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Culture · Daily life in France

Grammar · Pronominal verbs

Pronominal verbs are verbs that include pronouns. These pronouns are me, te, se, nous, and vous and are used as either direct objects or indirect objects, depending on the verb that they modify. There are three types of pronominal verbs: reflexive verbs, reciprocal verbs, and naturally pronominal verbs.

Reflexive verbs

Reflexive verbs reflect the action on the subject.

Je me lave. - I wash myself.

Nous nous lavons. - We wash ourselves.

Ils se lavent. - They wash themselves.

Reflexive verbs can also be used as infinitives.

Je vais me laver. - I'm going to wash myself.

Je ne vais pas me laver. - I'm not going to wash myself.

Reciprocal verbs

With reciprocal verbs, people perform actions to each other.

Nous nous aimons. - We like each other.

Naturally pronominal verbs

Some verbs are pronominal without performing a reflexive or reciprocal action.

Tu te souviens ? - You remember?

Examples

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Vocabulary · Waking up and getting yourself ready

(upload audio)
se lever	/lǝ.ve/ (luh-vay)	to get up	conjugated like acheter	Je me lève, je me lave.	I get up, I wash.
se laver	/la.ve/ (lah-vay)	to wash (oneself)		Elle s'est lavé les mains.	She washed her hands
se raser	/ʀa.ze/ (rah-zay)	to shave		Il se rase le matin.	He shaves in the morning.
se doucher	/du.ʃe/ (doo-shay)	to take a shower		Elle va se doucher plus tard.	She is going to take a shower later.
se baigner	/be.ɲe/ (bay-gnay)	to bathe (oneself)
se brosser les cheveux/les dents		to brush one's hair/teeth		Il faut se brosser les dents chaque matin.	One must brush one's teeth every morning.
le brosse la brosse à dents la brosse à cheveux	/bʁɔs/ (brohs)	brush toothbrush hairbrush		Elle adore sa brosse à dents rouge.	She adores her red toothbrush.
se peigner les cheveux	/pe.ɲe/ (pay-gnay)	to comb one's hair
le peigne	/pɛ.ɲ/ (peh-gn)	comb
s'habiller	/sa.bi.je/ (sah-bee-y^uhay)	to get dressed, to dress (oneself)		Il s'habille très vite.	He gets dressed quickly.

If the subject is performing the action on him or herself, the verbs are reflexive. However, if the subject were to act on someone else, the verb is no longer reflexive; instead the reflexive pronoun becomes a direct object.

Je m'habille - I get (myself) dressed.

Je t'habille - I get you dressed.

In the passé composé, the verbs use être and the participle must agree in gender and number with the subject.

Pierre s'est habillé.

Alice s'est habillée.

Georges et Martin se sont habillés.

Lisette et Rose se sont habillées.

Marc et Claire se sont habillés.

Je m'appelle Lucie, et je me suis levée à six heures.

Jean et Paul, vous vous êtes levés assez tard.

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Grammar · Devoir, Falloir, and avoir besoin de

To have need of · avoir besoin de

The word le besoin ( /bǝ.zwɛ̃/ (buh-zwa⁽ⁿ⁾)) means need, and thus the expression avoir besoin de translates to to have need of.

To have to · Devoir

Present indicative verb (upload audio) to have to, to owe
devoir ( /dǝ.vwaʁ/ (duh-vwahr))
je	dois	/dwa/ (dwah)	I	have to	nous	devons	/dǝ.vɔ̃/ (duh-voh⁽ⁿ⁾)	we	have to
tu	dois	/dwa/ (dwah)	you	have to	vous	devez	/dǝ.ve/ (duh-vay)	you	have to
il	doit	/dwa/ (dwah)	he	has to	ils	doivent	(dwahv)	they	have to
elle	doit		she	has to	elles	doivent	(dwahv)	they	have to
on	doit		one	has to
past participle: dû ( /dy/ (dew))

The past participle drops the circumflex accent in its other forms: feminine singular due; masculine plural dus; feminine plural dues.

Used as a noun, le devoir means duty or exercise.

To be necessary · Falloir

(upload audio)
falloir	/fa.lwaʁ/ (fah-lwahr)	to be necessary
il faut	/fɔ/ (foh)	it is necessary
il a fallu	/fa.ly/ (fah-lew)	it was necessary

Comparison

The verb falloir differs from similar verbs such as avoir besoin de [faire quelque chose] (to need [to do something]) and devoir (must, duty, owe). Falloir is always used with the impersonal il only in the third person singular, whereas devoir can be used with all subject pronouns in all tenses.

Falloir expresses general necessities:

To live, one must eat.

To speak French well, one must conjugate verbs correctly.

Devoir expresses more personally what someone must do:

I want to pass my French test, so I must study verb conjugations.

Avoir besoin de [faire quelque chose] expresses need:

J'ai besoin d'étudier pour mon examen, il est demain. - I need to study for my test, it's tomorrow.

Examples

(upload audio)
Il doit aller en France un jour.		He must go to France one day.
L’officier doit veiller aux besoins du soldat.		The officer must ensure the needs of the soldier.
Vous devez passer un examen médical.		You need to take a medical examination.
Il faut faire venir le plombier pour réparer cette conduite d’eau.		One must have the plumber come to repair the water line.

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Supplementary grammar · To sleep · Dormir

Dormir, meaning to sleep, is an irregular French verb.

Present indicative verb (upload audio) to sleep
dormir ( /dɔʁ.miʁ/ (dohr-meer))
je	dors	/dɔʁ/ (dohr)	I	sleep	nous	dormons	/dɔʁ.mɔ̃/ (dohr-moh⁽ⁿ⁾)	we	sleep
tu	dors	/dɔʁ/ (dohr)	you	sleep	vous	dormez	/dɔʁ.me/ (dohr-may)	you	sleep
il	dort	/dɔʁ/ (dohr)	he	sleeps	ils	dorment	/dɔʁm/ (dohrm)	they	sleep
elle	dort		she	sleeps	elles	dorment	/dɔʁm/ (dohrm)	they	sleep
on	dort		one	sleeps
past participle: dormi ( /dɔʁ.mi/ (dohr-mee))

The verb endormir ( /ɑ̃.dɔʁ.miʁ/ (ah⁽ⁿ⁾-dohr-meer)), meaning to put to sleep, and its reflexive form s'endormir (to fall asleep) are conjugated in the same way as dormir. The noun le dortoir ( /dɔʀ.twaʀ/ (dohr-twahr)), meaning dormitory, is derived from dormir.