Idiomatic Pronominal Verbs

Verbes pronominaux subjectifs

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Several dozen verbs require a reflexive pronoun but are neither reflexive nor reciprocal. These verbs use the reflexive pronoun to create a meaning different from (though often related to) the meaning of their non-pronominal siblings.

Par exemple…

Ils s’entendent bien.		They get along well.
Je me dépêche.		I’m hurrying.
Elle s’appelle Laurence.		Her name is Laurence.

Most common French idiomatic pronominal verbs*

Here are the most common verbes pronominaux subjectifs with their non-pronominal meanings.

			Non-pronominal meaning
s’en aller		to go away	to go
s’amuser		to have a good time	to amuse
s’apercevoir		to notice	to glimpse, perceive
s’appeler		to be named	to call
s’approprier		to appropriate, take over	to suit, adapt to
s’attendre (à)		to expect	to wait for
se débrouiller		to manage, get by	to disentangle
se demander		to wonder	to ask
se dépêcher		to hurry	to send quickly
se dérouler		to happen, take place	to unroll, unwind
se diriger vers		to head toward	to run, be in charge of
se douter		to suspect	to doubt
s’éclater		to have a blast (informal)	to blow up, explode
s’éclipser		to slip away/out	to eclipse, overshadow
s’ennuyer		to be bored	to bother
s’entendre		to get along	to hear
se faire à		to get used to	to do, make
se figurer		to imagine, picture	to represent, to appear
s’habituer à		to get used to	to get in the habit of
s’installer		to settle in (to a home, job)	to install
se joindre à		to join (a group)	to join, connect 2 things
se mettre à		to begin to	to place, put
se passer		to happen	to pass, go by
se perdre		to get lost	to lose
se plaindre		to complain	to pity, begrudge
s’y prendre		to set about doing something	to take
se refuser de		to deny oneself (the opportunity)	to refuse
se rendre à		to go to	to return
se rendre compte de		to realize	to account for
s’en retourner		to journey back	to return
se réunir		to meet, get together	to gather, collect
se saisir de		to seize, to take up (an issue)	to grab, take hold of
se servir de		to use, make use of	to serve
se tromper		to be mistaken	to deceive
se trouver		to be located	to find

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

 * About the name: Le Bon Usage calls these verbes pronominaux subjectifs, which would seem to translate to "subjective verbs." However, in English, that term is synonymous with intransitive verbs, which are something else entirely. Therefore, I’ve chosen to call them idiomatic pronominal verbs. If anyone knows of the correct English name for them, please let me know.

 Related lessons

• Reflexive pronouns
• Pronominal verbs
• Agreement with pronominal verbs
• Introduction to French verbs
   

 En español

• Verbos pronominales idiomáticos
   

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