French Language

Questions tagged [verbes-pronominaux]

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À propos des verbes conjugués avec un pronom renvoyant au sujet.

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6
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1answer
999 views

What is the difference between "se chercher" and "chercher"?

Is there a difference between the following two sentences? a) Elle cherche un emploi. b) Elle se cherche un emploi. (I saw sentence B in a youtube video, and I generated sentence A using deepL ...
0
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2answers
66 views

La voix passive ou la voix active

While doing a test, I encountered the following question: Le rôle du directeur _________ par un comédien amateur. And I wonder which of these answers is correct: est joué se joue On one hand, est ...
0
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1answer
37 views

Can I still use pronominal verbs without having a subject to which they refer?

I'm so confused about how to write this sentence without 'la personne' in it: Le sport aide la personne à bien se concentrer. I want to remove 'la personne' so should I also remove 'se'? Cause se ...
1
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1answer
45 views

« He raised a United States flag on the ships's mast... » : (faire) (se) hisser ?

Perhaps recognizing his crew was outgunned, the Catalpa's American captain hatched a clever plan. He raised a United States flag on the ships's mast and, according to an exhibit in Canberra's National ...
1
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1answer
21 views

Is an object pronoun considered reflexive when the object its replacing is a subset (or superset) of the subject?

Background (these are some assumptions I'm making. I'm writing these out in case my assumptions are incorrect) : Suppose you have a simple sentence with a transitive verb, and you re-write that ...
2
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1answer
36 views

Can I "undo" the reflexive pronoun, when using a pronominal verb?

Pronouns can replace nouns. Can I take sentence with a verb used pronominally, and write a version of that sentence that restores the noun that the pronoun replaced? example: Sarah s' est demandé ...
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2answers
27 views

Can I use a pronominal verb with its the non-pronominal meaning, when using it in its pronominal form?

I know that there are some verbs that, when in a pronomial form, change their meaning: J'ai demandé à mon thérapeute pourquoi je ne peux pas pleurer. (I asked my therapist why I can't cry) Je me suis ...
1
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1answer
16 views

When transitive verbs that are not typically used pronominally are used pronominally, do they follow rules for typically pronominal verbs?

If I take a transitive verb that is not typically used in a pronomial way, does it follow all the same "rules" as verbs typically used in pronomial forms? That is, in the pronomial versions ...
4
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2answers
146 views

How can I tell whether the reflexive pronoun is direct or indirect, for verbs that are always pronominal?

According to page 269 of "Advanced French Grammar" (by Monique L'Huiller), some verbs only exist in the pronominal form. One of the listed verbs is "se fier (à qn/qch)" (to trust (...
4
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3answers
119 views

Where's the subject in "Le jour qui se rêve."

I'm listening to a song called "Le jour qui se rêve". It feels difficult to translate the title in my head. I know 'se rêver' means to dream and, I may be wrong I couldn't find a lot of ...
8
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2answers
347 views

Limits on the Use of the Indirect Object Pronoun to Indicate Possession

I would like to understand why there are times when you can use the indirect object pronoun to indicate possession, and other times when you cannot. For example, you CAN say: Je lui ai pris la main. (&...
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3answers
284 views

Pourquoi les youtubeurs disent-ils "je vais vous partager..." ?

Pourquoi les youtubeurs disent-ils "je vais vous partager quelque chose" au lieu de dire "je vais partager quelque chose avec vous" ? Bien que le sens soit proche de "je vais ...
2
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2answers
92 views

Grammatical role of « en » in pronominal verbal locutions that begin with « s'en »

For example - « s'en aller, s'en ficher, s’en tirer, s’en prendre à, s’en branler, s'en falloir, s'en sortir, s’en battre l’œil, etc. » Are these to be treated like any other pronominal verb? Is the ...
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1answer
55 views

Emploi de « se refuser »

J'ai entendu quelqu'un dire à la radio : "Nous nous refusons..." Je ne me rappelle ni la préposition (à ou de), ni le contexte, ni la suite du discours. Même une collègue, professeure du français, ...
2
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1answer
73 views

Verbes pronominaux qui n’entraînent pas d'accord du participe passé

J’aimerais savoir s’ils existe des verbes comme se téléphoner, se succéder (sans accord du participe passé) Se téléphoner → nous nous sommes téléphoné. Se succéder → nous nous sommes succédé. Par ...
8
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3answers
890 views

Behaviour of verb that looks pronominal but doesn't have a "se" entry in the dictionary?

