In this lesson, we study idiomatic pronominal verbs in French.
A pronominal verb is a verb that is accompanied by at least one pronoun. An example of pronominal verbs is reflexive verbs, which use the pronoun “se” before the verb in the infinitive. A reflexive verb indicates that the action of the verb is performed on oneself.
Not all pronominal verbs are reflexive. Some verbs simply change their meaning when attached to pronouns to form new idiomatic meanings that do not often make complete sense if translated literally into English.
Take, for example, the verb “aller” (to go). If preceded by the pronouns “se” and “en,” we obtain the pronominal verb “s’en aller,” which means “to go away.” For example, “s’en aller” in the informal command form is “Va-t’en!” (Go away!), that is: “va” + “te” + “en.”
Similarly, if we use the verb “passer” (to passer) in its reflexive form, we obtain the pronominal verb “se passer,” which means “to happen.”
There are many similar idiomatic pronominal verbs in French. Some use one pronoun, while others are use two pronouns. In general, a pronominal verbs uses a reflexive pronoun and/or the special pronouns “y” and “en.”
Conjugations
To conjugate a pronominal verb, we place the pronouns in the same order before the conjugated verb. If the conjugation needs a past participle, as in the present perfect tense, we use the auxiliary “être,” and the past participle takes the treatment of an adjective, meaning it must follow the subject in gender and number. Here is the conjugation of the pronominal verbs “s’en aller” (to go away) and “s’y prendre” (to set about doing something) in the present perfect:
| s’en aller | s’y prendre | |
| je | m’en suis allé(e) | m’y suis pris(e) |
| tu | t’en es allé(e) | t’y es pris(e) |
| il/ on | s’en est allé | s’y est pris |
| elle | s’en est allée | s’y est prise |
| nous | nous en sommes allé(e)s | nous y sommes pris(es) |
| vous | vous en êtes allé(e)s | vous y êtes pris(e)(s) |
| il | s’en sont allés | s’y sont pris |
| elles | s’en sont allées | s’y sont prises |
Examples
The following table lists some of the most common idiomatic pronominal verbs in French:
| Verb | Meaning | Example |
| s’en aller | to go away | Va-t’en! Je ne veux pas parler. Go away! I do not want to talk. |
| s’amuser | to have a good time | Ils se sont amusés sur la plage. They had a good time on the beach. |
| s’apercevoir | to notice | Je me suis aperçu que le travail était difficile. I noticed that the work was difficult. |
| s’attendre | to expect | Ils s’attendent à ce que l’économie s’améliore. They expect the economy to improve. |
| se demander | to wonder | Je me demandais ce qui s’était passé. I was wondering what had happened. |
| se dépêcher | to hurry | Dépêche-toi! Nous sommes en retard. Hurry up! We are late. |
| se dérouler | to unfold or happen | Les événements se sont déroulés si vite. The events unfolded so fast. |
| se douter | to suspect | Je crois qu’il se doute de quelque chose. I think he suspects something. |
| s’éclater | to have a blast | Ils se sont éclatés pendant leurs vacances. They had a blast during their vacation. |
| s’enfuir | to run away | Il s’est enfui des lieux en quelques minutes. He ran away from the scene within minutes. |
| s’ennuyer | to be bored | Je me suis ennuyé devant la télé hier soir. I was bored watching TV last night. |
| s’entendre | to get along | Les deux voisins ne s’entendent pas. The two neighbors don’t get along. |
| s’évanouir | to faint | Elle s’est évanouie quand elle a vu le sang. She fainted when she saw the blood. |
| se figurer | to imagine | Je peux me figurer la beauté du paysage. I can imagine the beauty of the landscape. |
| s’habituer à | to get used to | Je me suis habitué à la vie en ville. I got used to life in the city. |
| s’installer | to settle in | J’ai besoin de temps pour m’installer ici. I need some time to settle in here. |
| se mettre à | to begin to | Je rentrerai chez moi si la pluie se met à tomber. I will go home if the rain begins to fall. |
| se moquer de | to make fun of | Ne te moque pas de ton amie. Don’t make fun of your friend. |
| se passer | to happen | Que s’est-il passé hier soir? What happened last night? |
| se perdre | to get lost | Nous nous sommes perdus au parc hier. We got lost at the park yesterday. |
| se plaindre | to complain | Ils se plaignent toujours des règles. They always complain about the rules. |
| s’y prendre | to set about or do something | Comment on s’y prend n’est pas important. How we do it is not important. |
| se refuser à | to deny oneself | Il s’est refusé à accepter le pot-de-vin. He refused to take the bribe. |
| se rendre à | to go to | Il se rendra à Paris le mois prochain. He will go to Paris next month. |
| se rendre compte de | to realize | Il s’est rendu compte qu’il avait tort. He realized that he was wrong. |
| s’en retourner | to go back | Il sauva ses hommes avant de s’en retourner en Espagne. He saved his men before going back to Spain. |
| se réunir | to meet or get together | Nous nous réunirons demain matin. We will get together tomorrow morning. |
| se saisir de | to take up | Il s’est saisi du pouvoir il y a 20 ans. He took up power 20 years ago. |
| se servir de | to make use of | Ce site se sert de cookies. This site makes use of cookies. |
| se tromper | to be mistaken | Elle s’est trompée l’autre jour. She was wrong the other day. |
| se trouver | to be located | L’entrée se trouve de l’autre côté. The entrance is located on the other side. |
Quiz: Idiomatic Pronominal Verbs
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