161 - 5 Common Reflexive Verbs (Present Tense) Artwork

French Made Easy

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French Made Easy

161 - 5 Common Reflexive Verbs (Present Tense)

November 11, 2024 • Mathilde Kien

0:00 | 13:04

In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use 5 common reflexive verbs in French, all in the present tense.

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Bonjour à tous, hello everyone, and welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast. This is episode number 161, numéro 161. Today, we're talking about reflexive verbs. Don't worry if you're unfamiliar with them—I'll explain what they are in a second.

Reflexive verbs are special because the action of the verb reflects back on the subject. This means the person performing the action of the verb also receives it. For example, let’s take the reflexive verb "se laver". It means to wash oneself, not just "to wash."

Reflexive verbs come in two parts: the main verb and the reflexive pronoun “se”, which changes depending on the subject of the verb. Here’s how it works:

For the verb “se laver”, the reflexive pronoun “se” becomes:

me for “je” (I): Je me lave (I wash myself)
te for “tu” (you): Tu te laves (You wash yourself)
se for “il” or “elle” (he, she, it) but also for “on” (we): Il se lave (He washes himself), On se lave (we wash ourselves)
nous for “nous” (we): Nous nous lavons (We wash ourselves)
vous for “vous” (you plural or formal): Vous vous lavez (You wash yourselves)
se for "ils" or "elles" (they): Ils se lavent (They wash themselves)

Alright, now that you have a rough idea (and you’ll probably need to practice if you’re completely new to reflexive verbs), I’m going to give you 5 verbs and their conjugation with example sentences—all conjugated in the present tense:

1. Se réveiller (to wake up)

Je me réveille (I wake up)
Tu te réveilles (You wake up)
Il/Elle se réveille (He/She wakes up)
On se réveille (We wake up)
Nous nous réveillons (We wake up)
Vous vous réveillez (You wake up)
Ils/Elles se réveillent (They wake up)

2. Se laver (to wash oneself)

Je me lave (I wash)
Tu te laves (You wash)
Il/Elle se lave (He/She washes)
On se lave (We wash)
Nous nous lavons (We wash)
Vous vous lavez (You wash)
Ils/Elles se lavent (They wash)

3. S'habiller (to dress oneself)

Je m'habille (I get dressed)
Tu t'habilles (You get dressed)
Il/Elle s'habille (He/She gets dressed)
On s'habille (We get dressed)
Nous nous habillons (We get dressed)
Vous vous habillez (You get dressed)
Ils/Elles s'habillent (They get dressed)

4. Se reposer (to rest)

Je me repose (I rest)
Tu te reposes (You rest)
Il/Elle se repose (He/She rests)
On se repose (We rest)
Nous nous reposons (We rest)
Vous vous reposez (You rest)
Ils/Elles se reposent (They rest)

5. Se coucher (to go to bed)

Je me couche (I go to bed)
Tu te couches (You go to bed)
Il/Elle se couche (He/She goes to bed)
On se couche (We go to bed)
Nous nous couchons (We go to bed)
Vous vous couchez (You go to bed)
Ils/Elles se couchent (They go to bed)

Alright, so quick recap, here are the verbs we discussed, all conjugated in the present tense:

Se réveiller (to wake up)
Se laver (to wash oneself)
S'habiller (to dress oneself)
Se reposer (to rest)
Se coucher (to go to bed)

That’s now the end of today’s episode. I hope you enjoyed this episode! Don’t forget to download your exercises to practice what you’ve learned today! I’ll chat with you next week. à la semaine prochaine!

Mathilde