French reflexive verbs (se lever, s'appeler, se laver...)

Je me lève à sept heures.I get up at seven.

Many everyday French verbs are pronominal: they need an extra little pronoun — me, te, se, nous, vous, se — that matches the subject, placed right before the verb. This pronoun is part of the verb; you can't leave it out. Reflexive verbs are the most common type of pronominal verb — ones where the action is done to yourself, like se laver (to wash yourself) — but as you'll see below, not every pronominal verb is reflexive in meaning.

Quick shortcut: subject + matching pronominal pronoun + verb. Je me lève, tu te lèves, elle se lève.

The pronominal pronouns

Each subject has its own pronominal pronoun:

Conjugating a pronominal verb

Take se lever (to get up). The verb itself conjugates like an ordinary -er verb (with the same e → è spelling change you already know from verbs like acheter), and the pronominal pronoun goes in front of it:

• Tu te lèves tôt ?
• Nous nous levons à huit heures le week-end.

S'appeler (to be called) follows the same pattern, with the same consonant-doubling you already know from appeler:

• Je m'appelle Claire.
• Comment tu t'appelles ?
• Ils s'appellent Léo et Sami.

Common pronominal verbs

Many verbs about daily routine are pronominal in French, even when the English equivalent isn't:

• se réveiller (to wake up)
• se lever (to get up)
• se laver (to wash [oneself])
• se doucher (to shower)
• s'habiller (to get dressed)
• se coucher (to go to bed)
• se reposer (to rest)
• se dépêcher (to hurry)
• s'appeler (to be called)

Most of these describe a literal action you do to yourself — waking yourself up, getting yourself up, washing yourself, dressing yourself, putting yourself to bed. But se reposer, se dépêcher and s'appeler aren't literally reflexive: they don't really mean "resting yourself," "hurrying yourself," or "calling yourself." These are inherently pronominal verbs — they simply always take the pronoun as part of their form, without a literal reflexive meaning. Grammatically they all work exactly the same way; only the meaning differs.

The negative

ne... pas wraps around both the pronominal pronoun and the verb together:

• Je ne me lève pas tôt le dimanche.
• Il ne s'habille pas vite.
• Nous ne nous dépêchons pas.

ne comes right before the pronoun. It's the pronoun, not ne, that elides before a vowel or mute h — me/te/se become m'/t'/s', which is why ne still reads as ne right in front of them:

• Elle ne s'appelle pas Sophie.
• Je ne m'habille pas encore.

Asking questions

With est-ce que, the pronominal pronoun stays in its normal place, right before the verb:

• Est-ce que tu te couches tard ?
• Est-ce que vous vous levez tôt ?

Rising intonation works the same way, just without est-ce que: Tu te lèves tôt ?

With another verb (infinitive)

When a pronominal verb follows another verb as an infinitive, the pronominal pronoun still has to match the subject, not stay as se:

• Je vais me lever tôt demain. (not ❌ Je vais se lever)
• Tu dois te dépêcher.
• Nous aimons nous reposer le dimanche.

In the past

The passé composé of pronominal verbs works a bit differently from what you may already know — it uses être instead of avoir, with its own agreement rule (Elle s'est levée). That's a topic on its own, covered in a separate article.

Common mistakes

• ❌ Je lève à sept heures. → ✅ Je me lève à sept heures. (the pronominal pronoun can't be dropped)
• ❌ Je m'appelle est Claire. → ✅ Je m'appelle Claire. (no être needed — m'appelle already means "am called")
• ❌ Je ne lève pas me. → ✅ Je ne me lève pas. (ne and the pronoun both go before the verb)
• ❌ Je vais se lever. → ✅ Je vais me lever. (the pronoun must match je, not stay as se)
• ✅ Il se lève, never ❌ Il lève, alone — without the pronominal pronoun, lever means something different: "to lift/raise something"

Quick check

Fill in the correct reflexive pronoun and verb form:

1. Le matin, elle ____ (se réveiller) à six heures.
2. Nous ____ (ne pas / se dépêcher).
3. Est-ce que tu ____ (s'habiller) vite ?
4. Ils ____ (s'appeler) Marc et Théo.
5. Je vais ____ (se coucher) tôt ce soir.

Key takeaways

• Pronominal verbs need a pronominal pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se) that matches the subject, placed right before the verb.
• The verb itself conjugates normally; only the pronoun changes with the subject.
• Not every pronominal verb is literally "reflexive" in meaning (se reposer, se dépêcher, s'appeler) — these are inherently pronominal, grouped with true reflexives by shared grammar, not shared meaning.
• Negative: ne... pas wraps around the pronoun and the verb together — je ne me lève pas; it's the pronoun, not ne, that elides before a vowel.
• After another verb, the pronominal pronoun still has to match the subject: je vais me lever, not je vais se lever.
• The passé composé of these verbs uses être, with its own agreement rule — covered separately.