nous aimons. - We like each other.
• Like reflexive verbs, the past participle of reciprocal verbs agrees in number and gender with the direct object if it goes before the verb. It therefore agrees with all reciprocal pronouns that function as direct objects.
• Nous nous sommes aimé(e)s. - We liked each other.

The reciprocal pronoun can also function as an indirect object without a direct object pronoun.

• Nous nous sommes parlé. - We spoke to each other.
• Elles s'ont téléphoné. - They called to one another.
• Vous vous êtes écrit souvent? - You write to each other often?

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Naturally Pronominal Verbs

Some verbs are pronominal without performing a reflexive or reciprocal action. Tu te souviens? - You remember?

• In perfect tenses, these verbs agree with the direct object if it goes before the verb. Otherwise, the past participle agrees with the subject.
• Elle s'est souvenue. - She remembered.

Some verbs have different meanings as pronominal verbs.

• rendre - to return, to give back
• se rendre (à) - to go (to)

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Reflexive Verbs Details

Reflexive Verbs in French are actions that one does to oneself.

They can be recognised because their infinitive form has the pronoun se in front of it or s before a vowel.

When conjugating a reflexive verb you must use the correct reflexive pronoun.

The following tables show which reflexive pronoun to use with each form of the verb:

Subject	Reflexive Pronoun
je	me
tu	te
il	se
nous	nous
vous	vous
ils	se

Here is an example conjugation of a reflexive verb:

Se coucher - to go to bed

Present

Je me couche

Tu te couches

Il se couche

Elle se couche

Nous nous couchons

Vous vous couchez

Ils se couchent

Elles se couchent

NB The futur simple, passé simple, imperfect, conditional and subjuntive are all conjugated with the reflexive pronoun in this position.

Passé Composé

Je me suis couché

Tu t'es couché(e)

Il s'est couché

Elle s'est couchée

Nous nous sommes couché(e)s

Vous vous êtes couché(e)(s)

Ils se sont couchés

Elles se sont couchées

NB All reflexive verbs take être in the passé composé and therefore have an e added to the past participle for females and an s for plural.

Futur Proche

Je vais me coucher

Tu vas te coucher

Il va se coucher

Elle va se coucher

Nous allons nous coucher

Vous allez vous coucher

Ils vont se coucher

Elles vont se coucher

NB' When a reflexive verb is put as an infinitive behind any other verb (e.g. vouloir, pouvoir, aller...) it still takes the appropriate reflexive pronoun.

For learning French Category Uncategorized Level Unspecified Second language English Created Apr 17, 2008 16:34 Views 1053 Share:

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