Reflexive verbs
Je me lève, ils s'appellent, on se voit: reflexive verbs in every person, and where the pronoun goes.
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Reflexive verbs, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Recognise a reflexive verb
A reflexive infinitive has se in front of it: se laver (to get washed), se lever (to get up), s'appeler (to be called). The pronoun shows that the action is done to yourself, so je me lave means I get washed.
Use the pronoun that matches the person
The pronoun goes before the verb and changes with the subject: je me lève, tu te lèves, il se lève, nous nous levons, vous vous levez, ils se lèvent. Before a vowel or a silent h, me, te and se become m', t' and s': je m'habille, elle s'appelle.
Describe your daily routine
Most routine verbs are reflexive: je me lève, je me lave, je m'habille, je me prépare, je me couche. Link them with d'abord, ensuite and puis: je me lève à sept heures, puis je m'habille.
Use les, not mes, with parts of the body
The pronoun already shows whose teeth or hair it is, so French uses the article: je me lave les mains, elle se lave les cheveux.
Say each other with nous, vous and se
In the plural, a reflexive verb can mean each other: nous nous parlons tous les jours (we talk to each other every day), ils se rencontrent au parc (they meet at the park). On se voit demain means see you tomorrow, literally we see each other tomorrow.
Keep the pronoun with its verb in negatives and after another verb
In a negative, ne goes before the pronoun and pas after the verb: je ne me lève pas tôt. After a modal or aller, the pronoun stays with the infinitive and still matches the subject: je vais me coucher, nous devons nous lever.
Use être in the perfect tense
Every reflexive verb takes être in the perfect, with the pronoun in front, and the participle agrees with the subject: je me suis levé, elle s'est levée, nous nous sommes amusés.
Notice the verbs that change meaning when they are reflexive
Some verbs mean something new with the pronoun. Appeler is to call, but s'appeler is to be called; entendre is to hear, but s'entendre avec is to get on with: je m'entends bien avec mon frère.
Reflexive verbs key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Reflexive verb
- A verb used with a pronoun that refers back to the subject, such as se laver: je me lave means I get washed.
- Reflexive pronoun
- The pronoun before a reflexive verb, matching the subject: me, te, se, nous, vous, se.
- se
- The pronoun in a reflexive infinitive, and the one for he, she, on and they: il se couche, ils se couchent.
- Elision
- Dropping a vowel before another vowel or a silent h and writing an apostrophe: me becomes m' in je m'appelle.
- Reciprocal
- Meaning each other: ils se téléphonent means they phone each other.
- s'appeler
- To be called, with a double l when the ending is silent: je m'appelle Sam, elle s'appelle Inès.
- se lever
- To get up. The e of the stem takes a grave accent when the ending is silent: je me lève, but nous nous levons.
- s'entendre avec
- To get on with someone: je m'entends bien avec ma mère means I get on well with my mum.
Common mistakes in Reflexive verbs
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Leaving out the pronoun, as in je lave for I get washed.
Without the pronoun, je lave means I wash something else, such as the car. For yourself, add the pronoun: je me lave.
Using se for every person, as in je se lève.
The pronoun matches the subject: je me lève, tu te lèves, nous nous levons. Only he, she, on and they take se.
Using avoir in the perfect, as in je m'ai levé.
Reflexive verbs always take être in the perfect: je me suis levé, elle s'est levée.
Putting ne between the pronoun and the verb, as in je me ne lève pas.
Ne goes before the pronoun and pas after the verb: je ne me lève pas, il ne s'appelle pas Marc.
Keeping me after another verb when the subject is not I, as in nous allons me coucher.
The pronoun matches whoever does the action: je vais me coucher, but nous allons nous coucher and ils vont se coucher.
Practice
Try a Reflexive verbs question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
Which form completes the sentence? Je vais me ___ tôt ce soir.
- couchons
- couché
- coucher
- couches
Show the answer and the working
Answer: coucher
After aller, the second verb is an infinitive, with its pronoun just before it: je vais me coucher means I am going to go to bed.
- Je vais plus an infinitive: the near future.
- The pronoun me sits before the infinitive.
- So me coucher.