The action comes back to the subject: A reflexive verb (un verbe pronominal) is a verb where the subject does the action to itself. In French you can spot it by the extra little pronoun: se laver (to wash oneself), se lever (to get oneself up), s'appeler (to call oneself = to be named). That pronoun — me, te, se, nous, vous, se — is the reflexive pronoun, and it must match the subject and sit just before the verb: «je me lave», «tu te laves», «il se lave». Once you see it as “I wash myself”, the structure makes sense.
- un verbe pronominal
- a reflexive verb — its infinitive carries «se» (se laver, se lever)
- le pronom réfléchi
- the reflexive pronoun — me, te, se, nous, vous, se
- le sujet
- the subject — the one who does AND receives the action
- se laver
- to wash oneself — «je me lave» (I wash myself)
- se lever
- to get up — «je me lève» (note the è in the je/tu/il/ils forms)
- s'appeler
- to be called — «je m'appelle…» (literally: I call myself…)
Add “myself / yourself” in your head: Whenever an infinitive starts with se (or s' before a vowel), mentally add “…oneself”: se coucher → “to put oneself to bed”. That reminds you a reflexive pronoun is needed, that it must agree with the subject, and that it goes right before the verb. This single habit prevents the most common reflexive mistakes.
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Pronoun + verb, both agreeing with the subject: To conjugate a reflexive verb, do two things. First pick the reflexive pronoun that matches the subject: me / te / se / nous / vous / se. Then conjugate the verb as normal. The pronoun goes before the verb, and it shortens to m' / t' / s' before a vowel or a silent h: «je m'appelle», «il s'habille». Here is se laver (a regular -er reflexive) in full.
| Sujet | Pronom réfléchi | Verbe (se laver) | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | me | me lave | I wash myself |
| tu | te | te laves | you wash yourself |
| il / elle / on | se | se lave | he/she washes himself/herself |
| nous | nous | nous lavons | we wash ourselves |
| vous | vous | vous lavez | you wash yourselves |
| ils / elles | se | se lavent | they wash themselves |
| Infinitif | « je » form | Note | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| se laver | je me lave | regular -er | to wash (oneself) |
| se lever | je me lève | è in je/tu/il/ils (lève, lèves…) | to get up |
| s'appeler | je m'appelle | double l + m' before a vowel | to be called |
| s'habiller | je m'habille | s' before silent h | to get dressed |
| se coucher | je me couche | regular -er | to go to bed |
Match the pronoun to the subject, every time: The reflexive pronoun is never random — it always tracks the subject: je→me, tu→te, il/elle/on→se, nous→nous, vous→vous, ils/elles→se. Forgetting it (saying «je lave» for «I get washed») or using the wrong one (saying «je se lave») are the two biggest slips. Before a vowel, me/te/se become m'/t'/s'.
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Daily routine — and where the pronoun goes: Reflexive verbs are the everyday verbs of the daily routine (la routine quotidienne): waking, washing, dressing, hurrying, resting, going to bed. You will need them constantly to describe your day. The rule of placement: the reflexive pronoun sits right before the conjugated verb — and in the negative it wraps with ne…pas AROUND both the pronoun and the verb: «Je ne me lève pas tôt».
Les verbes de la routine quotidienne
- se réveiller (to wake up) — « Je me réveille à sept heures. » (I wake up at seven.)
- se lever (to get up) — « Tu te lèves tard le dimanche. » (You get up late on Sundays.)
- se laver / se doucher (to wash / to shower) — « Il se douche le matin. » (He showers in the morning.)
- s'habiller (to get dressed) — « Nous nous habillons vite. » (We get dressed quickly.)
- se dépêcher (to hurry up) — « Dépêche-toi ! » (Hurry up!)
- se reposer / se coucher (to rest / to go to bed) — « Elles se couchent tôt. » (They go to bed early.)
Negative wraps around pronoun + verb: To make a reflexive verb negative, put ne before the pronoun and pas after the verb: «Je ne me couche pas tard.» (I don't go to bed late.) A common slip is «Je me ne couche pas» — wrong: the ne comes first, then the reflexive pronoun, then the verb, then pas.
A daily routine, sentence by sentence: Here is a short paragraph about a daily routine, built one sentence at a time. Almost every verb is reflexive: pronoun matching the subject + verb. Read it once for meaning, then tap Voir la traduction for the English or 🔊 to hear it.
Les verbes pronominaux en action
Une routine, phrase à phrase
- Le matin, je me réveille à sept heures et je me lève tout de suite.
- D'abord, je me lave et je me brosse les dents dans la salle de bains.
- Ensuite, mon frère et moi, nous nous habillons et nous nous dépêchons.
- Mes parents, eux, se reposent un peu avant de partir au travail.
- Le soir, je me couche tôt parce que je me sens fatigué après les cours.
Steal this to describe your own day: Notice the recipe: subject + reflexive pronoun (me/te/se/nous/vous/se) + verb, often joined by d'abord, ensuite, le matin, le soir to sequence the day. Swap in your own times and verbs — se réveiller, se laver, s'habiller, se coucher — and you have a ready-made paragraph about your daily routine.
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The slips anglophones make: Three mistakes dominate. (1) Dropping the pronoun — saying «je lève» («I get up») because English has no “myself”. (2) Wrong pronoun — «je se lave» instead of «je me lave» (the pronoun must match the subject). (3) No elision — «je me appelle» instead of «je m'appelle» before a vowel. Compare the right version with the typical mistake.
Correct
- Je me lève à six heures.
- Je m'appelle Léa.
- Nous nous reposons le week-end.
Erreur fréquente
- Je lève à six heures.
- Je me appelle Léa.
- Nous se reposons le week-end.
Pronoun first, match the subject, elide before vowels: Before writing a reflexive verb, say it as “I do it to myself”: keep the pronoun, make it match the subject (je→me, tu→te, il→se, nous→nous, vous→vous, ils→se), and elide to m'/t'/s' before a vowel or silent h. In the negative, wrap ne…pas around the pronoun + verb («je ne me lève pas»).