1. Les Verbes Pronominaux / Reflexive Verbs
Mr A. Stagogiannis
Lundi le 13 octobre, 2008

2. What is the meaning? – Qu’est-ce qu’il signifie?
Je mange le chien
I eat the dog
Je lave le chien
I wash the dog
Je me lave
I wash myself
Reflexive verbs reflect back on the SUBJECT!

3. Les Verbes Promnominaux – Present Tense
The majority of REFLEXIVE VERBS are REGULAR –ER verbs in French, with a few exceptions.
So, to create the PRESENT TENSE for a REFLEXIVE VERB, we follow the same rules as for the PRESENT TENSE for REGULAR VERBS, EXCEPT WE PLACE THE DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUN DIRECTLY AFTER THE SUBJECT.
The Cake, therefore looks like this….

4. Le gâteau et les ingrédients
SUBJECT
DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUN
INFINITIVE
STEM
ENDING
Notice how all the other ingredients are the same as our PRESENT TENSE CAKE for Regular Verbs! The DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUN goes directly after the SUBJECT!

5. Put all together, it looks like this….
NOTICE THE COLOURS THAT CORRESPOND TO EACH OF THE FOLLOWING:
SUBJECT
DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUN
PRESENT TENSE VERB
CHECK THE NEXT SLIDE FOR THE COMPLETE SENTENCES, FOLLOWING THE CAKE FROM TOP TO BOTTOM!

6. SUBJECTS and DIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS with the VERB
JE ME LAVE
TU TE LAVES
IL / ELLE / ON / CE SE LAVE
NOUS NOUS LAVONS
VOUS VOUS LAVEZ
ILS / ELLES SE LAVENT
I WASH MYSELF
YOU WASH YOURSELF
HE / SHE / ONE / IT WASHES ITSELF
WE WASH OURSELVES
YOU WASH YOURSELVES\
THEY WASH THEMSELVES
CHECK THE NEXT SLIDE FOR A LIST OF ALL THE MOST COMMON REFLEXIVE VERBSS!

7. Voilà une liste des verbes pronominaux principaux
s'approcher de to approach s'asseoir to sit down se baigner to bathe, swim se brosser (les cheveux, les dents) to brush (one's hair, one's teeth) se casser (la jambe) to break (one's leg) se coiffer to fix one's hair se coucher to go to bed se couper to cut oneself se déshabiller to get undressed se doucher to take a shower se fâcher to get angry s'habiller to get dressed se laver (les mains, la figure) to wash (one's hands, one's face) se lever to get up se maquiller to put on makeup se marier (avec) to get married (to) se moquer de to make fun of (someone else) se moucher to blow one's nose se peigner to comb one's hair se promener to take a walk se raser to shave se regarder to look at oneself se reposer to rest se réveiller to wake up se souvenir de to remember

8. Le Passé Composé All REFLEXIVE VERBS are IRREGULAR!
Therefore they ALL go with ÊTRE as an Auxiliary Verb
…Therefore they must agree with the subject! (SENSITIVE).
Take a look at the next slide to see how this works…

9. Le Passé Composé with Reflexive Verbs
JE ME SUIS LAVÉ(E)
TU T’ES LAVÉ(E)
IL / ELLE / ON / CE S’EST LAVÉ(E)
NOUS NOUS SOMMES LAVÉ(E)(S)
VOUS VOUS ÊTES LAVÉ(E)(S)
ILS / ELLES SE SONT LAVÉ(E)(S)