One of the first phrases you probably learned when starting out basic French conversation was Je m’appelle … for “My name is …” With more advanced French grammar, you’ve realized this includes a reflexive verb, so the most direct translation is actually “I call myself.”
Though you’ve likely been using les verbes réfléchis (reflexive verbs) in French ever since, learning how to use them in a variety of circumstances is a great way to comprehend more conversations, sound like a native speaker, and deepen your understanding of French grammar. This guide will help you use reflexive verbs correctly and catch the changes in meaning when a verb is used reflexively.
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What is a reflexive verb in French?
A reflexive verb in French is essentially an action where the subject, or doer of the action, is the same as the object, or receiver of the action. In lists, French-English dictionaries, and other resources for learners, you’ll recognize reflexive verbs by the reflexive pronoun se added to the infinitive verb. This changes to s’ in front of vowel sounds.
- se laver = to wash oneself
- se regarder = to look at oneself
- se concentrer = to concentrate
- se tromper = to be mistaken
- s’ennuyer = to get bored
- s’habiller = to get dressed
There are phrases like se laver les mains (to wash one’s hands) where it’s obviously a reflexive verb because the hands (the object) belong to the same person who is washing them (the subject).
- Je me lave les mains. = I wash my hands.
Other reflexive verbs in French refer to internal feelings or are used idiomatically. English does not translate them reflexively.
- Quand je suis seule, je m’ennuie. = When I’m alone, I get bored.
- Je ne veux pas me plaindre. = I don’t want to complain.
List of common reflexive French verbs for daily routines
Reflexive verbs in French are often taught alongside common French verbs and vocabulary for daily routines, personal care, hygiene, and body-related verbs, because this is the type of reflexive verb that seems most obvious.
| French Reflexive Verb | English Meaning |
| s’asseoir | to sit down |
| se blesser | to hurt or injure oneself |
| se brosser (les cheveux/les dents) | to brush (one’s hair/teeth) |
| se casser (le bras/la jambe) | to break (one’s arm/leg) |
| se coiffer | to fix one’s hair |
| se coucher | to go to bed |
| se couper | to cut oneself |
| se déshabiller | to get undressed |
| se doucher | to take a shower |
| s’endormir | to fall asleep |
| s’enrhumer | to catch a cold |
| se fatiguer | to get tired |
| s’habiller | to get dressed |
| se laver (les mains/le corps/la figure) | to wash (one’s hands/body/face) |
| se lever | to get up |
| se maquiller | to put on makeup |
| se moucher | to blow/wipe one’s nose |
| se peigner | to comb one’s hair |
| se raser | to shave oneself |
| se reposer | to rest |
| se réveiller | to wake up |
You can visualize the subject doing something to him or herself, or it’s the person’s own body that is doing the action.
- Je me regarde dans le miroir pour me maquiller. = I look at myself in the mirror to put on makeup.
- Tu devrais te laver les mains. = You should wash your hands.
- Elle se couche quelques minutes avant de s’endormir. = She goes to bed a few minutes before falling asleep.
List of French reflexive verbs for states of mind
Learners are often surprised at how many verbs are used reflexively in French even when the English meaning doesn’t make this clear. There’s not an obvious way to translate the reflexive part of this verb, so it’s best to learn it as part of the verb from the start.
| French Reflexive Verb | English Meaning |
| s’apprêter | to get ready/prepare oneself |
| s’arrêter | to stop oneself |
| se dépêcher | to hurry |
| s’effrayer | to get frightened |
| s’eloigner | to move oneself away |
| s’énerver | to get annoyed |
| se fâcher | to get angry |
| se fier | to trust |
| s’habituer à | to get used to/become accustomed to |
| s’imaginer | to imagine |
| s’inquiéter | to worry |
| s’intéresser à | to be interested in |
| se rendre compte de | to realize something |
| se taire | to be quiet |
These examples show how to use reflexive verbs to illustrate states of mind:
- Ils s’amusent tous les jours. = They have fun every day.
- Elle ne peut pas se concentrer quand il y a trop de bruit. = She can’t concentrate when there is too much noise.
- Nous nous inquiétons trop. = We worry too much.
