Verbs can be classified by the kinds of complement they take. Table 8.A out lines the main types dealt with in this chapter.
TABLE 8.A Classifi cation of verbs by the complements they take
| Verb type | Complement type | |
| Direct object | Prepositional object | |
| Intransitive (8.2) | No | No |
| e.g. partir Jeanne partira | – | – |
| Directly Transitive (8.3) | Yes | No |
| e.g. fermer Il ferme | les yeux | – |
| Indirectly Transitive (8.4) | No | Yes |
| e.g. hériter Yvon hérite | – | d'une fortune |
| Ditransitive (8.5) | Yes | Yes |
| e.g. planter Hervé a planté | le jardin | de roses |
| Pronominal (8.7) | ||
| (a) se is a direct object e.g. s'évanouir | (a) Marie s'est évanouie | – |
| (b) se is an indirect object e.g. se faire mal | – | (b) Elle s'est fait mal (à elle -même) |
Intransitive verbs have no object:
| Depuis janvier les prix ont augmenté | Since January prices have gone up |
| Il a acquiescé | He agreed |
| L'eau scintillait | The water sparkled |
| La neige tombe | Snow is falling |
| La fête continue | The party is going on |
| Elle avait disparu | She had disappeared |
| Vous descendez? | Are you going down? |
| Il ne souffrira pas | He won't suffer |
They may be accompanied (usually optionally, but sometimes obligatorily) by adverbs (see Chapter 5). Examples shown in brackets indicate that the adverb is optional:
| Elle part (en vacances) | She is going (on holiday) |
| Un léger brouillard montait (de la mer) | A mist rose (from the sea) |
| Il a respiré fortement | He breathed deeply |
| Christian serait tombé (du haut de la falaise) | Christian apparently fell (from the cliff) |
| Elle est descendue (péniblement) | She went down (gingerly) |
| Cet homme avait vécu plus de 90 ans | That man had lived into his nineties |
| Louis tremblait (de tous ses membres) | Louis was trembling (all over) |
| Les minutes passaient (lentement) | The minutes passed (slowly) |
Most intransitive verbs employ the auxiliary avoir in compound tenses:
| Depuis janvier les prix ont augmenté | Since January prices have gone up |
| Il aurait acquiescé | He agreed, apparently |
| La fête avait continué | The party had gone on |
| Elle avait disparu | She had disappeared |
| Il n'a pas souffert | He didn't suffer |
| La situation aura probablement empiré | The situation will probably have got worse |
A small set of verbs, including commencer, changer, disparaître, vieillir, normally appear with the auxiliary avoir in compound tenses, but their past participles may be used with être to describe a state of affairs. In this case the past participle is used in very much the same way as an adjective (for adjectives, see Chapter 4). Compare the following sentences:
| Il a commencé à lire ce roman | He began to read this novel |
| La pièce est commencée | The play has begun |
NB: With être and a state of affairs, there will be agreement between the past participle and the subject. With avoir and an action there will not. (See Chapter 9.2 and 9.3.)
A small set of intransitive verbs, some very frequently used, appear with the auxiliary être in compound tenses:
| Un léger brouillard est monté de la mer | A mist rose from the sea |
| Christian est tombé du haut de la falaise | Christian fell from the cliff |
| Elle était descendue | She had gone down |
| Marie-Christine est née en 1968 | Marie-Christine was born in 1968 |
The verbs which take être in this way are:
| aller | to go |
| arriver | to arrive |
| décéder | to die |
| demeurer | to remain |
| descendre | to go down |
| devenir | to become |
| entrer | to enter |
| monter | to go up |
| mourir | to die |
| naître | to be born |
| partir | to leave |
| rentrer | to go home |
| rester | to stay |
| retourner | to return |
| revenir | to come back |
| sortir | to go out |
| tomber | to fall |
| venir | to come |
and verbs derived from the above: redescendre, remonter, renaître, repartir, retomber, parvenir and survenir.
A further set of intransitive verbs, e.g. accourir, apparaître, passer, can appear either with avoir or with être in compound tenses. It would seem that the use of être is now more common and avoir may appear dated:
| Quand il a appris la nouvelle il est accouru | When he heard the news he came quickly |
| Il nous est apparu que le gardien avait menti | It became apparent to us that the porter had lied |
| Il est passé nous voir | He came to see us |
(See 8.3.4. for intransitive verbs which can be used with avoir when used transitively.)