Suppose I want to translate "I pinched myself". I see that "to pinch" in French is "pincer" , and that there (more or less) isn't a "se pincer" entry. I know that a typical pronominal verb, such as "...
3
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2answers
154 views

« Figurer » pour signifier « imaginer » ?

Est-il d'usage d'employer le verbe figurer non pronominal pour signifier imaginer (plutôt que se figurer pour essentiellement s'imaginer) ; être la représentation ou autrement peut-il signifier (s')...
0
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1answer
96 views

Difference in meaning between "Passe-moi le ballon" and "me passe le ballon"?

From my textbook : Passe-moi le ballon which means : pass me the ball and I was wondering if the meaning is different if we use the verb passer in a reflexive way : * me passe le ballon*
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3answers
2k views

I am confused with the word order when putting a sentence into passé composé with reflexive verbs

I am studying basic french and I encountered this question: écrivez le phrase au passé composé. "Nous ne nous amusons pas au festival." Following the method I learned, I end up with "Nous ne nous ...
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2answers
913 views

Difference between “s'attendre” and “attendre”

https://www.wordreference.com/enfr/expect says that expect may be translated to French as "s'attendre à" or "attendre", but I have always seen the first one. AFAIK "attendre" means "to wait", not "...
5
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2answers
153 views

What does "Si on veut une femme, il faut se faire un peu désirer" mean?

I came across the sentence "Si on veut une femme, il faut se faire un peu désirer" and I'm having a hard time translating it. Literally it seems to me it means "if you want a woman, you need to be ...
2
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2answers
158 views

Après l'école, c'est moi qui m'occupe de mes frères

I am not sure how you would be able to translate this phrase. I think it's trying to say that I take care of myself and my brothers but how am I meant to figure that out? First of all, the clause 'c'...
1
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1answer
499 views

“I got hurt” vs. “I hurt myself”

How would you say each one? I know that to hurt someone in the emotional sense is blesser. Would it make sense to say: Je me suis blessé To mean I hurt myself almost in a metaphorical way? As in, I ...
2
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2answers
167 views

Past participle agreement with the subject in the case of pronominal verbs

I've been solving exercices in a book called practice makes perfect (linked down below) And in the Plus-que parfait exercices (page 82,81. 10.2 Exercice. N.3, N.10) there are those two sentences ...
2
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3answers
462 views

“I’ll take care of it” = je m’y occupe / je m’en occupe ?

Can it be translated both ways? From my understanding, “s’occuper de” and “s’occuper à” are two different verbs, with various meanings that slightly overlap. The overlapping definition seems to be “...
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2answers
1k views

Approcher vs. s’approcher

I’ve studied this quite a bit, and can’t seem to get my head around the difference between these two verbs. I hear that approcher isn’t used much anymore, and s’approcher mostly takes the spotlight. ...
4
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5answers
194 views

Pourquoi « on le peut observer » et non « on peut l’observer »?

Dans le roman « Les faux-monnayeurs » d’André Gide, le personnage Édouard écrit dans son journal: La lente décristallisation, dont je n’entends jamais parler, est un phénomène psychologique qui m’...
5
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2answers
135 views

« Se vassaliser devant/à quelqu'un » ?

[...] Ce que veut Mme Le Pen, c'est se vassaliser devant monsieur Poutine et devant M. Trump. (Propos de Mme Nathalie Loiseau rapportés ds. Lapresse.com, je souligne) Le TLFi montre un emploi du ...
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1answer
103 views

S’envoler vs. envoler

I saw a thread here recently that said the verb s’envoler expresses the act of the subject flying away, or taking off, due to the pronominal s’ at the beginning. So what, then, does envoler mean, ...
2
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0answers
31 views

When do past participles of reflexive verbs agree with subject? [duplicate]

On a random online quiz, I was presented with the following one: Elles se sont ____ dans leur malheur. The two options were complu and complues (past participle of complaire). I picked complues ...
1
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2answers
90 views

"On se rappelle" et "on rappelle"

On rappelle que par convention, les échanges sont comptés positivement lorsque le système reçoit et négativement lorsqu'il donne. On se rappelle que par convention, les échanges sont comptés ...
3
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2answers
690 views

L'emploi de « s'attarder à » signifiant « se consacrer momentanément à une chose [abstraite] de préférence à d'autres » est-il toujours vivant etc. ?

Au TLFi on trouve un emploi du verbe attarder employé pronominalement : II. B. 2. a) S'attarder à.[Suivi d'un subst. ou d'un inf.] a) Se consacrer momentanément à une chose de préférence à d'...
4
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1answer
152 views

« Je vous demande de me juger par les ennemis que je me suis faits » : accord, formulation ?

