Luc:	Est-ce que tu as déjà fabriqué ta propre bière ?
Catherine:	Non. Et toi ?
Luc:	Non, mais figure-toi qu’ on m’a offert un kit pour le faire et je me demande si je vais y arriver.
Catherine:	Ne t’inquiète pas, ce n’est pas si compliqué que ça. Et imagine-toi la joie que tu auras en montrant à tes amis ta bière artisanale !
Luc:	Et surtout en la goûtant… Ah la première gorgée de bière.

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.

A verb in the pronominal form conjugates into the imperative the same way a regular verb does. We only have to add the reflexive pronouns toi, nous and vous and a hyphen.

Let’s conjugate the verb préparer into the present imperative and the verb se préparer and see the difference between the two in terms of the form. It is important to mention that the imperative tense is conjugated in three persons only: the second person singular, the first person plural and the second person plural.

se préparer	preparer
prépare-toi	prépare
préparons-nous	préparons
préparez-vous	préparez

As you can see, the only difference there is between the two conjugations is the reflexive pronoun (disjoints): toi, nous and vous and also the hyphen between the verb and the pronoun.

Let’s give a brief summary of the form of the verbs of the three groups in the present imperative.

The verbs of the first group:

The verbs of the first group are conjugated to the present imperative the same way as they are conjugated into the present simple. We just don’t add the “s” to the second person singular as you can see in the example above.

The verbs of the second group and the verbs of the third group

The verbs of the second group and the verbs of the third group conjugated to the present imperative have the same form as that of the verbs conjugated to the present simple.

Let’s take the verb se munir as an example:

munis-toi d’une pièce d’identité ! munissons-nous d’une pièce d’identité ! munissez-vous d’une pièce d’identité !

And now the verb se mettre:

mets-toi ici ! mettons-nous ici ! mettez-vous ici !

Exceptions:

The conjugation of the pronominal verb s’en aller:

imperative positive	imperative negative
va-t'en !	ne t’en va pas !
allons-nous en !	ne nous en allons pas !
Allez-vous en !	ne vous en allez pas !

The following verbs which belong to the third group DO NOT take an “s” in the 2^nd person singular when conjugated into the imperative: se couvrir, se découvrir, s’offrir, se recueillir, and s’ouvrir.

For example:

Couvre-toi sinon tu vas attraper froid.
Cover yourself or you’ll catch a cold.

Let’s conjugate another verb that can only be pronominal. In other words, it is always preceded with a reflexive pronoun.

The verb se méfier de:

méfie-toi de méfions-nous de méfiez-vous de

Now let’s see the difference in terms of the meaning between the vebs “préparer” and “se préparer” using the following example:

Prépare la table s’il te plaît !
Set the table, please!

Prépare-toi ! Tu vas être en retard !
Go get ready! You’ll be late!

The negative form

Let’s conjugate the verb ne pas se précipiter :

ne te précipite pas comme ça ne nous précipitons pas comme ça ne vous précipitez pas comme ça

Now, let’s conjugate the verb ne pas s’approcher :

ne t’approche pas de moi ne nous approchons pas de lui ne vous approchez pas de moi

To form the negative form in the present imperative we put the pronominal verb between ne and pas. Notice that in the negative imperative we don’t use “toi”. We use “ te ” or “ t’ ” instead. If the verb starts with a vowel, we use “ t’ ” in the second person singular.