French grammar · Intermediate
Pronominal Verbs in French: Me, Te, Se and What They Actually Mean
A pronominal verb is one that carries an extra pronoun matching its subject: je me lève, tu te lèves, il se lève. That pronoun can mean myself, each other, or nothing translatable at all, and every pronominal verb takes être in compound tenses.
Je me lève à sept heures tous les matins.
I get up at seven every morning.
What it is
Pronominal is the umbrella term for every French verb that comes with a matching pronoun attached. Some of those pronouns point the action back at the subject, some make it mutual, some make the verb passive, and some carry no meaning you can translate. What unites them is a shared set of grammatical behaviours.
Je me lave, nous nous écrivons, ça se vend bien, il s'agit de toi. — I wash, we write to each other, it sells well, it's about you.
How to spot it
Look for a pronoun that matches the subject in person: me with je, te with tu, se with il and ils, nous with nous, vous with vous. If the pronoun doesn't match the subject, the verb isn't pronominal — je te vois is an ordinary verb with an object.
- Elle se réveille tôt. — She wakes up early.
- Nous nous parlons tous les jours. — We talk to each other every day.
- Ce plat se mange froid. — This dish is eaten cold.
- Je me souviens de ce jour. — I remember that day.
The infinitive is listed with se: se lever, se souvenir, s'en aller. That se becomes me, te, nous or vous as soon as the subject changes.
Pronominal Verbs Quick Reference
The pronoun that goes with each subject
| Subject | Pronoun | Example |
|---|---|---|
| je | me / m' | je me couche tard — I go to bed late |
| tu | te / t' | tu t'habilles vite — you get dressed quickly |
| il / elle / on | se / s' | il s'ennuie — he's bored |
| nous | nous | nous nous dépêchons — we're hurrying |
| vous | vous | vous vous trompez — you're mistaken |
| ils / elles | se / s' | elles se maquillent — they're putting on make-up |
| infinitive | se stays with the verb | il faut se lever — you have to get up |
| imperative | toi, nous, vous, after the verb | lève-toi — get up |
Common Pronominal Verbs Examples in French
The four things a pronominal verb can be doing:
Reflexive: the Action Comes Back
- Je me lave les mains.
- I'm washing my hands.
- Elle s'habille en noir.
- She dresses in black.
- Tu t'es coupé ?
- Did you cut yourself?
- Ils se regardent dans le miroir.
- They're looking at themselves in the mirror.
This is the group where the pronoun really means myself, yourself, himself. It's also the smallest group.
Reciprocal: Each Other
- Nous nous téléphonons chaque soir.
- We phone each other every evening.
- Ils se sont rencontrés à Nice.
- They met in Nice.
- Vous vous connaissez ?
- Do you two know each other?
- Elles s'écrivent depuis l'école.
- They've written to each other since school.
Only plural subjects can be reciprocal, and l'un l'autre can be added for clarity: ils se parlent l'un à l'autre.
Idiomatic: No Translatable Pronoun
- Je me souviens de son nom.
- I remember his name.
- Elle s'est rendu compte de son erreur.
- She realised her mistake.
- Nous nous entendons bien.
- We get on well.
- Il s'en va demain.
- He's leaving tomorrow.
These have to be learned as whole verbs. Se souvenir is simply how French says remember; there is no non-pronominal version.
Passive: It Is Done
- Ce mot ne se dit plus.
- That word isn't used any more.
- Ça se voit tout de suite.
- You can see it straight away.
- Le vin blanc se sert frais.
- White wine is served chilled.
- Comment ça s'écrit ?
- How is that spelled?
This is French's favourite alternative to the passive voice, and the subject is always a thing, never a person.
How Pronominal Verbs Behave
The pronoun affects word order, the auxiliary and the agreement, so the rules are worth taking one at a time.
The Pronoun Matches the Subject
Every change of subject changes the pronoun: je me, tu te, il se, nous nous, vous vous, ils se. Leaving se in place for every person is the single commonest error with these verbs.
Nous nous levons tôt, mais vous vous levez encore plus tôt.
We get up early, but you get up even earlier.
Subject and pronoun always agree.
The Pronoun Sits Before the Verb
In statements, questions and negatives, the pronoun goes immediately in front of the conjugated verb. In the negative, ne wraps around both: je ne me lève pas, il ne s'est pas levé.
Je ne me couche jamais avant minuit.
I never go to bed before midnight.
ne + pronoun + verb + pas.
In the Affirmative Imperative It Moves Behind
Only in a positive command does the pronoun follow the verb, joined by a hyphen, with te becoming toi: lève-toi, asseyez-vous, dépêchons-nous. The negative command puts it back in front: ne te lève pas.
Dépêche-toi, on va être en retard.
Hurry up, we're going to be late.
lève-toi, but ne te lève pas.
With an Infinitive, the Pronoun Stays With the Infinitive
When a pronominal verb follows another verb, its pronoun still matches the subject and travels with the infinitive: je vais me coucher, tu dois te reposer, nous voulons nous asseoir.
Tu devrais te reposer un peu.
You should get some rest.
je vais me…, tu vas te….
Always Être, and Agreement Depends on the Pronoun's Role
Compound tenses use être. If the pronoun is the direct object, the participle agrees with the subject: elle s'est levée. If a direct object follows the verb, there is no agreement: elle s'est lavé les mains.
Elles se sont assises, puis elles se sont dit bonjour.
They sat down, then they said hello to each other.
Direct se agrees, indirect se doesn't.
Common Mistakes with Pronominal Verbs
Incorrect: Je se lève à six heures. — I get up at six.
Correct: Je me lève à six heures. — I get up at six.
