Verbes essentiellement pronominaux
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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
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