French Idiomatic Pronominal Verbs - Lawless French Grammar

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 you know the correct English name for them, please let me know.