Se belongs only to the third person. The pronoun has to match the subject, so je takes me, tu takes te and nous takes nous.
Incorrect: Je m'ai couché tard. — I went to bed late.
Correct: Je me suis couché tard. — I went to bed late.
Pronominal verbs take être in every compound tense, with no exceptions. Avoir never appears in front of a reflexive pronoun.
Incorrect: Te lève ! — Get up!
Correct: Lève-toi ! — Get up!
In a positive command the pronoun moves behind the verb and te becomes toi. The pronoun only stays in front when the command is negative: ne te lève pas.
Incorrect: Elle s'est lavée les mains. — She washed her hands.
Correct: Elle s'est lavé les mains. — She washed her hands.
Les mains is the direct object here, so se is indirect and there is nothing for the participle to agree with. Without les mains, elle s'est lavée is correct.
A Pronominal Verb Across the Tenses
Se lever shows every feature at once: the matching pronoun, the accent change in the stem, and the être auxiliary with agreement.
Present, imperfect, future
Lever takes a grave accent whenever the ending is silent, which is why nous levons has no accent but je lève does. The future keeps the accent throughout.
| Pronoun | présent | imparfait | futur |
|---|---|---|---|
| je | me lève | me levais | me lèverai |
| tu | te lèves | te levais | te lèveras |
| il / elle / on | se lève | se levait | se lèvera |
| nous | nous levons | nous levions | nous lèverons |
| vous | vous levez | vous leviez | vous lèverez |
| ils / elles | se lèvent | se levaient | se lèveront |
Nous nous levons has the pronoun twice over, once as subject and once as reflexive. That repetition is correct and unavoidable.
Compound tenses with être
Être is the auxiliary and the participle agrees with the subject, because se is the direct object of se lever.
| Pronoun | passé composé | plus-que-parfait |
|---|---|---|
| je | me suis levé(e) | m'étais levé(e) |
| tu | t'es levé(e) | t'étais levé(e) |
| il / elle / on | s'est levé(e) | s'était levé(e) |
| nous | nous sommes levé(e)s | nous étions levé(e)s |
| vous | vous êtes levé(e)(s) | vous étiez levé(e)(s) |
| ils / elles | se sont levé(e)s | s'étaient levé(e)s |
Compare elle s'est lavée, she washed, with elle s'est lavé les mains, where the direct object follows and blocks agreement.
Imperative and infinitive
The positive imperative moves the pronoun after the verb; everything else keeps it in front.
| Pronoun | impératif positif | impératif négatif |
|---|---|---|
| tu | lève-toi | ne te lève pas |
| nous | levons-nous | ne nous levons pas |
| vous | levez-vous | ne vous levez pas |
| infinitif | se lever | ne pas se lever |
Te becomes toi only in the positive imperative. Everywhere else it stays te or t'.
The Four Kinds of Pronominal Verb
The grammar is identical in all four cases, but the meaning of the pronoun is completely different, and that affects agreement.
Reflexive and reciprocal
In both, the pronoun is a real object. Reflexive means the subject acts on itself; reciprocal means two or more subjects act on each other.
- Il se rase tous les matins.
- He shaves every morning.
- Nous nous sommes vus hier.
- We saw each other yesterday.
- Elles se sont embrassées.
- They kissed each other.
- Vous vous êtes bien amusés ?
- Did you enjoy yourselves?
When the pronoun is indirect there is no agreement: ils se sont parlé, ils se sont écrit, ils se sont téléphoné.
Idiomatic pronominals
Here the pronoun carries no separable meaning. The verb either doesn't exist without it, or means something quite different without it.
- Je m'attends à des problèmes.
- I'm expecting problems.
- Elle s'occupe des inscriptions.
- She handles the registrations.
- Nous nous doutions de quelque chose.
- We suspected something.
- Il s'est aperçu de son erreur.
- He noticed his mistake.
Compare attendre (to wait for) with s'attendre à (to expect), and douter de (to doubt) with se douter de (to suspect).
Passive pronominals
With a thing as subject, the pronominal form says what is generally done to it. French prefers this to the passive voice in everyday speech.
- Les billets se vendent en ligne.
- Tickets are sold online.
- Ça ne se fait pas.
- That isn't done.
- Ce fromage se mange avec du pain.
- This cheese is eaten with bread.
- Le vouvoiement s'utilise avec des inconnus.
- The formal vous is used with strangers.
The subject here can never be a person: a sentence like je me vends would only mean you are selling yourself.
Pronominal Verbs FAQs
- What is a pronominal verb in French?
- A verb used with a pronoun that matches its subject: se lever, se souvenir, s'en aller. The pronoun may mean oneself, each other, or nothing at all, and the verb always takes être in compound tenses.
- What's the difference between pronominal and reflexive verbs?
- Reflexive verbs are one kind of pronominal verb, the kind where the subject acts on itself (je me lave). The other kinds are reciprocal (nous nous parlons), idiomatic (je me souviens) and passive (ça se vend bien).
- Where does the reflexive pronoun go?
- Before the conjugated verb in almost every case: je me lève, je ne me lève pas, je vais me lever. The one exception is the positive imperative, where it follows with a hyphen: lève-toi, asseyez-vous.
- Why do pronominal verbs take être?
- Because the reflexive pronoun makes the subject and the object the same, and French treats that structure the way it treats verbs of movement and change of state. The result is je me suis levé, never je m'ai levé.
- When does the past participle agree?
- When the reflexive pronoun is the direct object: elle s'est levée, ils se sont vus. When something else is the direct object, or the pronoun is indirect, there is no agreement: elle s'est lavé les mains, ils se sont parlé.