FRENCH REFLEXIVE VERBS
FRENCH REFLEXIVE VERBS
1. What is a French reflexive verb?
In French, reflexive verbs are much
more common than in English, and
many are used in everyday French.
They are shown in dictionaries as se
plus the infinitive (se means
himself, herself, itself, themselves or
oneself). se is called a reflexive
pronoun.
FRENCH REFLEXIVE VERBS
2. How do you form the le présent of
reflexive verbs in French?
To use a reflexive verb in French, you need to
decide which reflexive pronoun to use. The
forms shown in brackets in the table are used
before a word starting with a vowel, most
words starting with h, or the French word y.
Subject pronoun
Reflexive pronoun
Meaning
je
me (m’)
myself
tu
te (t’)
yourself
il
elle
on
se (s’)
himself
herself
itself
oneself
nous
nous
ourselves
vous
vous
yourself (singular)
yourselves (plural)
ils
elles
se (s’)
themselves
FRENCH REFLEXIVE VERBS
3. How do you form the le passé
composé of reflexive verb in French?
Reflexive verbs use être as the
auxiliary verb to form the passé
composé, not avoir. If the reflexive
pronoun is the direct object the past
participle agrees in gender and
number with it. The reflexive pronoun
preceeds the auxiliary verb directly.
Elle se lève