Helene Renaut

Reflexive Verbs French Speakers Use The Most – Frequency Vocabulary List

Looking for a list of the Reflexive Verbs French people use the most? First let's explain what Reflexive verbs are:

Reflexive verbs, or ‘verbes pronominaux’ are widely used in French. What are they and which are the essential ones to know?

These verbs use a ‘reflexive pronoun’, which is placed in front of the verb in most tenses. In French we distinguish:

“I wash myself” – Purely reflexive verbs, where the subject and object of the verb are the same. In other words, the action is done by the subject on itself. The pronoun in English will be translated by ‘himself’, ‘herself’, ‘ourselves’ etc. For instance: je me lave = I wash myself
“They love each other” – Reciprocal verbs, where the subject and object are reciprocal. In English, we will express the pronoun by ‘each other’, ‘among themselves’ ‘one another’ etc. For example: Nous nous connaissons bien = we know each other well; ils s’aiment = they love each other.
Special cases. Finally, pronominal constructions that don’t have any logical value (don’t you love those!), where the construction uses a reflexive pronoun that is usually not translated in English. For instance:

- - - Se promener = to go for a walk
    - S’amuser = to have fun
    - S’ennuyer = to be/get bored

The good news is that all three types function the same way! That is, with a reflexive pronoun corresponding to the subject:

Pronouns for Reflexive Verbs in French:

Subject pronoun	Reflexive pronoun	Example of conjugated verb
Je	me	Je me réveille
Tu	te	Tu te réveilles
Il/ Elle/ On	se	Elle se réveille
Nous	nous	Nous nous réveillons
Vous	vous	Vous vous réveillez
Ils/ Elles	se	Ils se réveillent

Note that me, te and se elide before a vowel or a mute h: je m’amuse, il s’ennuie, tu t’arrêtes, elles s’aiment. Same for the infinitive! S’arrêter = to stop

Here is a list of the 40 most common Reflexive Verbs French speakers use:

s’aimer	to love oneself / one another
s’amuser	to have fun
s’appeler	to be called
s’arrêter	to stop
s’asseoir	to sit down
se baigner	to go swimming
se battre	to fight
se brosser (les dents, les cheveux)	to brush (one’s teeth, one’s hair)
se casser (la jambe, le bras…)	to break (one’s leg, one’s arm…)
se coiffer	to style one’s hair
se connaître	to know one another
se coucher	to go to bed
se couper	to cut oneself
se dépêcher	to hurry
se disputer	to quarrel
s’endormir	to fall asleep
s’énerver	to get irritated, to get angry
s’ennuyer	to be/get bored
s’habiller	to get dressed
s’habituer à	to get used to
s’inquiéter	to worry
s’inscrire	to enroll, to sign up
s’intéresser (à quelque chose)	to be interested (in something)
se laver (les mains, le visage, les cheveux…)	to have a wash/ to wash (one’s hands, face, hair…)
se lever	to get up / to stand up
se maquiller	to put on makeup
se marier (avec)	to get married (to)
se moquer de	to make fun of
se moucher	to blow one’s nose
s’occuper de	to take care of
se passer	to happen, to occur
se plaindre	to complain
se promener	to go for a walk
se rappeler	to remember
se raser	to shave
se rassembler	to gather, to assemble (as a group)
se réveiller	to wake up
se taire	to get quiet
se tromper	to make a mistake, to be in the wrong
se trouver	to be (located)

We hope you enjoyed this post about Reflexive Verbs French people use! Check out more of our posts for French grammar here.

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