Se Verbs

Question 1

I just

I just did that

I just went there

Answer 1

Je viens de

je viens de faire ça

je viens d’y aller

Question 2

Practicing “I just…….”

Using “se réveiller” = to wake up

I just woke up

She just woke up

You just woke up (i)

Answer 2

Je viens de me réveiller = I just woke up

Elle vient de se réveiller = she just woke up

Tu viens de te réveiller = you just woke up

Demain nous allons nous réveiller.… à 9 heures. (se réveiller = to wake up)

This morning, I woke up at 5am = Ce matin, je me suis réveillé at 5 heure

What time did you wake up ? = A quelle heure est-ce que tu t’es réveillé ce matin ?

Question 3

s’appeler = to be called

Answer 3

s’appeler = to be called

Je m’appelle Craig

Comment tu t’appelles ? = what’s your name? (how do you call yourself?)

Comment elle s’appelle? = what’s her name? (how does she call herself?)

Question 4

to wash yourself (se verb)

I washed myself

I am going to wash myself

Answer 4

se laver

Je me suis laver = I washed myself

Je vais me laver = I am going to wash myself

Question 5

to rest (se verb)

Answer 5

se reposer = to rest

Je vais me reposer

Je me suis reposé = I rested

Repose - toi bien ! = rest well

Reposez-vous bien ! = sleep well

Question 6

to hurry up/to be quick (se verb)

Answer 6

se dépêcher = to hurry up

We will hurry / We will be quick (futur) = On va se dépêcher

Je vais me dépêcher = I will hurry / I will be quick

Hier Je me suis dépêché pour prendre le train (passe compose).

Question 7

to make a mistake (se verb)

Answer 7

se tromper = to make a mistake

Désolé, je me suis trompé

Question 8

to swim (se verb)

Answer 8

se baigner = swim

Aujourd’hui on va se baigner.… (se baigner = swim)

Question 9

Impératif commands

Answer 9

Lève-toi ! (Impératif = command) (se lever = to get up, to stand up)

Question 10

Reflexive verb = to stop

Don’t stop

I am going to stop soon

Answer 10

s’arrêter

ne pas s’arrêter

je vais me arrêté bientot

Question 11

To enjoy (se verb)

To have a good time

I had a lot of fun

Answer 11

s’amuser

bien s’amuser

Je me suis beaucoup amusé

or:

J’ai eu beaucoup de plaisir

Question 12

To worry (se verb)

Answer 12

s’inquiéter

Question 13

Reflexive verb = to worry

I worry

I don’t worry

I don’t worry about that

Don’t worry

Answer 13

s’inquiéter

je m’inquiète (je mun qui-et)

je ne m’inquiète pas

je ne m’inquiète pas pour ça

ne t’inquiète pas (ne tun qui-et pas)

Question 14

I don’t worry

Answer 14

je ne m’inquiète pas

Question 15

You worry

(using se verb)

Answer 15

tu t’inquiètes

Question 16

You worry a lot

Answer 16

tu t’inquiètes beaucoup

Question 17

To sit (se verb)

Answer 17

s’asseoir (sass soir)

Question 18

Conjugating Reflexive Verbs I

Answer 18

Reflexive verbs indicate that an action is being “reflected back” on the subject.

A reflexive verb infinitive is identified by its reflexive pronoun se, which is placed before the infinitive and that serves as a direct or indirect object pronoun.

A reflexive verb shows that the subject is performing the action upon itself and, therefore, the subject and the reflexive pronoun refer to the same person or thing, as in je m’ appelle (I call myself), which is translated to “My name is.”

Some verbs must always be reflexive, whereas other verbs may be made reflexive by adding the correct object pronoun. The meaning of some verbs varies depending upon whether or not the verb is used reflexively.

Question 19

Conjugating Reflexive Verbs II

Answer 19

Reflexive verbs are preceded by the pronoun ​​se​ in their infinitive form. Generally speaking, the presence of se indicates that the subject is performing an action on himself/herself/itself.

Let’s look at an example to clear this idea up.

Take the verb se laver. This verb means “to wash oneself.”

By contrast, with the verb laver (to wash), the subject could be washing something else.

Il se lave. (He washes himself.)

Il lave la voiture. (He washes the car.)

Question 20

Conjugating Reflexive Verbs III - Present Tense

Answer 20

How to Conjugate French Reflexive Verbs in the Present Tense

With reflexive verb conjugation, you have to do two important things:

Change the spelling of the verb to agree with the subject/tense

Change the reflexive pronoun to agree with the subject
The good news is that most verbs follow their non-reflexive spelling change patterns. In other words, if you already know how to conjugate a non-reflexive verb, you don’t need to learn any new spellings for the reflexive version.

As for the reflexive pronouns, these are pretty easy to remember:

​Je (I) → me
tu (you) → te
il, elle, on (he, she, one/we) → se
nous (we) → nous
vous (you, formal/you all) → vous
ils, elles (they) → se

​There’s only one small thing to keep in mind: remember that ​me​, ​te​ and ​se​ shorten to ​m’​, ​t’ ​and ​s’​ before a word that starts with a vowel.

And that’s it! Count yourself up to date on French reflexive verbs in the present tense. Check out these three regular reflexive verbs conjugated fully, noticing how different reflexive pronouns line up with different subjects.