How to use reflexive pronouns with reflexive verbs in French
When conjugated, the reflexive pronouns in French will vary according to the subject, employing the reflexive pronouns me, te, se, nous, and vous.
se lever – to get up
| French Present Tense | English Meaning |
| je me lève | I get up |
| tu te lèves | you get up (singular/informal) |
| il/elle/on se lève | he/she gets up/we get up (informal) |
| nous nous levons | we get up |
| vous vous levez | you get up (plural/formal) |
| ils/elles se lèvent | they get up |
One common mistake when using reflexive verbs is forgetting to repeat nous and vous. They are repeated because one is the subject pronoun (we/you) and the other is the object (the recipient of the action). Ne vous inquiétez pas ! (Don’t worry) It sounds repetitive, but it’s correct and necessary.
In front of vowel sounds, including where a consonant is silent, me, te, and se all change to m’, t’, and s’ respectively.
You don’t need to use the possessive with the reflexive pronoun
One common mistake for learners is using the possessive, such as mon/ma/mes (my) or ton/ta/tes (your), along with the reflexive pronoun. The reflexive nature of the verb already indicates whose body is the object of the action, so French speakers simply use the definite article le/la/l’/les (the) as appropriate.
- Je me lave le visage. = I wash my face.
- Tu te rases la tête. = You shave your head.
- Il se frotte l’œil. = He is rubbing his eye.
- Elle se coupe les ongles. = She cuts her fingernails.
Conjugating reflexive verbs in French sentences
Now that you can recognize many reflexive verbs in French along with their meanings, you’ll want to pay attention to how to use them in all kinds of tenses, negative constructions, commands, and more. You’ll be reviewing a lot of what you’ve already encountered on your journey to learn French.
In simple tenses, add the reflexive pronoun in front of the conjugated verb
The simple one-word French verb tenses won’t change very much from what you’ve already learned, other than adding the reflexive pronoun in front of the verb.
se réveiller – to wake up
| Subject Pronoun | Present (wake up) |
Imperfect (woke up/used to wake up) |
Future (will wake up) |
Conditional Present (would wake up) |
| Je I |
me réveille | me réveillais | me réveillerai | me réveillerais |
| Tu You, informal |
te réveilles | te réveillais | te réveilleras | te réveillerais |
| Il, Elle He, She |
se réveille | se réveillait | se réveillera | se réveillerait |
| Nous We |
nous réveillons | nous réveillions | nous réveillerons | nous réveillerions |
| Vous You, formal |
vous réveillez | vous réveilliez | vous réveillerez | vous réveilleriez |
| Ils, Elles They |
se réveillent | se réveillaient | se réveilleront | se réveilleraient |
Reflexive verbs use the auxiliary verb être and a past participle in compound tenses
Compound tenses like the passé composé, the plus-que-parfait, and the futur antérieur use an auxiliary, or helping verb.
You probably know that in these tenses, there is a list of verbs such as aller (to go) and retourner (to return) that always use être (to be) as the helping verb, while the rest use avoir (to have).
With reflexive verbs, it’s simple. All reflexive verbs use être (to be) as the auxiliary verb, even if the non-reflexive verb falls into the avoir category.
- Je me suis brossé les cheveux. = I brushed my hair. (reflexive)
- J’ai brossé le chien. = I brushed the dog. (not reflexive)
- Il s’était coupé les cheveux. = He had cut his hair. (reflexive)
- Il avait coupé le billet. = He had cut up the ticket. (not reflexive)
Compound tenses also use a past participle. According to French grammar rules, some parts of speech must agree in both gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with other words in the sentence. Past participles of reflexive verbs must agree with the direct object if it comes before the helping verb in the word order of the sentence.
You’ll notice these changes are possible in the verb se réveiller (to wake up), depending on who the subject is. In most cases, you will add an extra “e” for feminine and an extra “s” for plural.
se réveiller (to wake up)
| Subject Pronoun | Passé Composé (woke up) |
Plus-Que-Parfait (had woken up) |
Futur Antérieur (will have woken up) |
| Je I |
me suis réveillé(e) | m’étais réveillé(e) | me serai réveillé(e) |
| Tu You, informal |
t’es réveillé(e) | t’étais réveillé(e) | te seras réveillé(e) |
| Il, Elle He, She |
s’est réveillé(e) | s’était réveillé(e) | se sera réveillé(e) |
| Nous We |
nous sommes réveillé(e)s | nous étions réveillé(e)s | nous serons réveillé(e)s |
| Vous You, formal |
vous êtes réveillé(e)(s) | vous étiez réveillé(e)(s) | vous serez réveillé(e)(s) |
| Ils, Elles They |
se sont réveillé(e)s | s’étaient réveillé(e)s | se seront réveillé(e)s |
If you’re writing with precision, how do you know whether to apply this agreement and add the extra letters? Ask yourself which word in the sentence the action is being performed on. With reflexive verbs like se lever (to get up) and se coucher (to go to bed), the direct object is also the subject itself, so add letters to the past participle to make it agree with that subject’s gender and number.
