Chapter 5Reflecting on Pronominal Verbs Reflexive, Reciprocal, and Idiomatic In This Chapter Explaining reflexive verbs Clarifying reciprocal verbs Discussing idiomatic verbs The pronomi
Trang 1Chapter 5
Reflecting on Pronominal Verbs (Reflexive, Reciprocal, and Idiomatic)
In This Chapter
Explaining reflexive verbs
Clarifying reciprocal verbs
Discussing idiomatic verbs
The pronominal verb is one of the trickiest concepts for native English-speakers to under-stand You may be scratching your head, wondering how you can tell whether a verb
is pronominal or not Don’t worry You can easily tell because the infinitive is preceded by
the pronoun se (or s’ if the verb begins with a vowel or a mute h) For example, se laver
(to wash oneself), s’amuser (to have fun), and s’habiller (to get dressed) are all pronominal
verbs
This chapter focuses on the three types of pronominal verbs: reflexive, reciprocal, and idiomatic They may seem tricky, but you do catch a few breaks: You conjugate pronominal verbs the same way you conjugate regular French verbs, and the pronominal pronouns (which each verb has) are the same whether the verb is reflexive, reciprocal, or idiomatic If you want more information about reflexive verbs and giving commands, check out Chapter 8, and see Chapter 7 for information on using reflexive verbs when answering negatively
Understanding Reflexive Verbs
Every pronominal verb has a pronominal pronoun in front of it With reflexive verbs, this pronoun is often referred to as the reflexive pronoun The addition of the reflexive pronoun doesn’t necessarily change the meaning of the verb, but it alerts you that the subject is doing
the action on itself Laver (to wash) and se laver (to wash oneself) are a great example Je lave
la voiture means I’m washing the car The subject, je, is performing an action on something or
someone else — in this case, la voiture Add a reflexive pronoun and you get Je me lave,
which means I wash/am washing myself Now the subject is performing the action on itself.
Before you can conjugate reflexive verbs, you need to know about their unique pronouns Table 5-1 shows a list of subject pronouns and their corresponding reflexive pronouns You use these pronouns when you want to imply that the subject is doing the action on itself
Trang 2Table 5-1 Subject Pronouns and the Corresponding Reflexive Pronouns
Subject Pronouns Reflexive Pronouns
il/elle/on se
I conjugate the verb laver first as nonreflexive and then as reflexive so that you can compare the two Remember that laver is a regular -er verb (You can check out
Chapter 2 for more about present-tense regular verb conjugations.)
laver (to wash something or someone)
je lave nous lavons
tu laves vous lavez il/elle/on lave ils/elles lavent
Je lave le bébé (I am washing the baby.)
se laver (to wash oneself)
je me lave nous nous lavons
tu te laves vous vous lavez il/elle/on se lave ils/elles se lavent
Elle se lave (She washes/is washing herself.)
With Je lave la voiture and Je lave le bébé, the subject is performing the action on something (the car) or someone (the baby) else However, with Je me lave, the
sub-ject is doing the action on itself Thus, you use a reflexive verb
Drop the e from the pronouns me, te, and se and add an apostrophe before a verb
that begins with a vowel or a mute h The verb s’habiller (to dress) serves as an
example
s’habiller (to dress oneself/to get dressed)
je m’habille nous nous habillons
tu t’habilles vous vous habillez il/elle/on s’habille ils/elles s’habillent Nous nous habillons (We get/are getting dressed.)
The following verbs in Table 5-2 can be reflexive or nonreflexive When the subject is doing the action not on itself but on someone or something else, don’t use a reflexive pronoun When the subject is doing the action on itself, use the reflexive pronoun
Trang 3Verb Translation s’appeler to call oneself, to be named
s’arrêter to stop oneself
s’habiller to dress oneself, to get dressed
se baigner to bathe oneself
se brosser to brush oneself
se coiffer to do/style one’s hair
se coucher to go to bed, to put oneself to bed
se couper to cut oneself
se laver to wash oneself
se lever to get up, to get oneself up
se maquiller to put makeup on oneself
se peigner to comb one’s hair (literally, to comb oneself )
se promener to take oneself for a walk, to stroll
se raser to shave oneself
se réveiller to wake oneself up
When you use a part of the body with a reflexive verb, you need definite articles before the part of the body rather than the possessive adjectives that you use in
English A definite article means the in English and in French is le (masculine singu-lar), la (feminine singusingu-lar), l’ (masculine or feminine singular beginning with a vowel
or mute h), or les (masculine or feminine plural) For example, I wash my face in French is “Je me lave la figure.” It literally means I wash the face to myself.
Now it’s your turn to take a stab The following practice exercises can help you get a better grasp of reflexive verbs In these exercises, determine whether the subject is doing the action on itself or on someone/something else Choose the reflexive or non-reflexive verb and conjugate it in the sentence I provide the translations in the Answer Key
Q.Elle _ (peigner/se peigner) les cheveux
A.Elle se peigne les cheveux (She is combing her hair.)
Q.Nous _ (brosser/se brosser) les dents
A.Nous nous brossons les dents (We are brushing our teeth.)
1 Elle _ (maquiller/se maquiller) la poupée.
2 Je _ (réveiller/se réveiller) à six heures.
3 Tu _ (couper/se couper) ton bifteck.
4 Ils _ (laver /se laver).
5 Nous _ (brosser/se brosser) les cheveux.
Trang 4Looking At Reciprocal Verbs
Reciprocal verbs are another type of pronominal verb and they reciprocate the action
of the subject pronouns The meaning is each other or to each other Nous nous
aimons (we love each other) and ils se parlent (they are speaking to each other) are
two examples Because the subject pronoun on can often refer to a plural subject
pro-noun like we or even they, it can also be used in reciprocal constructions Check out
the following examples:
On s’écrit tous les jours (We write to each other every day.)
