To conjugate pronominal verbs in French, you will follow the same conjugation patterns as you would use for the non-pronominal form of the verb, with the new addition of a reflexive pronoun which must agree with the subjectNo definition set for subjectLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. of the pronominal verb. You may also want to brush up on the different types of French pronominal verbs. For example, you may recall that the reflexive verb se maquiller(to put makeup on) falls in a different category of pronominal verbs than the reciprocal verb se parler(to speak to each other). In this post, you will learn how understanding these different types of pronominal verbs is important to the proper conjugation of pronominal verbs.
For example, would you like to know why we write, Elles se sont maquillées(They put makeup on), but Elles se sont parlé(They are speaking to each other)? Read further to find out! In this post, we’ll review where to place reflexive pronouns in relation to a verb, how to conjugate pronominal verbs in compound tenses to form past participle agreement, and how to use pronominal verbs in impersonal constructions. Let’s go!
When conjugating French pronominal verbs, the reflexive pronouns usually go right before the verb, which is conjugated according to the proper pattern for the personNo definition set for personLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. and tenseNo definition set for tenseLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. you need to use. However, there are some cases where the reflexive pronoun of the pronominal verb may instead precede the infinitiveNo definition set for infinitiveLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. form of the verb or even follow the verb. Let’s look at these general conjugation rules more carefully.
Most of the time, you will put the reflexive pronoun right in front of the conjugated verb:
subject pronoun
reflexive pronoun
verb
Elles se sont maquillées pour la fête.
They put on makeup for the party.
This is true for all negative structures too!
Elle ne se regardera plus jamais dans un miroir.
She will never look at herself in a mirror again.
To learn more about negation and conjugating pronominal verbs, keep reading!
In some cases, the reflexive pronoun is placed before the verb in the infinitive form. This happens in cases where a pronominal verb is necessary because a reflexive pronoun must reference the action described, but where the verb must be in the infinitive forms, since it follows another conjugated verb.
Most often, this occurs in constructions made up of two verbs – a conjugated verb and an infinitive. When the infinitive must be a pronominal verb, it takes the form of reflexive pronoun + verb in the infinitive.
in the near future: aller(to go) in the present tense
Dès que Béatrice va arriver, je vais me précipiter vers elle !
As soon as Beatrice arrives, I'll hurry towards her!
in the recent past using venir de(to have just done)
Vous venez de vouz laver les mains ?
Have you just washed your hands?
with modal verbs such as vouloir(to want), devoir(must), pouvoir(can), falloir(to be necessary)
Il veut s'adresser à la communauté LGBT.
He wants to address the LGBT community.
with the expression être en train de(to be in the process of)
Ils sont en train de se chamailler !
They are bickering!
The reflexive pronoun can sometimes go after the verb, but this only happens in the French imperative mood and even then, only in positive (do it!) commands.
Éloigne-toi, c'est dangereux !
Stay away, it's dangerous!
In negative structures in the imperative mood (don’t do it!), though, the reflexive pronoun remains in front of the verb:
Ne t'éloigne pas !
Don't go too far!
When using pronominal verbs with the three types of questions and negation in French, the reflexive pronoun will still always be placed directly before the conjugated verb. However, the word order can be a little confusing, so let’s review!
To form questions with inversion using pronominal verbs, keep the reflexive pronoun before the verb and add the subject pronoun after the verb. If the subject pronoun starts with a vowel (il, elle) and the conjugated verb ends with a vowel, you need to add a “t” between the two so it sounds nice:
Te souviens-tu de notre maison à la campagne ?
Do you remember our house in the countryside?
Se lave-t-il le soir ?
Does he wash (himself) in the evening?
Quand se lèvent-ils ?
When do they wake up?
In compound tenses, the reflexive pronoun and the subject pronoun are around the auxiliary verb (être):
Quand s'-est-t-il levé ce matin ?
When did he get up this morning?
For the other two types of questions, with est-ce que and with the repetition of the sentence with an interrogation tone, the order is the same as in affirmative sentences:
Est-ce que vous vous souvenez du nom de l'hôtel ?
Do you remember the name of the hotel?
Je m'assois sur cette chaise ?
Shall I sit on this chair?
In negation, like in questions, the reflexive pronoun is still directly before the conjugated verb. The negation particles ne … pas surround the pronominal verb (se parlent below):
Les deux chefs d’Etats ne se parlent pas aujourd'hui.
The two heads of state do not speak (to each other) today.
In compound tenses, ne … pas surrounds the reflexive pronoun + auxiliary verb:
Il nes'est pas levé en retard !
He didn't wake up late!
Now we’ve seen the basic conjugation rules for pronominal verbs, along with how to use pronominal verbs in sentences and negative structures. In the section above, we also saw a few examples of questions and negative structures using pronominal verbs conjugated in compound tenses. Let’s now take a closer look at some of the more complex cases with compound tenses.
When you are conjugating pronominal verbs in compound tenses in French, like the plus-que-parfait, the passé composé, or the conditionnel passé, you will always use the auxiliary être(to be), in addition to a past participle. Like we’ve already seen, the reflexive pronoun will go directly before the verb (conjugated auxiliary être + past participle).
Tu t'es intéressé à la harpe dès ton plus jeûne âge.
You have been interested in the harp since you were very young.
Before we move on, remember: you won’t ever hear ❌ Je m’ai / tu t’as, il s’a… + past participle. (The auxiliary avoir is never used with pronominal verbs!) Instead, the auxiliary verb être must be used. And this means that we must also tackle the topic of past participle agreement…let’s dive in!
When conjugating pronominal verbs in compound tenses, the past participle must agree with the subject, since you are using the auxiliary être. For more detailed information on how to form past participle agreement in French, you’ll want to read our post on the topic. But, for now, here are the main points for agreement with pronominal verbs:
Because the auxiliary verb être is used with pronominal verbs, the past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject. This means you add -e to the past participle when the subject is feminine and you add -s when the subject is plural.
Here are some examples:
Thomas et moi nous sommes promenés.
Thomas and I had a walk.
Elle s'est levée.
She got up.
Ils se sont rasés.
They shaved.
On (less formal "we") can be treated as a singular subject or a plural subject.
If you use on to refer to people in general, it will be singular:
En France, on s'envoie encore beaucoup de cartes postales.
In France, we still send each other many postcards.
Tu sais que lors de la finale de la coupe du monde de foot contre la Croatie en 2018, on s'est emparé de la victoire ?
Do you know that during the 2018 football world cup final against Croatia, we won?
However if on refers to a specific group of people, as nous(we) always does, it will be plural and the past participle will take a -s. (And the reflexive pronoun will still be se.)
On s'est dispersés après la manifestation.
We dispersed after the demonstration.
Here, we know that on refers to a group of men and women, which is why the ending is -és. If the group was made of women only, we would write on s’est dispersées.
There are, however, some exceptions to the standard rule that past participles must agree with the subject of pronominal verbs in compound tenses. Let’s take a look:
⛔ The past participle doesn’t agree with the subject if it is followed by a direct objectNo definition set for direct objectLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. Compare:
Ils se sont lavés.
They washed themselves.
Elles se sont lavé les mains.
They washed their hands.
Here is another comparison:
Ils se sont maquillées.
They put on makeup.
Elles se sont maquillé les yeux.
They put makeup on their eyes.
⤷ Did you know? The past participle rendu of the verb se rendre compte(to realize) doesn’t agree with the subject, because compte is the direct object!
Elle s’est rendu compte qu’elle avait un trou dans la poche de son manteau.
She realized she had a hole in her coat pocket.
HOWEVER, if the direct object comes before the pronominal verb in the sentence, you still form agreement of the past participle:
Les lettres qu’ils se sont envoyées sont si romantiques !
The letters they sent to each are so romantic!
Pay attention here! The direct object is not the reflexive pronoun. The couple might be sending letters back and forth, but the past participle will always be envoyées as les lettres is the direct object (before the verb)!
⛔ The past participle doesn’t form agreement when the reflexive pronoun also takes the role of an indirect objectNo definition set for indirect objectLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. Compare:
Il a parlé à son responsable.
He talked to his manager.
Ils se sont parlé.
They talked to each other.
You cannot write ❌ ils se sont parlés (with agreement), because se replaces an indirect object, not a direct object.
In contrast, you would make the agreement with a verb like se saluer, because here se is a direct object:
Il a salué son responsable.
He greeted his manager.
Ils se sont salués.
They greeted each other.
To check if your reflexive pronoun is a indirect object, you can ask the question “to whom” → Ils ont parlé à qui ? → à eux-mêmes(To whom did they speak? → To each other)
Here are some common French pronominal verbs whose reflexive pronouns are sneakily indirect objects: s’acheter à(to buy for oneself), se demander à(to wonder), se dire à(to tell each other), s’écrire à(to write to each other), se faire mal à(to hurt oneself), se ressembler à(to look like one another), se téléphoner(to phone one another).
When you want to use a pronominal verb within an impersonal construction in French, like il faut(it is necessary to), your choice of reflexive pronoun affects the meaning of your sentence. Look at the difference between these two sentences:
1. Il faut se laver les mains pendant au moins 20 secondes.
Hands should be washed for at least 20 seconds.
2. Jean, il faut te laver les mains pendant au moins 20 secondes.
John, you must wash your hands for at least 20 seconds.
Do you see the difference? In sentence 1, the pronominal verb infinitive is used, with the reflexive pronoun se giving a general meaning: this statement applies to everyone. In sentence 2, the reflexive pronoun changes to match the addressee of the sentence, John. Te puts the emphasis on an individual in particular, in this case, John! In both cases, the verb itself stays in the infinitive form.
Il ne s’agit pas de nous tromper !
We mustn't be mistaken!
When conjugating French pronominal verbs, keep the following tips in mind:
The reflexive pronoun is situated before the conjugated verb or in front of the infinitive pronominal verb (in the near future, recent past, with modal verbs, and the imperative affirmative mood).
All pronominal verbs take the auxiliary être(to be) in past compound tenses.
Most of the time, the past participle will agree with the subject in gender and number. However, it will not agree when the pronominal verb is followed by a direct object or when the reflexive pronoun plays the role of an indirect object pronoun.
With impersonal verbs, choose your reflexive pronoun to specify who is receiving the action.
Now, let’s practice conjugating pronominal verbs in French with these exercises!
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