Les verbes pronominaux: Pronominal Verbs in French

How to recognise French pronominal verbs

Pronominal verbs always take a reflexive pronoun that corresponds to the subject of the sentence:

Example:

Je me suis trompé d’adresse.I’ve got the wrong address.

subject = je + reflexive pronoun = me

The table below shows the French reflexive pronouns:

How to conjugate French pronominal verbs

When conjugating pronominal verbs, we have to remember the following things:

• The reflexive pronoun comes after the subject pronoun and before the conjugated verb. As shown in the table above, the reflexive pronoun always matches the subject pronoun.

  Example:

  Je me suis promené en ville.I went walking in town.

• If the verb begins with a vowel, we drop the e from me/te/se and connect the reflexive pronoun and the verb with an apostrophe. This is known as elision.

  Example:

  Tu t’es promené en ville.You went walking in town.

See the tables below for model conjugations of pronominal verbs. To conjugate any French verb, go to our verb conjugator.

• Pronominal verbs in the present tense:

• Pronominal verbs in all tenses:

Pronominal verbs and the participe passé

Pronominal verbs always form the passé composé with the auxiliary être + past participle.

The participe passé of pronominal verbs generally agrees with the subject.

Example:

Nous nous sommes levés très tôt.We got up very early.

1st person plural subject (nous) → participe passé + s

However, the participe passé does not agree with the subject if the direct object comes after the verb.

Example:

Elle s’est lavé les mains.She washed her hands.

direct object = les mains; placed after the verb → no agreement

but: Elle s’est lavée.

direct object = elle-même (se); placed before the verb → participe passé + é

Remember: the past participle never agrees with an indirect object.

Example:

Marie et Laurent se sont téléphoné.Marie and Laurent called each other on the phone.

indirect object: téléphoner à qui ?

The participe passé does not agree with the subject of reciprocal verbs: se téléphonerto phone each other, se parlerto talk to each other, se mentirto lie to each other, se plaire (complaire/déplaire)to like each other, se sourireto smile at each other, se rireto laugh at each other, se nuireto hurt each other, se succéderto succeed each other, se suffireto be enough, se ressemblerto look like each other, s’en vouloirto be annoyed with each other.

Types of pronominal verbs in French

We can categorise French pronominal verbs into different types.

1. Exclusively pronominal verbs

Some verbs are exclusively pronominal; i.e. they always take a reflexive pronoun.

Examples:

s’évanouirto faint

the verb évanouir doesn’t exist

se méfierto mistrust

the verb méfier doesn’t exist

Some of the most common exclusively pronominal verbs include: s’absenterto be absent, s’abstenirto abstain, s’accroupirto crouch down, s’affairerto be busy, s’agenouillerto kneel, s’autoproclamerto proclaim yourself, se blottirto huddle up, se démenerto thrash about, s’ébattreto play, s’écrierto exclaim, s’écroulerto collapse, s’efforcerto try hard, s’emparerto grab, s’empresserto hurry, s’enfuirto flee, s’ensuivreto follow, s’entraiderto help each other, s’envolerto fly away, s’esclafferto burst out laughing, s’évaderto escape, s’évanouirto faint, s’évertuerto try hard, s’exclamerto exclaim, s’extasierto go into ecstasies, se fierto trust, se goinfrerto pig out, s’immiscerto interfere, se marrerto giggle, se méfierto be suspicious of, se méprendreto be mistaken, se morfondreto mope around, s’obstinerto persist, se prélasserto lounge, se raviserto reconsider, se rebellerto rebel, se réfugierto seek refuge, se réincarnerto be reincarnated, se repentirto express remorse, se souvenirto remember, se suiciderto commit suicide, se tapirto crouch…

2. Verbs that change their meaning in their pronominal form

A few verbs have two forms: pronominal and standard. Depending on which one we use, the verb has a different meaning.

Examples:

As-tu rendu tes livres à la bibliothèque ?Did you return your books to the library?

rendre = to give something back

Est-ce que tu t’es rendu à la bibliothèque ?Did you go to the library?

se rendre = to go somewhere

Common examples of verbs that change their meaning in their pronominal form include: apercevoir/s’apercevoir deto glimpse/to notice, appeler/s’appelerto call/to be called, attendre/s’attendre àto wait/to expect, connaître/s’y connaître ento know/to be an expert in, douter/se douter deto waver/to suspect, entendre/s’entendreto understand/to get along with someone, faire/se faire àto do/to get used to, mettre/se mettre àto put/to start, passer/se passerto pass/to happen, plaindre/se plaindre deto pity/to complain about, rendre/se rendre àto return/to surrender, tromper/se tromperto mislead/to make a mistake, trouver/se trouverto find/to be located, servir/se servirto serve/to help yourself…

3. Reflexive verbs

Reflexive verbs (les verbes prominaux de sens réfléchi) are verbs where the the subject and the object are one and the same; the verb reflects back on the person(s) performing it.

Example:

Marcel s’est levé de bonne heure.Marcel got up early.

literally: Marcel got himself up early

4. Reciprocal verbs

With reciprocal verbs (les verbes pronominaux de sens réciproque), the reflexive pronoun means 'each other', meaning that these verbs are only ever used in the plural.

Common examples of French reciprocal verbs include: se battreto fight each other, se donnerto put yourself, s’entendreto get along, se lancerto try, se parlerto talk to each other, se réconcilierto reconcile with each other, se rencontrerto meet, se téléphonerto phone each other…

Examples:

Tamara et sa sœur se sont téléphoné la semaine dernière.Tamara and her sister spoke on the phone last week.

Nous nous battons parfois mais nous nous réconcilions toujours.We fight sometimes but we always make up.

5. Pronominal verbs with a passive meaning

We can use certain verbs with a reflexive pronoun to give them a passive meaning (les verbes pronominaux de sens passif).

Examples:

Le t de mot ne se prononce pas.The t in the word mot isn’t pronounced.

= n’est pas prononcé

Cette soupe se déguste chaude ou froide.This soup can be eaten hot or cold.

= peut être déguestée

How to form the negative with French pronominal verbs

The negative form of a pronominal verb depends on the tense in which the verb is conjugated. If it is a compound tense (passé composé, plus-que-parfait, conditionnel passé, futur antérieur, etc.), the two parts of the negation (ne…pas, ne…jamais, etc.) surround the reflexive pronoun and the auxiliary verb.

Examples:

Je me suis ennuyée cet hiver. → Je ne me suis pas ennuyée cet hiver.I wasn’t bored this winter.
Ils se seront trompés de route. → Ils ne se seront pas trompés de route.They won’t have taken the wrong road.

For tenses that are formed without an auxiliary, such as the présent, imparfait, futur simple, etc., the two parts of the negation (ne…pas, ne…jamais, etc.) surround the reflexive pronoun and the verb.

Examples:

Elle ne se prépare pas pour son examen.She isn’t preparing for her exam.
Nous ne nous habillions pas pour la fête.We weren’t getting dressed up for the party.

A small exception is the futur proche, in which the two parts of the negation enclose the conjugated semi-auxiliary aller, and the reflexive pronoun is placed before the infinitive verb.

Example:

Mes amis ne vont pas se rendre au concert en taxi.My friends aren’t going to the concert by taxi.

Other verbal expressions follow the same pattern: the negation encloses the auxiliary or semi-auxiliary, and the reflexive pronoun precedes the infinitive verb. This is the case, for example, with the présent continu (être + en train de + infinitive) and the passé récent (venir + de + infinitive).

Examples:

La sirène n’était pas en train de se baigner.The mermaid wasn’t swimming.
Nous ne venons pas de nous bagarrer.We didn’t just get into a fight.

Go to our page on negation in French for more information and lots of practice exercises.