Directly transitive verbs have direct objects:
| lire la nouvelle dans le journal | to read the item in the newspaper |
| quitter le Pays de Galles | to leave Wales |
| composter un billet | to punch a ticket |
| fumer une cigarette | to smoke a cigarette |
| ouvrir la portière | to open the (car, train) door |
| prendre le train | to take the train |
| rencontrer un ami | to meet a friend |
| expliquer les faits | to explain the facts |
| étouffer un juron | to stifle an oath |
| lever la tête | to raise one's head |
Sometimes the objects of transitive verbs may be omitted. When this happens the object is still ‘understood’, but with a general or non- specific interpretation:
| Clément boit | Clément drinks ('alcohol' understood) |
| La vitesse tue | Speed kills ('people' understood) |
| Gustave enseigne | Gustave teaches ('pupils' understood) |
| Il ne sait pas conduire | He can't drive ('cars' understood) |
| On attend | We're waiting ('for something to happen' understood) |
All transitive verbs take the auxiliary avoir in compound tenses, whether the object is present or omitted:
| Elle a quitté le Pays de Galles | She has left Wales |
| J'ai rencontré un ami | I met a friend |
| Dans la bousculade Laurent avait reçu des coups | In the confusion Laurent had been hit |
| On a attendu | We waited |
Some verbs can be used intransitively (without an object) and transitively (with an object):
| Les prix augmentent | Prices are going up |
| La chaîne augmente ses prix | The store is increasing its prices |
| Il rentre | He is going home |
| Il rentre la voiture au garage | He is putting the car in the garage |
| Elle sort | She is going out |
| Elle sort son appareil-photo | She is getting her camera out |
| Le moteur a calé | The engine stalled |
| Alain a calé le moteur | Alain stalled the engine |
Intransitive verbs which take the auxiliary être in compound tenses take avoir when they are used transitively:
| Pierre est descendu | Pierre went down |
| BUT | |
| Pierre a descendu les valises | Pierre has taken the suitcases down |
| Marie est montée prendre son maillot de bain | Marie has gone up to fetch her swimming |
| BUT | costume |
| Marie avait monté un sac de charbon | Marie had taken a sack of coal up |
| Mickey est sorti | Mickey has gone out |
| BUT | |
| Mickey a sorti une pièce d'identité | Mickey got out some identification |
| Bernard sera rentré | Bernard will have gone home |
| BUT | |
| Bernard avait rentré la voiture au garage | Bernard had put the car in the garage |
| Eliane était retournée à la banque | Eliane had gone back to the bank |
| BUT | |
| Eliane a retourné tout l'appartement | Eliane has turned the flat upside down |
The verbs descendre and monter also take the auxiliary avoir in compound tenses when they are used with adverbials of place like l’escalier, la rue, la côte:
| Il a descendu l'escalier, la rue | He went down the stairs/the street |
| Elle a monté la côte | She went up the hill |
Compare with:
| Il est descendu vers la rue | He went down towards the street |
| Elle est monté à l'échelle | She climbed up the ladder |
English speakers should pay special attention to the following verbs. Unlike their English counterparts, their objects are not preceded by a preposition:
| approuver un choix | to approve of a choice |
| attendre le train | to wait for the train |
| chercher une enveloppe | to look for an envelope |
| demander un verre d'eau | to ask for a glass of water |
| descendre la rue | to go down the street |
| écouter la radio | to listen to the radio |
| espérer une récompense | to hope for a reward |
| habiter une maison, une ville, une région | to live in a house, in a town, in a region |
| longer la falaise | to go along the cliff |
| monter la côte | to go up the hill |
| payer un tour de manège | to pay for a ride on a roundabout |
| payer une tournée | to pay for a round (of drinks) |
| présider une séance | to be the chairperson of a session |
| regarder le soleil | to look at the sun |
| viser la cible | to aim at the target |
habiter also appears in constructions like: habiter à la campagne, habiter en ville, habiter en France. Here à la campagne, en ville and en France are not objects but adverbials; they can co- occur with direct objects: habiter une petite maison à la campagne, habiter un bon quartier en ville, etc.
Examples:
| Il approuve mon choix | (NOT *Il approuve de mon choix) |
| J'attends le train | (NOT *J'attends pour le train) |
| Nous cherchons la gare | (NOT *Nous cherchons pour la gare) |
| Cette publicité vise les jeunes | (NOT *Cette publicité vise aux jeunes) |
(See Chapter 3.2 to see how this influences the choice of object pronouns.)
Indirectly transitive verbs take an object introduced by a preposition:
| assister à une réunion | to be present at a meeting |
| compatir à la douleur de quelqu'un | to feel for somebody in their sortr |
| croire au diable | to believe in the devil |
| en vouloir à son cousin | to hold a grudge against one's cousin |
| participer aux activités | to take part in the activities |
| penser à son avenir | to think about one's future |
| pourvoir aux besoins de quelqu'un | to provide for somebody's needs |
| réfléchir à son passé | to reflect on one's past |
| songer à un voyage en Italie | to envisage a trip to Italy |
| veiller au bon règlement d'une affaire | to see to the proper handling of a matter |
NB: (a) Croire à is used to mean ‘to believe in the existence of some phenomenon’: croire au Père Noël ‘to believe in Father Christmas’, croire au bonheur ‘to believe in (human) happiness’. Croire can also take direct objects: Je crois cette histoire ‘I believe this story’, Elle le croit ‘She believes him’. Croire en means ‘to believe in’ in the sense of ‘to have faith in’: croire en Dieu ‘to believe in God’, croire en ses co-équipiers ‘to believe in one’s team- mates’.
