This lesson will help you answer the following questions:
- What is a reflexive pronoun verb?
- How do you conjugate a reflexive pronoun verb?
- How do you use reflexive pronoun verbs in French?
- Can all verbs be reflexive?
+ Examples of sentences with reflexive pronoun verbs

 

Structure of Reflexive Pronoun Verbs:

Reflexive pronoun verbs are constructed with:
 

 a reflexive pronoun  +  a verb 
 

Example: Je  me   réveille 
 

 

In the infinitive form, it looks like this:
 

The reflexive pronoun “ se ” +  a verb in infinitive 
 

Example:  Se   réveiller 

 

Here is a summary table of reflexive pronouns:

 Subject   Pronoun   Verb 
Je me lève
Tu te  lèves
Il / Elle / On se lève
Nous nous levons
Vous vous levez
Ils / Elles  se  lèvent

 

 

Usage of Reflexive Pronoun Verbs:

Reflexive pronoun verbs are used when  the subject  (the one doing the action) and  the object  (the one receiving the action) are the same.
 

 Julie  se maquille en premier,…
 

 The subject  and  the object  are both "Julie," so the reflexive pronoun form is used.
 

" Julie " is the subject.
 

“ se ” is the object.
 

 

...then  elle  maquillle  Laura 
 

Here, the subject “ elle ” is different from the object “ Laura ”. The reflexive pronoun form is not used.

 

You can find the object of a sentence by asking the question:
 

 Subject  + verb +  quoi  or  qui ?
 

 Julie  maquille  qui  en premier?
> Herself / Elle-même
 

Après,  Julie  maquille  qui  ?
> Laura