SUMMARY

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Pronominal verbs are verbs that come with a particule. In the infinitive, they come with “se” (or "s' " in front of a vowel).

• se marier = to get married

• se battre = to fight

• s’appeler = to be called

• s’ennuyer = to be bored

Pronominal verbs follow the regular rules of conjugation in all tenses and moods. However, the “se” particule changes according to the subject.

Compare the regular verb (regarder) with its pronominal form (se regarder):

As you can see, the conjugation of the verb itself is indentical - you only have to add the pronominal particule.

In the negative, you cannot separate the particule from the verb, so the particule goes inside the negation sandwich.

• Nous ne nous regardons pas                                     
  We do not look at one another

• Tu ne te regardes pas dans le miroir.
  You are not looking at yourself in the mirror.

NOTE: like many other small words ending in _e in French, the particule se and its other forms lose their _e in front of a word that starts with a vowel. Look at the following verb.

Meaning

What does this "se" particule mean? There are different reasons to use pronominal verbs.

• verbs that express things you do to yourself (reflexive pronominal verbs)

  1. 1. • je lave     vs.    je me lave
          I wash    vs.     I wash myself

        • ils coiffent     vs.     ils se coiffent
          they comb     vs.      they comb themselves

• verbs that express things two people do to one another (reciprocal pronominal verbs)

  1. 1. • ils embrassent         vs.             ils s’embrassent
          they kiss                 vs.              they kiss one another 

        • nous saluons       vs.         nous nous saluons
          we greet             vs.        we greet one another

• verbs that means something slightly different in regular form and in pronominal form (arbitrary pronominal verbs)

  1. 1. • il marie la femme           vs.       il se marie avec la femme
          he marries the woman       vs.     he gets married with the woman
          (=officiate the ceremony)   

        • nous saluons   vs.     nous nous saluons
          we greet             vs.      we greet one  another

        • nous rendons des comptes     vs.    nous nous rendons compte
          we debrief                                   vs.    we realize

        • elles ennuient le chien      vs.      elles s’ennuient
          they annoy the dog       vs.       they are bored

« faire » (=to do, to make) is used in many different ways, and therefore is quite irregular. 

Make sure to NOT pronounce all the final S and T! 

Faire usually means "to do", "to make", or even "to fabricate", but it is also used in many expresions in French in which it isn't really trasnalted. For instance, cuisiner = faire la cuisine = to cook  / to do the cooking.

Here are examples of its use in sentences.

• nous faisons la cuisine                            
  we are doing the cooking

• je ne fais pas souvent du sport
  I don’t often do sport

• il fait ses devoirs                                         
  he is doing his homework

• vous ne faîtes pas les pizzas ?
  you are not making the pizzas?

For more info on how to use faire and its expressions, check the Vocabulary page.

In English, you have modality verbs like can, shall, will etc.

In French, we have verbs that work like others to complete that function, which make them almost un-translatable.

In a structure, it can be followed by an unconjugated verb or by a noun.

• Je veux un bonbon!
  I want a candy.

• Je voudrais un chat !
  I would like a cat!

• Il ne veut pas rentrer.
  He doesn’t want to go back.                    

• Nous ne voulons pas aller au cinéma.
  We don’t want to go to the movies.

Note: You might have met it in its conditional form (je voudrais = I would want, usually translated as “I would like”)

pouvoir (to be able to)

Pouvoir means “to be able to”, and is similar to “can” in English. It can be physical or mental abilities but can also refer to authorization or interdiction by someone else or an authority. 

It's conjugation works like the vouloir conjugation.

In a structure, it can be followed by an unconjugated verb or by a noun.

• Tu peux prendre ma valise?
  Can you take my suitcase?
  => physical capacity or permission

• Il ne peut pas venir – il est puni
  He can’t come – he’s grounded.
  => forbidden

• Nous pouvons rentrer tard ce soir !
  We can get home late tonight!
  => permission or possibility

• Ils ne peuvent pas lui parler
  They can’t talk to him.
  => not allowed or no possibility

devoir (to have to)

Devoir means “to have to” or “must”, it’s the verb for having a duty. You use it to say what you must do, what is compulsory to be done. Therefore, in the negative, it can mean an interdiction. 