(b) Penser can also take an object preceded by de with the meaning ‘to have an opinion about something’: Qu’est-ce que vous pensez de son article? ‘What do you think of his article?’
(c) veiller sur quelqu’un means ‘to watch over somebody’.
| déborder d'eau | to overflow with water |
| déjeuner de fruits | to lunch on fruit |
| dépendre des circonstances | to depend on the circumstances |
| dîner de moules et de frites | to dine on mussels and french fries |
| fourmiller d'abeilles | to swarm with bees |
| gémir de douleur | to groan with pain |
| grouiller de fourmis | to swarm with ants |
| parler de ses amis | to speak of one's friends |
| regorger de richesses | to abound in wealth |
| répondre de son ami | to answer for one's friend |
| rire de ses compagnons | to laugh at one's friends |
| rougir de honte | to go red with shame |
| tenir de sa mère | to take after one's mother |
| trembler de peur | to tremble with fear |
| triompher de son adversaire | to overcome one's opponent |
| vivre de l'air du temps | to live on fresh air alone |
| vivre de presque rien | to live on next to nothing |
(For pronominal verbs which take prepositional objects (s’habituer à, s’éloigner de, etc.) see 8.7.3.)
Special attention should be given to the following verbs because, while they are indirectly transitive in French, their English counterparts are directly transitive.
| contravenir à la réglementation | to break the rule |
| convenir à Julie | to suit Julie |
| (dé)plaire à son professeur | to (dis)please one's teacher |
| (dés)obéir à ses parents | to (dis)obey one's parents |
| échapper à la police | to evade capture by the police |
| échouer à un examen | to fail an exam |
| jouer au football, au rugby, au tennis | to play football, rugby, tennis |
| nuire à la réputation de quelqu'un | to harm somebody's reputation |
| parvenir au sommet | to reach the summit |
| plaire à quelqu'un | to please somebody |
| remédier à la situation | to rectify the situation |
| renoncer à l'alcool | to give up alcohol |
| résister à une force to | resist a force |
| ressembler à son chien | to look like one's dog |
| subvenir aux besoins de quelqu'un | to look after somebody financially |
| succéder à son père | to succeed one's father |
| survivre à un accident | to survive an accident |
| téléphoner à quelqu'un | to telephone somebody |
| toucher aux affaires de quelqu'un | to mess about with somebody's things |
While échapper à means ‘to evade capture’, s’échapper de means ‘to escape from’: s’échapper de la prison.
Examples:
| Il joue au football | (NOT *Il joue football) |
| Il a téléphoné à sa femme | (NOT *Il a téléphoné sa femme) |
| Elle ressemble beaucoup à sa mère | (NOT *Elle ressemble beaucoup sa mère) |
| Le nouveau poste plaisait à Antoine | (NOT *Le nouveau poste plaisait Antoine) |
See Chapter 3.2 for the relevance of this distinction to the choice of object pronoun.
| abuser de son héritage | to misuse one's inheritance |
| douter de la vérité d'une histoire | to doubt the truth of a story |
| hériter d'une fortune | to inherit a fortune |
| jouer du piano/du violon/de la flûte | to play the piano/violin/flute |
| jouir de privilèges sans précédent | to enjoy unprecedented privileges |
| médire de son voisin | to slander one's neighbour |
| redoubler d'efforts | to double one's efforts |
Note that entrer is usually followed by dans: entrer dans la maison. Grimper is usually followed either by sur or by à: grimper sur un escabeau ‘to climb a stepladder ’, grimper à l’échelle ‘to climb a ladder’.
Examples:
| Elle espère hériter d'une fortune | (NOT *Elle espère hériter une fortune) |
| Elle jouait du piano | (NOT *Elle jouait le piano) |
(For pronominal verbs which take prepositional objects –s’apercevoir de, se servir de, etc. – see 8.7.3.)
Ditransitive verbs take a direct object and an object introduced by a preposition.