On se voit souvent (We see each other often.)
Remember that even when on has a plural meaning, you always conjugate the verb in
the third person singular
Table 5-3 lists the common reciprocal verbs
Table 5-3 Common French Reciprocal Verbs
Verb Translation s’aimer to love each other
s’écrire to write to each other
s’embrasser to kiss each other
se comprendre to understand each other
se connaître to know each other
se dire to say to each other
se disputer to argue with each other
se parler to speak to each other
se promettre to promise each other
se quitter to leave each other
se regarder to look at each other
se rencontrer to meet each other
se retrouver to find each other
se téléphoner to call each other
se voir to see each other
After you’ve had a chance to familiarize yourself with reciprocal verbs, take a moment
to try the following practice exercises In these exercises, conjugate the following verbs and then translate the sentences
Q.Nous _ (se rencontrer) souvent
A.Nous nous rencontrons souvent (We meet each other often.)
Trang 57 Vous _ (se dire) au revoir.
8 Nous _ (se voir).
9 On _ (s’écrire).
10 Elles _ (se comprendre).
Attempting Idiomatic Verbs
The last type of pronominal verbs is idiomatic — those verbs whose meaning can’t be understood from the usual meaning of the verb In other words, the same verb has one meaning when it is nonpronominal and a different meaning when it is pronominal
To help you understand the difference between the idiomatic and the usual meaning
of a verb, check out the following example:
Il ennuie sa soeur (He is bothering his sister.)
Il s’ennuie (He is bored.)
As you notice from the preceding example, when you use the verb ennuyer in its
non-pronominal form, it means something completely different than in its non-pronominal form
This is the case for all idiomatic pronominal verbs These verbs become idiomatic when you use them in their pronominal form because their meaning changes, some-times even drastically You can’t translate idiomatic expressions word for word because separately they have a different meaning than when they’re idiomatic
If you already know that ennuyer means to bother, you may have difficulty translating
il s’ennuie correctly Why does it refer to boredom instead? That’s just the nature of
idiomatic verbs or expressions in any language Imagine trying to tell a nonnative English-speaker that she’s the “apple of your eye” or that you “got up on the wrong side of the bed,” and you’ll see what I mean To a native speaker, it’s a common enough phrase; translated literally into another language, it doesn’t make much sense The bottom line: If you’re aware of what an idiom is and you try to remember the idioms in this chapter, you’ll end up understanding more French and sounding more like a native when you speak
These idiomatic verbs include the pronominal pronouns, just like the reflexive and reciprocal verbs do, and are conjugated the same way
Table 5-4 compares the “plain” usual verb with its idiomatic counterpart
Trang 6Table 5-4 Comparing the Usual Verb with the Idiomatic Verb
Usual Verb Translation Idiomatic Verb Translation aller to go s’en aller to go away, to leave
amuser to amuse, to entertain s’amuser to have fun
débrouiller to disentangle se débrouiller to manage
demander to ask se demander to wonder
dépêcher to dispatch se dépêcher to hurry, to be in a hurry
douter to doubt se douter de to suspect
ennuyer to bother s’ennuyer to be bored
entendre to hear s’entendre to get along
inquiéter to disturb someone s’inquiéter to become worried
mettre to put, to place se mettre à + infinitive to begin (to do something) occuper to occupy, to hold s’occuper de to be in charge of,
to take care of,
to deal with
passer to go, to pass se passer de to do without
rappeler to call back se rappeler to remember, to recall
rendre to give back, to return se rendre compte de to realize
servir to serve se servir de to use
tromper to deceive, to disappoint se tromper de to be mistaken, to be
wrong
Try translating these sentences and conjugating the pronominal verbs
Q.Mom takes care of the children
A.Maman s’occupe des enfants.
11 We get along.
12 I am going away.
13 They are seeing each other.
14 David is in a hurry.
15 We are bored.
Trang 7
more interesting (Check out Chapter 2 for common adverbs.)
Q.Nous _ (s’écrire) souvent
A.Nous nous écrivons souvent We write to each other often.
16 Tu _ (s’énerver) rarement.
17 Vous _ (se disputer) souvent.
18 Je _ (s’habiller) vite.
19 Ils _ (se coucher) tard.
20 Nous _ (s’entendre) bien.
Trang 8
Answer Key
In this section you can find all the answers to the problems in this chapter I also provide the translations for these questions to help you understand what you’re conjugating
a Elle maquille la poupée (She puts makeup on the doll.)
b Je me réveille à six heures (I get up at 6 o’clock.)
c Tu coupes ton bifteck (You are cutting your steak.)
d Ils se lavent (They get/are getting washed.)
e Nous nous brossons les cheveux (We are brushing our hair.)
f Ils se promettent (They promise each other.)
g Vous vous dites au revoir (You are saying goodbye to each other.)
h Nous nous voyons (We see each other.)
i On s’écrit (We write to each other, or they write to each other.)
j Elles se comprennent (They understand each other.)
k Nous nous entendons.
l Je m’en vais.
m Ils se voient.
n David se dépêche.
o Nous nous ennuyons.
p Tu t’énerves rarement You rarely become irritated.
q Vous vous disputez souvent You argue with each other often.
r Je m’habille vite I get dressed quickly.
s Ils se couchent tard They go to bed late.
t Nous nous entendons bien We get along well.