L'ex-patron du FBI, M. James Comey, a répondu aux propos d'un troll d'Internet de la manière suivante sur une plateforme de microblogage : “I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made.” — ...
6
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2answers
712 views

Reflexive verb with avoir

I came across an expression "je m'ai engagé" and I want to know in what case(s) (if any), can avoir be used as auxiliary with reflexive verbs. Or this is probably a fixed expression?
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1answer
44 views

Peut attendre ou s'attendre

Je me demande si des phrases suivantes ont du sens en français ; le cas échéant quelle est la différence et laquelle est plus adéquate ? Le départ peut attendre. Le départ peut s'attendre. EDIT (d'...
5
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1answer
114 views

How to conjugate "se succéder" with the noun?

I do not know how to conjugate verbs with "se". For instance, shall I write: Les années se sont succédées or Les années se sont succédé
3
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2answers
160 views

Usage pronominal => inversion de modalité

On connaît le cas de douter (ne pas être sûr) / se douter (avoir de fortes présomptions) On peut ajouter imaginer (se figurer) / s'imaginer (croire à tort) (*1) Connaissez-vous d'autres verbes dont ...
2
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1answer
125 views

Un verbe peut-il être doublement pronominal ?

Dans cette phrase, on comprend qu'il est question de s'arracher quelque chose, de populaire, par exemple : On se l'arrache. Dans celle-ci, on comprend qu'il est question de m'arracher (quoi donc ? ...
2
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2answers
2k views

'Se dire' vs. 'dire'

I recently received this sentence in an email, and I was unsure about the subtle difference between dire and se dire. Nous essayons de donner une vision fidèle de ce qui s’est dit durant le conseil....
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2answers
197 views

Understand the lyrics of Coco's “Ne m'oublie pas”

I found the lyrics of the song here: Les paroles de la chanson: Ne m’oublie pas, du film Coco. And although it's relatively simple, I am struggling a bit to understand the grammar point of the 2 ...
3
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2answers
7k views

Quelle est la différence entre « s'être » et « être » ?

Je suis en train d'apprendre le français, mais je ne comprends pas la définition de s'être. La traduction de google définit le verbe comme "have". Quel est le sens du verbe? Si je veux dire "I have ...
1
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1answer
256 views

Direct/Indirect object switching in reflexive verbs

I was a bit surprised to find out that while attendre takes a direct object, s'attendre takes an indirect object. E.g. Je l'attends but Je m'attends à lui. Is it a widespread phenomena? Is there any ...
4
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1answer
218 views

Une question sur les verbes pronominaux

Quand j'utilise les verbes pronominaux, puis-je dire: nous aimons téléphonez-eux au lieu de nous s'aimons téléphoner ou les deux sont incorrects? S'il vous plait excusez-moi pour les ...
3
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2answers
272 views

Why use “être” with pronominal verbs in complex tenses?

While some verbs with intransitive sense use "être" for complex tenses (Je suis entré), other verbs with transitive sense use "avoir" to show subject-object relations: Je les ai vus. ("Je" - subject, "...
4
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1answer
10k views

j'ai tombé, je me suis tombé, je suis tombé... What's the difference?

They all sound the same to me. What could be the difference if there is any? j'ai tombé, je me suis tombé, je suis tombé.
4
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2answers
545 views

« S'appelle » ou « appelée » pour emplacements?

I'm writing down a paragraph where I introduce myself, and am doing a quick grammar check through Google Translate (yes, I know it is terrible), before I ask my French teacher tomorrow. I actually ...
5
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1answer
152 views

Why is “l'obtint” used here instead of “s'obtint”?

Below is the quote from Le Mariage de Figaro: Il fallait un calculateur, ce fut un danseur qui l'obtint. So the author was intended to express that a dancer was employed or obtained in a passive ...
3
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2answers
2k views

"approcher" ou "s'approcher"

J'ai vu dans un dictionnaire que approcher et s'approcher peuvent signifier "to approach" en anglais d'une manière intransitive tous les deux. Alors, peut-on dire Je suis content que les vacances ...
6
votes
2answers
249 views

Whether to use the reflexive “s'y connaître en” or the non-reflexive “y connaître en”

This is a thorny question I’ve discussed with a lot of native French speakers, only to find that even my French colleagues seem to be split over this grammatical point. I instinctively choose the ...
2
votes
1answer
257 views

Translation of "Did it go well?"

Did it go well? I think we can use the verb passer here, but I'm not sure whether it should be in the reflexive form or not. C'est bien passé? or Ça s'est bien passé? The verb passer means to ...

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