Catherine:	J’aimerais parler aujourd’hui du rêve de toutes les petites filles…
Nathalie:	Se marier avec le Prince charmant ?
Catherine:	Non, devenir danseuse à l’Opéra de Paris !
Nathalie:	C’est vrai que se produire dans ce lieu mythique doit être extraordinaire. Mais il faut se tuer au travail pour y arriver…
Catherine:	C’est sûr. Les danseuses de l’Opéra de Paris s’entraînent beaucoup et même quand elles se font mal, elles ne se relâchent pas et s’efforcent de continuer à danser. Elles ne se reposent jamais et s’astreignent à une discipline de fer.
Nathalie:	Oui ! Ça ne fait pas tant rêver que ça… Les danseuses travaillent littéralement d’arrache-pied...

Pronominal verbs or “verbes pronominaux” also called reflexive verbs hold an important part in the French language. They are always used with reflexive pronouns that replace the subject only. These are me, m’, te, t’, se, s’, nous, vous. Throughout this chapter we will explore the use, the form and the types of the pronominal verbs. We will also learn how to conjugate the pronominal verbs into the present simple, the passé composé, the imperfect tense, the future simple, the subjunctive, the imperative, the present and past conditional.

In this lesson, we will study the four kinds of pronominal verbs and give some examples of each type.

Let’s start with a simple example:

Il se lève toujours à 7h du matin.
He always gets up at 7am.

The verb in the sentence above is : se lève. The infinitive of “se lève” is “se lever”. You notice that it is composed of two elements: the verb “lever” and the reflexive pronoun “se”.

Here is table of the personal pronouns and their corresponding reflexive pronouns:

Personal Pronouns	Reflexive Pronouns
Je	me, m’
Tu	te, t’
Il/Elle/On	se, s’
Nous	nous
Vous	vous
Ils	se, s’

We use m’, t’, s’ when the pronominal verb or the auxiliary that immediately follows the reflexive pronoun starts with a vowel or a mute “h”.

For example:

Ils s’aiment beaucoup.
They love each other a lot.

Remember: Don’t confuse the reflexive pronouns with the direct/indirect object pronouns.

For example:

Je me regarde dans le miroir.
I look at myself in the mirror.

The infinitive of the verb “me regarde” is “se regarder” and it is a pronominal verb because the reflexive pronoun “me” replaces the subject “je”.

Now study the following sentence:

Il me regarde.
He looks at me.

“me” in the sentence above is not a reflexive pronoun. It’s a direct object pronoun and the verb is “regarder” and not “se regarder” because the subject and the object are different.

The four types of pronominal verbs

Reflexive Pronominal Verbs

Reflexive pronominal verbs are used to express the action performed by the subject upon himself, herself or itself.

For example: se laver, se regarder, se parler, se baigner, se donner la mort, se parfumer, se casser, se maquiller, s’habituer à, s’endormir, s’arrêter, se demander, s’amuser, se diriger vers, s’éloigner, se fâcher, s’ennuyer, se perdre, se plaindre, se réunir, se tromper

Nous nous lavons tous les jours.
We wash every day.

Elle se parfume toujours avant de sortir.
She always puts perfume before she goes out.

Reciprocal Pronominal Verbs

Reciprocal pronominal verbs express an action performed by two subjects (or more) on each other. The action is both achieved and received by each of them.

For example:

Pierre et Samir se parlent pendant des heures.
Pierre and Samir talk to each other for hours.

Nous nous sommes dit des choses horribles.
We told each other horrible things.

Elles se retrouvent au café chaque matin avant le travail.
They meet each morning at the café before work. To consolidate reciprocity we could also use “ l’un l’autre” each other or “les uns les autres” one another

For example:

Les joueurs s’encouragent les uns les autres.
The players encourage one another.

Pronominal Verbs Expressing the Passive Voice"

In the passive reflexive construction, a normally non-reflexive verb is used reflexively in order to express the passive nature of the action.

Le fromage se conserve mieux au frigo.
Cheese is better conserved in the fridge.

The verbs s'appeler, se congeler, se trouver express the passive voice.

The Idiomatic Pronominal Verbs

These are very common in the French language. They usually don’t need an object. Here you are a few examples:

s’en aller	to leave, to go away
s’appeler	to be called
s’attendre à	to expect
se débrouiller	to manage, to get by
se dépêcher	to hurry
se diriger vers	to head toward
se douter	to suspect
se mettre à	to start (doing something)
se rendre à	to go to a place
se rendre compte que/de	to realize that/to realize
se servir	to use
se trouver	to be located
se retrouver	to meet, to meet sb again

Il s’appelle Damien.
His name is Damien.

Nous nous réunissons souvent dans ce café.
We often meet at this café.

Verbs that are Essentially Pronominal

There are many verbs in the French language that can only be used in the pronominal form. We selected the most common ones:

s’absenter	to be absent
s’abstenir	to abstain /to refrain from doing something
s’accroupir	to squat
s’acharner	to desperately attempt to/ to take it out on somebody
s’agenouiller	to kneel
s’aventurer	to take a risk
s’avérer	to prove to be
se blottir	to cuddle up
se chamailler	to bicker
se démener	to go out of one’s way
se désister	to withdraw, to quit
s’écrier	to exclaim
s’écrouler	to crumble/to fall
s’éfforcer	to try hard to do sth
s’emparer	to seize
s’enfuir	to run away
se fier	to trust
s’ingérer
dans	to interfere in
se lamenter	to lament
se méfier de	to be wary of
se moquer de	to make fun of
se rebeller contre	to rebel against
se repentir	to repent
se soucier de	to worry about
se souvenir	to remember
se suicider	to kill oneself

Note: The meaning of some verbs changes depending on the context.

Il s’appelle Martin. (passive voice)
His name is Martin.

Ils se sont appelés pour organiser la réunion. (reciprocal)
They called each other to organize the meeting.

Le clocher de l’église s'aperçoit de loin. (passive)
The church’s bell can be seen from far away.

Elle s’est aperçue qu’elle avait oublié ses clés. (idiomatic)
She realized that she had forgotten her keys.

Ils se sont aperçus lors de l'inauguration. (reciprocal)
They caught sight of each other at the opening.