| accoutumer un apprenti au métier | to get an apprentice used to a trade |
| admettre un invité à la fête | to admit a guest to the party |
| appeler quelqu'un au téléphone | to call somebody to the phone |
| apprendre le français à des élèves | to teach French to pupils |
| avouer un crime à la police | to confess to the police about a crime |
| condamner un malfaiteur à une peine de prison | to condemn a criminal to prison |
| conduire les hôtes à leur chambre | to take the guests to their room |
| contraindre les rebelles à l'obéissance | to force the rebels into obedience |
| convier des amis à une fête | to invite friends to a party |
| dire ses quatre vérités à quelqu'un | to tell someone the unadorned truth |
| destiner son fils à une belle carrière | to arrange a great career for one's son |
| dire des mensonges à sa famille | to tell lies to one's family |
| emmener les invités à leur hôtel | to take guests to their hotel |
| exposer sa famille à des dangers | to expose one's family to danger |
| forcer les citoyens à la révolution | to drive the citizens to revolution |
| habituer les motocyclistes au port du casque | to get motorcycle riders used to wearing a helmet |
| inciter les ouvriers à la révolte | to incite workers to revolt |
| inviter les syndicalistes à une réunion | to invite the trade union representatives to a meeting |
| jurer amitié à quelqu'un | pledge one's friendship to someone |
| louer une voiture à un touriste | to rent a car to a tourist |
| obliger ses créanciers au remboursement | to force one's debtors to pay up |
| ordonner la retraite à ses troupes | to order one's troops to retreat |
| provoquer quelqu'un à une réaction trop vive | to provoke somebody into a hasty reaction |
| réduire quelqu'un à la mendicité | to reduce somebody to beggary |
| rendre la tondeuse à son voisin | to return the lawn-mower to one's neighbour |
| suggérer une idée à un collègue | to suggest an idea to a colleague |
NB: louer une voiture à un garagiste is likely to mean: ‘to hire a car from a garage owner’.
| acheter un camion à un garagiste | to buy a lorry from a garage owner |
| arracher de l'argent à un avare | to prise money from a miser |
| cacher la catastrophe à sa famille | to hide the disaster from one's family |
| dérober de l'argent à ses enfants | to steal money from one's children |
| emprunter cinq cents euros à un ami | to borrow five hundred euros from a friend |
| enlever le pistolet à l'agresseur | to take the revolver away from the attacker |
| ôter une écharde à quelqu'un | to remove a splinter from somebody's flesh |
| louer une camionette au garagiste | to hire a van from the garage owner |
| préparer la famille à de bien tristes nouvelles | to prepare the family for very sad news |
| reprocher une liaison à son mari | to be angry with one's husband for having had an affair |
| réserver des sièges aux invités | to reserve some seats for the guests |
| retirer son permis au conducteur | to take the driver's licence away from him |
| soustraire une grosse somme à une vieille dame | to swindle an old lady out of a large sum |
| voler une bague à sa cousine | to steal a ring from one's cousin |
| accabler son amie de cadeaux | to overwhelm one's girlfriend with presents |
| accompagner ses commentaires de sarcasme | to bring sarcasm into one's comments |
| affranchir une population de l'esclavage | to free a population from slavery |
| armer ses soldats de mitrailleuses | to arm one's soldiers with machine guns |
| charger un voisin d'une commission | to entrust an errand to a neighbour |
| coiffer un enfant d'un chapeau de paille | to put a straw hat on a child's head |
| combler ses invités de gentillesses | to cover one's guests in kindness |
| couvrir sa petite amie de cadeaux | to drown one's girlfriend in presents |
| cribler un corps de balles | to riddle a body with bullets |
| éloigner sa fille de ses admirateurs | to remove one's daughter from her admirers |
| encombrer la voiture d'affaires de sport | to clutter up the car with sports equipment |
| entourer la famille de bons amis | to surround the family with good friends |
| envelopper le cadeau d'un papier de soie | to wrap the present in tissue paper |
| habiller son mari de vêtements sport | to buy casual styles of clothes for one's husband |
| menacer ses employés d'une réduction de salaire | to threaten one's employees with a drop in salary |
| munir les étudiants du savoir nécessaire | to provide students with the necessary knowledge |
| orner le parebrise d'autocollants | to decorate the windscreen with stickers |
| planter le jardin de roses | to plant the garden with roses |
| pourvoir un réfugié d'un faux passeport | to provide a refugee with a false passport |
| remplir une salle de spectateurs | to fill a hall with spectators |
| semer un champ de haricots | to sow a field with beans |
| souiller un drap de sang | to soil a sheet with blood |
| tacher un pantalon de graisse | to stain trousers with grease |
| tapisser la chambre d'un papier peint rose | to paper the bedroom in pink |
| vêtir un cardinal d'une robe de pourpre | to dress a cardinal in a purple robe |
Some ditransitive verbs in English allow the preposition introducing the second object to be omitted and the order of the objects to be switched around. This is not possible in French:
| to give a present to one's uncle | to give one's uncle a present | |
| offrir un cadeau à son oncle | BUT NOT | *offrir son oncle un cadeau |
| to pass the salt to one's neighbour | to pass one's neighbour the salt | |
| passer le sel à son voisin | BUT NOT | *passer son voisin le sel |
(See 8.6.3 for the consequences of this in forming a passive.)
By use of the passive, emphasis may be placed on the receiver of an action (usually what would be the object in the equivalent active sentence) rather than on the agent of the action (usually the subject).
