Essentially Pronominal Verbs

Verbes essentiellement pronominaux

Je me souviens
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Two dozen French verbs always require a reflexive pronoun but aren’t necessarily reflexive or reciprocal. It’s essential for these verbs to be used pronominally, because without the pronoun, the verb is meaningless (though there are some literary exceptions).

Par exemple…

Je me souviens.   I remember.
Il s’est évanoui.   He fainted.

Most common French essentially pronominal verbs

Here are the most common verbes essentiellement pronominaux.

s’abstenir   to abstain, refrain
s’acharner   to harass, attack, persevere
s’arroger   to claim falsely
se dédire   to recant, go back on one’s word
se départir de   to abandon, lose
se désister   to withdraw, stand down
s’ébattre   to frolic, romp about
s’écrier   to exclaim
s’efforcer   to endeavor, do one’s best
s’emparer   to seize, take hold of
s’enfuir   to flee, escape
s’enquérir   to inquire
s’entremettre   to mediate
s’envoler   to fly away, blow off
s’éprendre   to become enamored
s’évader   to escape, evade
s’évanouir   to faint
s’évertuer à   to strive to
s’exclamer   to exclaim
se fier   to trust
se méfier de   to mistrust, distrust, beware of/about
se méprendre   to misjudge, make a mistake
se moquer de   to make fun of
se pâmer   to swoon
se repentir   to repent
se souvenir de   to remember
se suicider   to kill oneself

 See the main lesson on pronominal verbs for details on using essentially pronominal verbs in different tenses and moods.

 Related lessons

Learn Spanish En español

Learn Italian In italiano

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French pronominal verbs

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