​​Se laver ​(to wash oneself)

​Je me lave avant le dîner. ​(I wash myself for dinner.)

Tu te laves après la classe. ​(You wash yourself after class.)

Il/elle/on se lave le matin. ​(He/she/one washes himself/herself/oneself in the mornings.)

​Nous nous lavons chaque jour. ​(We wash ourselves every day.)

​Vous vous lavez dans la salle de bains. ​(You all wash yourselves in the bathroom.)

​Ils/elles se lavent avec de l’eau et du savon. ​(They wash themselves with water and soap.)

​​Se réunir ​(to meet one another)

On se réunit dans la salle de classe. ​(We meet​ in the classroom.)

​Nous nous réunis​sons pour l’anniversaire de notre grand-mère. ​(We meet​ up for our grandmother’s birthday.)

​Vous vous réunis​sez lundi pour parler des contrats. ​(You’re going to all meet​ up on Monday to talk about the contracts.)

​Ils/elles se réunis​sent vendredi au bar. ​(They’re meeting up on Friday at the bar.)

S’attendre à ​(to expect)

​Je m’attends à un appel de votre part. ​(I’m expecting a phone call from you.)

Tu t’attends à un essai de ton étudiant. ​(You expect​ an essay from your student.)

​Il/elle/on s’attend à rester à la maison toute la fin de semaine. ​(He/she/one expects to stay home for the whole weekend.)

​Nous nous attendons à étudier pour trois heures ce soir. ​(We expect to study for three hours tonight.​)

​Vous vous attendez à recevoir votre patron à 15h. ​(You all expect to greet your boss at 3:00 p.m​.)

​Ils/elles s’attendent à embarquer dans l’avion à 6h. ​(They expect to take the plane at 6:00 a.m.)

Question 21

Conjugating Reflexive Verbs IV - Futur Tense

Answer 21

How to Conjugate French Reflexive Verbs in the Futur Proche

The ​futur proche​ (the near future) looks similar to the compound tenses we discussed above, because it uses the verb aller (to go) before the main verb. However, it doesn’t follow the same patterns as above.

When putting a reflexive verb in the ​futur proche​, simply conjugate the verb ​aller​ in the present tense, then change the reflexive pronoun to agree with the subject.

Notice that the verb ​aller​ comes before the reflexive pronoun in this tense and the main verb stays in the infinitive.

​Je vais me baigner. ​(I’m going to bathe.)

Tu vas te cacher. ​(You are going to hide.)

​Il/elle/on va se changer. ​(He/she/one is going to change outfits.)

Nous allons nous doucher. ​(We are going to shower.)

Vous allez vous maquiller. ​(You all are going to put on makeup.)

​Ils/elles vont se raser. ​(They are going to shave.)

Question 22

Conjugating Reflexive Verbs IV - Passe Compose

Answer 22

​How to Use Reflexive Verbs in Compound Tenses

As you might already know, compound tenses in French are tenses that use an auxiliary verb. For example, in the passé composé, you need to use either the verb être or avoir before the past participle of your main verb.

When conjugating reflexive verbs in compound tenses, always use être as your auxiliary verb. The auxiliary goes after the reflexive pronoun.

Because all reflexive verbs conjugate in compound tenses with the auxiliary ​être​ (to be)​, their past participles must agree in gender and number with the subject. The general rules are:

Add -s to the participle for masculine, plural subjects

Add -e to the participle for feminine, singular subjects

Add -es to the participle for feminine, plural subjects

Further, verbs follow the regular formation rules for past participles (-er becomes -é, -ir becomes -i and -re becomes -u) and verbs that have irregular past participles in the non-reflexive form also retain them in the reflexive verb form.

Check out this example of the reflexive verb se réveiller (to wake up) in the passé composé (past tense).

​Se réveiller ​(to wake up)

​Je me suis réveillé(e) à 4h. ​(I woke up at 4:00 a.m.)

Tu t’es réveillé(e)​ quand tu as entendu le bruit. ​(You woke up​ when you heard the noise.)

​Il/elle/on s’est réveillé(e) pour la classe de français.​ ​(He/she/one woke up for French class​.)

​Nous nous sommes réveillé(e)s après avoir eu une soirée fantastique. ​(We woke up​ after having had a fantastic evening.)

​Vous vous êtes réveillé(e)​s à 16h de vos sommes. ​(You all woke up​ at 4:00 p.m. from your naps.)

​Ils/elles se sont réveillé(e)​s quand l’alarme a sonné. ​(They woke up​ when the alarm sounded.)

When using the passé composé, the past participle has to agree in gender and number with the direct object. Most of the time this is the reflexive pronoun. Reflexive verbs always use the auxiliary être to form the passé composé.

Valérie: Hier, tu t’es levée plus tôt. (Yesterday, you got up earlier.)

Annabelle: C’est vrai, parce que je me suis coupé les cheveux. (That’s correct, because I cut my hair.)

In this conversation, you can see how the passé composé is structured. The two pronouns are placed side by side, and then the auxiliary and the participle come right afterward.

Question 23

Se verbs:

to remember

to rest

to swim

to wake up

to get dressed

Answer 23

se rappeler = to remember

se reposer = to rest

se baigner = to swim

se réveiller = to wake up

s’habiller = to get dressed (ab ee ay)