Passives are produced from directly transitive sentences by moving the object noun phrase into the position of the grammatical subject, introducing the verb être and, optionally, moving the erstwhile subject into a phrase introduced by par or de:
becomes:
becomes:
Note that the rules of agreement for the past participle are those of être (see Chapter 9.2.2): i.e. it agrees with the subject:
NB: The use of the preposition par to introduce the subject usually implies some degree of voluntary involvement; the use of de suggests more a state of affairs. See also Chapter 13.15.5.
Most verbs which have a direct object (directly transitive verbs – see 8.3) will convert into a passive, but there are limitations to whether the meaning is sensible or not. Connaître can be turned into a sensible passive:
but lire produces a less natural sentence:
Usually passives which make an inanimate direct object a subject and put an animate subject in a par or de phrase are unnatural.
NB: The verb avoir is used in the passive only in the colloquial J’ai été eu ‘I have been had’ in the sense of ‘swindled’.
English has a set of verbs which allow two structures for a similar meaning: one has a direct object and a prepositional object, the other has two non- prepositional objects and the word order is different:
In both sentences ‘Naomi’ is the indirect object of the verb ‘give’ and ‘flowers’ is the direct object, but in the ‘double object’ construction ‘Naomi’ directly follows the verb, which gives the impression that it is the direct object.
English allows either object to become the subject in a passive sentence:
French, however, only allows the prepositional object construction offrir quelque chose à quelqu’un: Jean a offert des fleurs à Naomi (NOT *Jean a offert Naomi des fleurs) Furthermore, French only allows the direct object to become the subject in a passive sentence. Thus:
is an acceptable French sentence, but
is entirely unacceptable.
Sentences constructed with similar verbs run into the same problems:
| English | ||
| To teach somebody something: | I taught French to John | |
| I taught John French | ||
| French was taught to John by me | ||
| John was taught French by me | ||
| French | ||
| Enseigner quelque chose à quelqu'un: | J'ai enseigné le français à Jean | |
| But | *J'ai enseigné Jean le français is unacceptable | |
| Therefore | Le français fut enseigné à Jean par moi is acceptable | |
| But | *Jean fut enseigné le français par moi is unacceptable |
| English | ||
| To tell somebody something: | I told a story to John | |
| I told John a story | ||
| A story was told to John by me | ||
| John was told a story by me | ||
| French | ||
| Raconter quelque chose à quelqu'un: | J'ai raconté une histoire à Jean | |
| But | *J'ai raconté Jean une histoire is unacceptable | |
| Therefore | Une histoire fut racontée à Jean par moi is acceptable | |
| But | *Jean fut raconté une histoire par moi is unacceptable |
Common French verbs whose prepositional objects must keep the preposition and cannot be made the subject of a passive are listed below:
| accorder qc à qn | to grant sb sth |
| apprendre qc à qn | to teach sb sth |
| commander qc à qn | to order sb to do sth/to order sth from sb |
| conseiller qc à qn | to advise sb to do sth |
| défendre qc à qn | to forbid sb sth |
| demander qc à qn | to ask sb sth |
| donner qc à qn | to give sb sth |
| écrire qc à qn | to write sb sth |
| enseigner qc à qn | to teach sb sth |
| laisser qc à qn | to leave sb sth |
| montrer qc à qn | to show sb sth |
| offrir qc à qn | to offer sb sth, treat sb to sth |
| pardonner qc à qn | to forgive sb sth |
| passer qc à qn | to pass sb sth |
| permettre qc à qn | to allow sb sth |
| prescrire qc à qn | to prescribe sb sth |
| prêter qc à qn | to lend sb sth |
| promettre qc à qn | to promise sb sth |
| refuser qc à qn | to refuse sb sth |
The passive is used much more frequently in English than in French. This is partly because there are fewer restrictions on which verbs can be made passive, and partly because there are many other ways in French of removing the agent from subject position or reducing the specificity of the subject.
Alternatives to the English passive which reduce the role of the subject as agent include:
To avoid using a passive, it is sometimes worth considering whether there is a verb with the opposite meaning that could be used in a non- passive transitive construction. For example, instead of:
the following transitive constructions might be used:
However, whether these alternatives are appropriate will depend on the context in which the sentence occurs.
Pronominal verbs are accompanied by an unstressed pronoun which agrees with the subject, and is one of me, te, se, nous, vous. This can function as a direct object:
se laver ‘to wash (oneself)’
| je me lave | nous nous lavons |
| tu te laves | vous vous lavez |
| Paul se lave | ils se lavent |
| Virginie se lave | elles se lavent |
or as an indirect object:
se laver le visage ‘to wash one’s face’ (literally: ‘to wash the face to oneself’)
| je me lave le visage | nous nous lavons le visage |
| tu te laves le visage | vous vous lavez le visage |
| Paul se lave le visage | ils se lavent le visage |
| Virginie se lave le visage | elles se lavent le visage |
Some verbs exist in both a pronominal and non- pronominal form, as laver does: laver la voiture ‘to wash the car’, se laver le visage ‘to wash one’s face’. Others are always pronominal, for example s’évanouir ‘to faint’, s’enorgueillir de ‘to take pride in’, s’évertuer à ‘to try very hard to’.