- Elle s’est couchée. = She went to bed.
- Elles s’étaient levées. = They had gotten up.
In other cases, like se couper les ongles (to cut one’s nails), the object is les ongles, which comes after the helping verb, so agreement isn’t necessary.
- Elle s’est coupée. = She cut herself. (agreement)
- Elle s’est coupé les ongles. = She cut her nails. (no agreement)
Some double-verb structures require the infinitive of the verb
Some double-verb structures, such as the futur proche (near future), require that a verb remain in the infinitive. When the infinitive is required in French, the reflexive pronoun will still vary according to subject, but is placed in front of the infinitive in the sentence.
- Je vais me promener. = I’m going to go for a walk.
- Elle ne peut pas se brosser les cheveux toute seule. = She can’t brush her hair by herself.
- Vous devriez vous dépêcher ! = You should hurry!
Affirmative commands with reflexive verbs use a hyphen
In affirmative commands, attach the reflexive pronoun to the verb with a hyphen. The pronoun te becomes toi.
- Brosse-toi les dents ! = Brush your teeth!
- Promenons-nous ! = Let’s go for a walk!
- Dépêchez-vous ! = Hurry up!
Negation of reflexive verbs varies by verb tense
Making reflexive verbs negative is a matter of knowing where to put the ne…pas.
In simple tenses, place ne… pas around both the reflexive pronoun and the conjugated verb.
- Il ne s’inquiète pas. = He doesn’t worry.
- Nous ne nous amusons pas. = We aren’t having fun.
In compound tenses, place ne…pas around the reflexive pronoun and the auxiliary verb.
- Elle ne s’est pas encore réveillée. = She hasn’t woken up yet.
- Vous ne vous êtes pas concentrés. = You didn’t concentrate.
In negative commands, the subject pronoun is dropped, so start with ne and put pas after the reflexive pronoun and conjugated verb.
- Ne t’assieds pas ! = Don’t sit down!
- Ne vous inquiétez pas ! = Don’t worry!
Meaning changes in reflexive vs. non-reflexive verbs
Many reflexive verbs in French can be used non-reflexively when the doer of the action and the receiver of the action are different. This doesn’t usually change the meaning of the verb itself.
- Je me lave. = I washmyself. (reflexive)
- Je lave le chien. = I wash the dog. (not reflexive)
- Elle se coupe les cheveux. = She cuts her hair. (reflexive)
- Elle coupe le papier. = She cuts the paper. (not reflexive)
With some French verbs, however, the translation will be quite different in the reflexive vs. non-reflexive verb, so avoid this common mistake by learning the changes in meaning with common reflexive verbs.
- Il se dirige vers la gare. = He is heading toward the train station. (reflexive)
- Il dirige la gare. = He manages the train station. (not reflexive)
- Je vais m’installer ici. = I’m going to settle down here. (reflexive)
- Je vais installer une application. = I’m going to install an app. (not reflexive)
| French Reflexive Verb | English Meaning | French Non-Reflexive Verb | English Meaning |
| s’attendre à | to expect | attendre | to wait |
| se demander | to wonder | demander | to ask |
| se diriger vers | to head toward | diriger | to direct/lead |
| s’ennuyer | to get bored | ennuyer | to annoy/bother |
| s’entendre | to get along | entendre | to hear |
| s’installer | to settle into (a new place or situation) | installer | to install |
| se mettre à | to begin | mettre | to put |
| se passer | to happen | passer | to pass by |
| se servir de | to use | servir | to serve |
| se tromper | to make an error | tromper | to deceive |
| se trouver | to be located | trouver | to find |
Key takeaways about reflexive verbs in French
How is a reflexive verb different from a non-reflexive verb in French? The main verb is conjugated just like always, with a few key differences.
- Use the reflexive pronoun me, te, se, nous, vous.
- Affirmative commands attach toi, nous, and vous to the verb with a hyphen.
- All reflexive verbs in compound tenses, like the passé composé, will use être as the helping, or auxiliary verb.
- For negative constructions, the ne…pas goes around the reflexive pronoun as well as the conjugated verb.
- The meaning of a verb might change slightly when used reflexively in French.
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