Forming the present tense of reflexive verbs
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 | se (s’) | himself |
| elle | herself | |
| itself | ||
| on | oneself | |
| nous | nous | ourselves |
| vous | vous | yourself (singular) |
| yourselves (plural) | ||
| ils | se (s’) | themselves |
| elles |
Je me lève tôt. I get up early.
Elle s’habille. She’s getting dressed.
Ils s’intéressent beaucoup aux animaux. They’re very interested in animals.
The present tense forms of a reflexive verb work in just the same way as an ordinary verb, except that the reflexive pronoun is used as well.
Nous nous amusons beaucoup. We have a lot of fun.
Ils se voient de temps en temps. They sometimes see each other.
Le dimanche, il se repose. On Sundays, he has a rest.
Il se regarde dans le miroir. He looks at himself in the mirror.
Elle ne se souvient pas de leurs noms. She can’t remember their names.
Some reflexive verbs, such as s’asseoir (meaning to sit down), are irregular. Some of these irregular verbs are shown in the Verb Tables at the back of the book.
Where to put the reflexive pronoun
In the present tense, the reflexive pronoun almost always comes BEFORE the verb.
Je me couche tôt. I go to bed early.
Comment t’appelles-tu? What’s your name?
When telling someone NOT TO DO something, you put the reflexive pronoun BEFORE the verb as usual.
Ne te lève pas. Don’t get up.
Ne vous habillez pas. Don’t get dressed.
When telling someone TO DO something, you put the reflexive pronoun AFTER the verb and join the two words with a hyphen.
Lève-toi! Get up!
Dépêchez-vous! Hurry up!
Habillons-nous. Let’s get dressed.
Each other and one another
We use each other in English when we are talking about two people, and one another when we are talking about three or more people. The French reflexive pronouns nous, vous and se can all mean two or more people.
Nous nous parlons tous les jours. We speak to each other every day.
On se voit demain? Shall we see each other tomorrow?
Les trois pays se ressemblent beaucoup.
The three countries are really like one another.