All pronominal verbs are conjugated with être in compound tenses. (For the agreement of past participles with pronominal verbs see 8.7.7 and Chapter 9.4.)
When pronominal verbs are used to describe something which the subject does to herself, himself, themselves, etc., they are being used reflexively:
| Je me vois dans la glace | I can see myself in the mirror |
| Je me déteste | I hate myself |
| Il s'est fait mal | He hurt himself |
| Elle s'était cassé la jambe | She had broken her leg |
Note that English translations of pronominal verbs used reflexively do not always require a form of -self. In French, however, the reflexive pronoun is always required:
| Je me lave | I am washing (myself) |
| Il se rase | He is shaving (himself) |
| Il s'est roulé par terre | He rolled (himself) on the ground |
The pronoun itself may be the direct or indirect object of the verb. If the verb in its non-pronominal form is directly transitive, the pronoun will be a direct object. If the verb in its non- pronominal form is indirectly transitive, the pronoun will be an indirect object pronoun. For example, laver takes a direct object: laver la voiture. Therefore in Je me lave the pronoun is direct. But parler (parler à qn) takes an indirect object, e.g. parler à une amie. Therefore in Je me parle the pronoun is indirect.
| Je me lave à l'eau froide | I wash in cold water |
| Elle est maladroite et se blesse fréquemment | She is clumsy and often injures herself |
| Il se coiffe pendant des heures | He spends hours doing his hair |
| Tu te baignes tous les jours? | Do you have a swim every day? |
| Suzanne s'habille très mal | Suzanne dresses very badly |
| Jean-Pierre se nourrit très bien | Jean-Pierre has a healthy diet |
| Marianne se cache dans l'armoire | Marianne is hiding in the cupboard |
| Je me parle constamment en me promenant | I constantly talk to myself when I go for a walk |
| En répétant des confidences on ne peut que se nuire | By repeating secrets you only succeed in doing yourself harm |
| Tu t'achèteras un nouveau blouson pour la rentrée | You'll buy yourself a new jacket to go back to school |
| Je me reproche ces bêtises | I feel bad about this foolishness |
| Je me jure de continuer à travailler | I promise myself that I will continue to work |
| Il faut bien s'admettre la vérité | We just have to accept the truth |
| Marianne se cache la vérité | Marianne is hiding the truth from herself |
The difference between direct object reflexives and indirect object reflexives is clear from the last example in each set:
In the first example the se is the person who is hidden: Marianne cache Marianne dans l’armoire. In the second example it is la vérité which is hidden and the se is the indirect object: Marianne cache la vérité à Marianne. These differences are significant when it comes to past participle agreement (see 8.7.7 below and Chapter 9.4).
Many ordinarily directly transitive, indirectly transitive and ditransitive verbs can be used pronominally as reflexives, for example:
| Il critique son patron | Il se critique |
| He criticizes his boss | He criticizes himself |
| Elle regarde son amie | Elle se regarde |
| She is looking at her girl friend | She is looking at herself |
| Tu offres un cadeau à Philippe | Tu t'offres un cadeau |
| You are giving a present to Philip | You are giving a present to yourself |
| Il parle à sa mère | Il se parle |
| He's talking to his mother | He's talking to himself |
| Elle cache la vérité à son mari | Elle se cache la vérité |
| She is hiding the truth from her husband | She is hiding the truth from herself |
The normal way of describing events in which subjects do things to their own bodies is to use a pronominal verb and the part of the body preceded by a definite or indefinite article, and not by a possessive determiner as in English:
(See also Chapter 2.2.8 for the use of the definite article with parts of the body.)
Some verbs include a pronoun but it is impossible to see in what way they can be assigned a reflexive interpretation, e.g. s’abstenir, se douter, s’en aller, s’enfuir, s’évanouir, se repentir, se taire etc.:
Common pronominal verbs which do not have a reflexive interpretation:
| s'abstenir de tout commentaire | to refrain from making any comment |
| s'accouder au parapet | to lean on one's elbows on the parapet |
| s'accoutumer à conduire la nuit | to get used to driving at night |
| s'accroupir derrière un arbre | to crouch behind a tree |
| s'affaiblir lentement | to get slowly weaker |
| s'affaisser/s'affaler/s'écrouler par terre | to collapse on the ground |
| s'agenouiller près de quelqu'un | to kneel down next to somebody |
| s'amuser en vacances | to have fun on holiday |
| s'apercevoir de qch | to notice something |
| s'appeler Drissi | to be called Drissi |
| s'approcher de qn | to approach somebody |
| s'appuyer au rebord de la fenêtre | to lean on the windowsill |
| s'arrêter aux feux | to stop at the lights |
| s'asseoir dans un fauteuil | to sit down in an armchair |
| s'assoupir au volant | to doze off at the wheel |
| s'avancer vers la montagne | to advance towards the mountain |
| se blottir contre sa mère | to cuddle up to one's mother |
| se briser/se casser en miettes | to break into pieces |
| se charger d'une tâche | to take on a task |
| se comporter mal | to behave badly |
| se contenter d'une carrière médiocre | to make do with a mediocre career |
| se coucher tôt | to go to bed early |
| se dépêcher de poser sa candidature | to hurry to apply for the job |
| se déshabiller dans le noir | to get undressed in the dark |
| se diriger vers la maison | to go towards the house |
| se distinguer par son intelligence | to stand out by one's intelligence |
| se douter de qc | to suspect something |
| se dresser contre une injustice | to protest against an injustice |
| s'écarter du chemin | to stray from the track |
| s'échapper/s'évader d'une prison | to escape from a prison |
| s'écouler vite | to pass quickly (of time) |
| s'écrier | to shout, exclaim |
| s'éloigner de la ville | to move away from the town |
| s'emparer de son adversaire | to get hold of one's opponent |
| s'en aller ailleurs | to go away somewhere else |
| s'endormir dans la voiture | to go to sleep in the car |
| s'enfuir dans les bois | to flee into the woods |
| s'ennuyer à la campagne | to become bored in the country |
| s'enquérir auprès de l'ambassade | to enquire at the Embassy |
| s'étonner de la vitesse de la voiture | to be surprised at the speed of the car |
| s'évanouir | to faint |
| se fâcher de qc | to get annoyed at something |
| se fatiguer facilement | to get easily tired |
| se fermer doucement | to close gently |
| se fier à ses collègues | to trust one's colleagues |
| s'habiller en tenue de soirée | to wear evening dress |
| s'habituer à un nouvel emploi | to get used to a new job |
| s'intéresser au latin | to be interested in Latin |
| se lever tard | to get up late |
| se méfier de la police | to distrust the police |
| se mêler à la conversation | to join in the conversation |
| se mettre debout | to stand up |
| se moquer de qn | to make fun of somebody |
| se nourrir de pain | to live on bread |
| s'occuper de ses enfants | to look after one's children |
| se passer de cigarettes | to go without cigarettes |
| se plaindre du temps | to complain about the weather |
| se rappeler une amie | to remember a friend |
| se raviser brusquement | to change one's mind suddenly |
| se réfugier sous les arbres | to take refuge under the trees |
| se repentir de ses paroles | to regret one's words |
| se retourner | to turn around |
| se réunir le dimanche | to meet on Sundays |
| se réveiller | to wake up |
| se servir d'une scie | to use a saw |
| se soucier de la santé de qn | to worry about somebody's health |
| se souvenir d'une amie | to remember a friend |
| se taire | to keep quiet |
| se tenir droit | to stand straight |
| se tromper | to be wrong |
se faire and se laisser are used to convey the idea that the subject causes some event to befall himself or herself without necessarily intending that it should:
| Julie s'est fait écraser par un camion | Julie was run over by a lorry |
| Pierre s'est fait sortir du terrain | Pierre got (himself) sent off the field |
| Jean s'est fait embrasser par Christine | Jean got Christine to kiss him |
| Elle s'est laissé convaincre par son père | She let herself be persuaded by her father |
| Il se laissait guider | He let himself be led |
| Guido s'est laissé pousser les moustaches | Guido allowed his moustache to grow |
(See Chapter 9.4 for agreement of the past participle of faire and laisser in this construction.)
When a pronominal verb is used in the plural and describes a situation where several subjects are doing things to each other, it is being used reciprocally:
| Ils se rencontreront à Paris | They will meet (each other) in Paris |
| Nous nous connaissons | We know each other |
| Les enfants se disputent | The children are arguing (with each other) |
The pronoun can be a direct object, as in the above examples, or an indirect object, as in the following examples:
Sometimes there is a possible ambiguity between a reflexive interpretation of the pronoun and a reciprocal interpretation, for example:
One way to make the reciprocal interpretation entirely clear is to add the expression l’un l’autre ‘each other’ in its appropriate form. For example, where a direct object is involved:
But where an indirect object is involved:
l’un l’autre also varies for gender and number. If the subjects are feminine in gender l’une l’autre is required:
If more than just two subjects are involved a plural form of l’un l’autre is required:
(For agreement of the past participle see 8.7.7 and Chapter 9.4.)
