Reflexive verbs require reflexive pronouns.
In a reflexive construction, the action is performed by the subject on itself. Therefore the subject and the pronoun object refer to the same person. The reflexive pronouns me, te, se, nous, vous, like other personal object pronouns, normally precede the verb.
Je me lave.
(I wash myself.)
En vacances, nous nous
amusons.
(During our vacation, we enjoy ourselves.)
In inverted questions and negative sentences, the reflexive pronoun remains before the conjugated verb:
Vous levez-vous tôt?
(Do you get up early?)
Ne vous levez-vous pas
tôt?
(Don't you get up early?)
Some common reflexive verbs:
s'acheter (to buy [for] oneself)
s'agir de (to be a question of)
s'améliorer (to improve [oneself])
s'apercevoir de (to become aware of)
s'appeler (to be called)
s'arrêter de (to stop)
se baigner (to bathe)
se blesser (to wound oneself)
se bronzer (to get a tan)
se changer de (to change)
se coiffer (to comb one's hair)
se contenter de (to be satisfied with)
se coucher (to go to bed)
se demander (to wonder, to ask oneself)
se depêcher de (to hurry to)
se douter de (to suspect)
s'endormir (to go to sleep)
s'ennuyer de/à (to be bored with)
s'étonner de (to be surprised by)
se fâcher contre (to get angry with)
se plaindre de (to complain about)
se plaire à (to like to)
se réconcilier (to reconcile)
se résigner à (to resign oneself to)
se spécialiser en or dans (to
specialize in)
se taire (to be quiet, to become silent)
se tromper (to be mistaken)
se vanter de (to boast of)
Les étudiants
d'aujourd'hui se spécialisent dans l'informatique.
(Today's students specialize in computer sciences.)
Some verbs are always reflexive in French but not usually so in English:
s'écrier (to exclaim, to cry out)
s'écrouler (to collapse)
se fier à (to trust)
s'efforcer de (to strive to)
s'empresser de (to hasten to)
s'en aller (to leave, go away)
s'enfuir (to flee)
s'évanouir (to faint)
se lamenter de (to lament/grieve)
se méfier de (to mistrust)
se moquer de (to make fun of)
se soucier de (to concern oneself about)
se souvenir (to remember)
Depending on the ending of the infinitive, reflexive verbs belong to different conjugation classes: -er (first conjugation), -ir (second conjugation), -re (third conjugation).
See Also: