🎯 Goal: Understand how reflexive verbs work and how to use them in everyday French.

🤔 What Is a Reflexive Verb?

In English, you sometimes say:

“I wash myself” or “She gets up.”

You’re doing something to yourself.
In French, that’s called a reflexive verb.

In the dictionary, these verbs look like this:

• se laver → to wash oneself
• s’appeler → to call oneself (used for names!)
• se réveiller → to wake up (oneself)

🧼 Common Reflexive Verbs

🔍 What changes in reflexive verbs?

You need to add a reflexive pronoun. It goes before the verb and changes depending on the subject.

📢 Special rule: apostrophe (elision)

When the reflexive pronoun me, te, or se comes before a verb that starts with a vowel or silent “h”, it becomes:

• me → m’
• te → t’
• se → s’

✅ Examples:

• Je m’appelle Emma.
• Tu t’habilles vite.
• Il s’appelle Hugo.

🔧 Conjugating Reflexive Verbs (Present Tense)

Let’s start with se laver (to wash oneself):

✨ Another common one: s’appeler (to be called)

Very useful when saying your name!

🧪 Exercise

Which sentence is correct?

1. Je s’appelle Julie.
2. Tu t’appelles Lucas.
3. Nous nous appelle Marie et Paul.

✅ Show answers

1. ❌ Incorrect → should be “Je m’appelle Julie”
2. ✅ Correct
3. ❌ Incorrect → should be “Nous nous appelons Marie et Paul”

🌟Quiz

Ready for the next step? Take this quiz to evaluate your use of the reflexive verbs.

✅ Recap

• Reflexive verbs = the subject does the action to itself
• They start with “se” in the dictionary
• Conjugated like regular verbs, but with reflexive pronouns
• Apostrophe rule with vowels and silent “h”
• Most common verb: s’appeler → “My name is…”

Practice with a Native French Teacher 💬

Want to use these expressions and the verb “être” in conversation? Book an Introduction Call with a native teacher to practice and improve your French!