Pronominal verbs are increasingly used with a meaning equivalent to an English passive:
| Cela ne se fait pas | That is just not done |
| Ce vin se boit chambré | This wine is drunk at room temperature |
| La vengeance est un plat qui se mange froid | Revenge is a meal to be eaten cold |
| C'est une revue qui se lit facilement | This journal is easy to read |
Pronominal verbs are always conjugated with être in their compound tenses, and the question arises as to when the past participle is marked for agreement. Whereas the past participle of non-pr onominal verbs which take être always agrees with the subject (elle est arrivée, nous sommes arrivés, elles sont arrivées – see Chapter 9.2), the participle with pronominal verbs only agrees with a direct object pronoun. For example:
(a) Where the meaning of the pronoun is reflexive and it is a direct object:
(See also 8.7.1)
(b) Where the meaning of the pronoun is reciprocal and it is a direct object:
(c) Where the pronoun has no detectable reflexive or reciprocal meaning, but is an integral part of the verb, and is a direct object:
This includes when the pronominal verb is used as a passive:
BUT the past participle will not agree in any case where the pronoun is an indirect object (see 8.7.1). In particular this will be the case:
(i) where the non- pronominal version of the verb has a prepositional indirect object e.g. nuire à qn, cacher qch à qn, écrire à qn and therefore the se is seen as an indirect object:
(ii) where the pronoun is indirect, given that the direct object is a body part (as in 8.7.2):
NB: Where the pronoun is an indirect object (and hence the participle does not agree with it), the participle may nevertheless agree with a preceding direct object, as in:
(See Chapter 9 for the general rules of past participle agreement.)
A number of verbs only exist in an impersonal (and infinitive) form. They only take the pronoun il as their subject, which in this case does not refer to a per son or thing: i.e. it is an impersonal use.
The best- known group of impersonal verbs describe the weather:
| Il pleut | It's raining |
| Il pleut des cordes | It's raining cats and dogs |
| Il neige | It's snowing |
| Il grêle | It's sleeting |
| Il tonne | There's thunder about |
| Il vente | It's windy |
| Il bruine | It's drizzling |
More generally climatic conditions can be expressed by an impersonal use of faire followed by an adjective or a noun:
| Il fait beau | It's a nice day |
| Il fait du soleil | It's sunny |
| Il fait mauvais | It's not a nice day |
| Il fait chaud | It's hot |
| Il fait lourd | The weather is oppressive |
| Il fait sec | It's very dry |
| Il fait humide | It's very humid |
| Il fait du brouillard | It's foggy |
| Il fait de l'orage | It's stormy |
| Il fait un froid de canard | It's very cold |
falloir only exists in impersonal forms (see the list of irregular verbs in Chapter 7). It may be followed by a noun, by an infinitive, by a clause – with the verb in the subjunctive – and it may be preceded by a pronoun acting as indirect object:
| Il faut du temps | Time is needed |
| Il faut partir | It is time to leave |
| Il faut que nous partions | We must leave |
| Il nous faut partir | We must leave |
| Il nous faudra revenir dans trois semaines | We must come back in three weeks |
| Il a fallu trois mois pour que nous nous décidions | It took us three months to make up our minds |
| Il faudrait être certain que cela soit la bonne décision | We need to be sure that this is the right decision |
il y a (‘there is’ or ‘there are’) also exists only in the impersonal form. It is usu ally followed directly by a noun but may also be followed by an infinitive introduced by à or by de quoi. It is frequently used in spoken French in the construction: il y a + noun + relative clause. In spoken French the pronuncia tion often reduces to /ja/:
il s’agit de is only ever used impersonally. It may be followed by a noun, by an infinitive and, rarely, by a clause. English-speaking learners fr equently attempt to use it with a personal subject, e.g. *ce livre s’agit de. . . . This is impossible.
être can also be used impersonally, either in set expressions or more formally as an alternative to il y a:
| Il est grand temps que nous partions | It is high time we went |
| Il n'est absolument pas question d'attendre | There can be no question of waiting |
| Il est dommage d'avoir attendu si longtemps | It is a pity to have waited so long |
| Est-il besoin de vous le rappeler? | Is there any need to remind you? (formal style) |
| Il est des jours où l'on souhaiterait être ailleurs | There are days when one would wish to be elsewhere |
There are two set phrases used to introduce fairy stories:
A small number of verbs allow an adjective or predicative noun (président, directeur, etc.) to follow the noun which is the direct object:
| boire qc frais | to drink sth chilled |
| considérer qc peu probable | to consider sth unlikely |
| croire qn heureux | to believe sb happy |
| élire qn président | to elect sb president |
| estimer qn inapte | to reckon sb unsuitable |
| juger qn maladroit | to judge sb clumsy |
| laisser qn tranquille | to leave sb alone |
| manger qc chaud | to eat sth hot |
| nommer qn directeur | to appoint sb director |
| rendre qn malade | to make sb ill |
| trouver qc difficile | to find sth difficult |
Note that ‘to make somebody happy, sad, etc.’ or ‘to make something difficult, easy, etc.’ is the verb rendre, and NOT * faire: rendre qn heureux, rendre qn triste, rendre qc difficile, rendre qc facile.