LFC: La vie quotidienne et les verbes pronominaux

La vie quotidienne et les verbes pronominaux

Explication - You are going to learn about your daily routine and knowing how to use pronominal verbs is an important part in being able to talk about your daily routine/life. A pronominal verb (verbe pronominal) is a verb that takes a reflexive pronoun. Sometimes we you will hear pronominal verb interchanged with reflexive verb. For your purposes now, pronominal and reflexive verbs are the same.

Just as an aside, you have already been using a pronominal verb when you say: Je m'appelle...

What does it mean to take a reflexive pronoun? In short, it means that a reflexive pronoun precedes the verb. Take a look at the image. Note the reflexive pronoun between the subject and the conjugated verb. Pronominal verbs can be tricky for English-speakers because they don't really exist in the same forms in English and are not nearly as prevalent as they are in French. Listen to the pronunciations and practice saying the forms yourself.

Révise !

Please be sure to review how to tell time. Telling time is a topic that is introduced in French 1, and will be an important topic to remember as the course progresses. If you need additional resources on telling time, contact your instructor.

Pronoun Review
Pronoun	Reflexive Pronoun	Note
je	me	me becomes m' before vowel or silent h
tu	te	te becomes t' before vowel or silent h
il/elle/on	se	se becomes s' before vowel or silent h
nous	nous	no change
vous	vous	no change
ils/elles	se	se becomes s' before vowel or silent h

Examples of les verbes pronominaux

Reflexive verbs express an action in which the subject is also the object of the verb or receiving the action of the verb. Look at the following examples. Read the sentences in English and listen to the pronunciations. Practice saying each line yourself.

Example Sentences
French	English	Audio
Je me lave les mains avant de manger.	I wash (my) hands before eating.
Normalement, tu te lèves à sept heures du matin.	Normally, you get (yourself) up at 7 AM.
Il se baigne chaque nuit.	He takes a bath (bathes himself) every night.
Nous nous maquillons.	We put make-up on (ourselves).
Vous vous regardez dans la glace.	You are looking at yourself in the mirror

Comparing reflexive to non-reflexive uses

Additional Examples - reflexive vs. non-reflexive
Reflexive	Not Reflexive
Je me lave le visage.   I am washing my face.	Je lave la voiture. I am washing the car.
Ils se lèvent. They are getting (themselves) up.	Ils lèvent le balai. They are lifting the broom.
Elle se promène dans le parc. She is walking (herself) in the park.	Elle promène le chien dans le parc. She is walking the dog in the park.

Did you note that there are two different columns: reflexive and not reflexive? Did you also notice that in both columns the same verbs are used: laver, lever, and promener? You may have asked yourself why in one column the verb is reflexive and in the other the verb is not reflexive. The explanation for that is that the subject of the reflexive verb is performing the action upon himself, herself, or itself.

Reflexive verbs are mostly associated with:

1. body parts
2. clothing
3. personal circumstance
4. location

Negating Pronominal Verbs

To make the present tense negative, put the ne...pas around the verb and the pronoun, just like you do with direct object pronouns.  

• Est-ce que tu te lèves à sept heures le samedi ?
  • Non, normalement je ne me lève pas à sept heures le samedi.

• Vous maquillez-vous le matin ?
  • D'habitude, je ne me maquille pas le matin.

• Est-ce qu'ils s'amusent bien à l'école ?
  • Malheureusement non, ils ne s'amusent pas à l'école.