In a structure, devoir is followed by an unconjugated verb.

• Tu dois faire tes devoirs en classe.            
  You have to do your homework in class.    

• Tu ne dois pas parler anglais en classe de français.
  You must not speak English in French class.

• Je ne dois pas ranger ma chambre.
  I don’t have to tidy up my bedroom.

• Nous devons partir.
  We have to go.

Devoir can also be used for a strong hypothesis.

• Il n’est pas là..il doit être malade.
  He isnt here. He must be sick.

• Ils ne doivent pas être au courant.
  They must not be aware.

-IR verbs are divided in three categories, each conjugating its own way:

• regular pattern 1

• regular pattern 2

• irregular verbs (like venir and tenir)

NOTE: _OIR(E) and _IRE are not _IR verbs ! This includes voir, croire, écrire…

This time, we will work on only one type of regular _IR verbs. We have already seen two irregular _IR verbs.... venir and tenir! You’ll learn about the other regular IR verbs in FREN 2010.

Regular IR verbs: pattern 1

We will learn four verbs like this: dormir (to sleep), sortir (to exit, to go out), partir (to leave, to go away), and mentir (to lie as in not say the truth). 

Those verbs follow a specific pattern.

For the singular, you have to remove the _IR ending WITH the consonant before it, then add the correct present ending.

• je _s dormir --> dor_ --> je dors

• tu _s partir --> par_ --> tu pars

• il / elle/ iel / on _t sortir --> sor_ --> iel sort

For the plural, you only remove the _IR ending and replace it by the correct present ending (so you keep the consonant).

• nous _ons dormir --> dorm_ --> nous dormons

• vous _ez partir --> part_ --> vous partez

• ils / elles/ iels _ent sortir --> sort_ --> elles sortent

Here are the full conjugations of those four verbs, following that pattern:

There are a few verbs that work for clothing. Fortunately, most are _ER verbs - so you already know how to conjugate them. 

Porter (to wear)

Porter is what you would translate as "to wear", the most classic verb for clothing. However, it literally means "to carry". So you can "porter un vêtement" (to wear a clothing item) but you can also "porter un livre" (to carry a book).

Mettre (to put on)

Mettre is a very useful verb that means to "put something on" when it comes to clothing, but in general just means to place something somewhere. It is an irregular verb though, so time to learn it :)

Note that its pattern isn't unusual, with one T in the singular and 2T in the plural.

Enlever (to take off)

Enlever means "to take something off", be it clothing or anything else. Although it is en _ER verb, it is one of those special spelling ER verb and an accent appears for all but nous and vous.

Acheter (to buy, to purchase)

I couldn't talk about clothes without talking about shopping, could I? Acheter is also a special spelling ER verb, with an accent appearing for nous and vous. 

The imparfait is a past tense, the one we use to talk about a habit in the past.

The imparfait stem is created from the NOUS present conjugation of the verb, from which the NOUS ending is removed. Then you plug in the endings of the imparfait.

Imparfait endings: _ais, _ais, _ait, _ions, _iez, _aient

_ER verbs

Based on the rules stated previously, it means that for _ER verbs that are so regular, you just need to get rid of the _ER ending and plug in the imparfait ending.

NOTE: notice that for nous and vous, the only difference between this past tense and the imparfait is the extra "i". Make sure to pronounce it! 

Other verbs

For other verbs that are not as easy as ER verbs - those that have a different form in the singular and the plural for instance - you can only find the imparfait stem if you remember your present conjugation and the NOUS form of it. 

One exception verb: être

Être is the only exception: the imparfait stem for être is ét_: j'étais, tu étais, il était... Its endings are all regular, though.

With avoir and faire, they are the three verbs most used in the imperfect tense, so there is no harm in making sure you know them VERY well:

ER verbs with a spelling change

If you remember the special _ER verbs (ending in _ger, _cer, _yer, accents…), they are also a little bit different in the imparfait – still in order to keep the right sonority. 

The good news is that not all of them are problematic; only the _ger, _cer, _yer verbs will do something strange (so no issue with double sonsonant or accent danse :) )