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Phil
Je me suis with non-reflexive verb?
I have just read the following sentence:
'Enfin saches que moi je me suis plutôt enquiété.'
Why are we using the reflexive 'me' here? As far as i was aware (and i've checked several sites) 'enquièter' isn't a reflexive verb so what does the use of 'me' do to change the sentence?
All i can think of is it's the equivalent to 'i worried myself' like how we would say in English 'i worried myself stupid.'
Jul 23, 2016 7:31 PM
Answers · 4
2
In french there is a slight difference in meaning between s'inquieter and inquieter.
S'inquiéter : it means "to worry" (that means litterally that you worry yourself as opposed to worry someone else (in that case you would often translate it as "bother" ---> "bother someone" )
July 24, 2016
1
Hey Phil,
Actually, the sentence should be: [...] Je me suis plutôt INquiété. - starting with in_.
And yes, "s'inquiéter" is a reflexive verb, so the subject performs the action to him/herself.
Je m'inquiète beaucoup... = I'm worrying a lot...
Tu t'inquiètes... = You are worrying...
"J'inquiète" is not a verb.
*Conjugaison de s'inquiéter: http://la-conjugaison.nouvelobs.com/du/verbe/s_inquieter.php
Hope this helps!
July 23, 2016
1
Both previous answers are great already, i just want to add some more insights.
As Samuel said s'inquiéter works as a whole.
s'inquiéter
je m'inquiète se --> me
tu t'inquiètes se --> te
nous nous inquiétons se --> nous
etc...
To add to what Benoît said, here are 2 sample sentences :
- ne reste pas au milieu de la route, tu inquiètes les automobilistes.
(do not stay in the middle of the road, you are worrying the drivers)
- comme tu ne donnais pas de nouvelles, je me suis inquiétée pour toi.
(since you gave me no news, I was worrying about you)
Now about your question : I worried myself stupid.
I'm not sure exactly about the meaning, here are some suggestions.
- Je me suis inquiété comme un con (I worried myself unnecessarily)
- Je me suis inquiété comme pas possible (I worried myself like hell)
- J'étais terriblement inquiet (I was terribly worried)
- Je me suis pris le chou (I was getting mad thinking about it)
July 24, 2016
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Phil
Language Skills
English, Swedish
Learning Language
Swedish
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