Français II/Leçon 3 - Common Irregular Verbs; Reflexive Verbs

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Français II

Lessons in Français II

Common irregular verbs

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Irregular verbs have slightly different conjugation rules then other verbs. So far you have already encountered avoir and être as the first two, but there are other verbs that change wildly.

Aller:

  • Je vais
  • Tu vas
  • Il va
  • Nous allons
  • Vous allez
  • Ils vont

Venir:

  • Je viens
  • Tu viens
  • Il vient
  • Nous venons
  • Vous venez
  • Ils viennent

Reflexive verbs

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Reflexive verbs is used with a pronoun that indicates the same person or thing as the subject. In French, a reflexive verb is called verbe pronominal réfléchi.

Let's take the example of the verb se lever which means to get up.

Se lever:

  • Je me lève
  • Tu te lèves
  • Il se lève
  • Nous nous levons
  • Vous vous levez
  • Ils se lèvent

Some commonly used reflexive verbs are:

French English
se lever to get up
se réveiller to wake up
se baigner to bathe
se laver to wash
se raser to shave
s'enfuir to flee
s'évanouir to faint
se souvenir to remember
se suicider to commit suicide
s'asseoir to sit down
s'arrêter to stop
s'habiller to get dressed

Some verbs are exclusively reflexive: se suicider, se souvenir, s'enfuir, s'évanouir ...

Some others can be both reflexive and non-reflexive. If the action can be performed on someone else, the verb looses its reflexivity. For example: Je me lave I wash myself. And Je lave mon chien I wash my dog.