Learn French with Anna Spring

Reflexive verbs are used much more frequently in French than in English. Below you’ll find a list of the most common ones.

s’amuser To enjoy oneself

Je m’amuse I’m enjoying myself

Il s’amuse He’s enjoying himself

Elle s’amuse She’s enjoying herself

Nous nous amusons We’re enjoying ourselves

Vous vous amusez You’re enjoying yourself

Ils s’amusent They’re enjoying themselves

Amusez-vous Enjoy yourself (imperative)

Se laver To wash oneself

Je me lave I wash myself

Je vais me laver I’m going to wash myself

Je me laverai I will wash myself

Je me suis lave I washed myself

Je me lavais I was washing myself

Se coucher To take onself to bed

Il se couche He’s puts himself to bed

Il va se coucher He’s going to put himself to bed

Il se couchera He will put himself to bed

Il s’est couche He put himself to bed

Il se couchait He was putting himself to bed

Se baigner to bathe oneself

Elle se baigne She bathes herself

Elle va se baigner She’s going to bathe herself

Elle se baignera She will bathe herself

Elle s’est baigne She bathed herself

Elle bagnait She was bathing herself

S’habiller to dress oneself

Nous nous habillons we get ourselves dressed

Nous allons nous habiller We’re going to get dressed

Nous nous habillerons We will get dressed

Nous nous sommes habilles  We got dressed

Nous nous habillions We were getting dressed

Habillons-nous Lets get ourselves dressed

Se lever To get onself up

Vous vous levez You get yourself up

Vous allez vous lever You’re going to get yourself up

Vous vous leverez You will get yourself up

Vous vous etes leve You got yourself up

Vous vous leviez You were getting yourself up

Levez-vous Get yourself up

Se faire mal to hurt oneself

Ils se font mal They hurt themselves

Ils vont se fair mal They are going to hurt themselves

Ils se feront mal They will hurt themselves

Ils se sont fait mal They hurt themselves

Ils se faisaient mal They were hurting themselves

There are some reflexive verbs in French which we wouldn’t necesarily expect. For example, se trouver means to be situated (literally to find oneself) and se demander means to wonder (literally to ask oneself)

Lundi Monday

Je joue au foot lundi I’m playing football on Monday

Mardi Tuesday

Il parle francais mardi He’s speaking French on Tuesday

Mercredi Wednesday

Elle travaille a l’ecole mercredi She’s working at the school on Wednesday

Jeudi Thursday

Vous regardez la television jeudi You’re watching television on Thursday

Vendredi Friday

Nous vendons la voiture vendredi We’re selling the car on Friday

Samedi Saturday

Ils aident ma grandmere samedi They’re helping my grandma on Satruday

Dimanche Sunday

Je vais a l’eglise dimanche I’m going to church on Sunday

Le lundi On Mondays

Je joue au foot le lundi I play football on Mondays

Le mardi On Tuesdays

Il parle francais le mardi He speaks French on Tuesdays

Le mercredi On wednesdays

Elle travaille a l’ecole le mercredi She works at the school on Wednesdays

Le jeudi On thursdays

Vous regardez la television le jeudi You watch television on Thursdays

Le vendredi On Fridays

Nous vendons les voitures le vendredi We sell cars on Fridays

Le samedi On Saturdays

Ils aident ma grandmere le samedi They help my grandma on Saturdays

Le dimanche On Sundays

Je vais a l’eglise le dimanche I go to church on Sundays

Where we always use the verb ‘to be’ in English, the French occasionally use the verb ‘to have’. So instead of saying ‘John is hungry’, you say ‘John has hunger’. The adjectives that use ‘avoir’ rather than ‘etre’ are below:

To be hungry

To be thirsty

To be sleepy

To be warm

To be cold

To be right

To be wrong

‘Avoir’ is used when talking about your age. Rather than say ‘I am 7 years old’, you say ‘I have 7 years’.

Faim Hungry

J’ai faim I’m hungry

Il a faim He is hungry

Elle a faim She is hungry

Nous avons faim We are hungry

Vous avez faim You are hungry

Ils ont faim They are hungry

Soif Thirsty

J’ai soif I am thirsty

Il a le sommeil He’s sleepy

Elle a chaud She’s warm

Nous avons froid We’re cold

Vous avez raison You are right

Ils ont tort They are wrong

J’avais soif I was thirsty

Je vais avoir soif I’m going to be thirsty

J’aurai soif demain I will be thirsty tomorrow

Sommeil Sleepy

Il avait le sommeil he was sleepy

Il va avoir le sommeil He’s going to be sleepy

Il aura le sommeil ce soir He will be sleepy this evening

Chaud Warm

Elle avait chaud She was warm

Elle va avoir chaud She’s going to be warm

Elle aura chaud ce soir She’ll be warm tonight

Froid Cold

Nous avions froid We were cold

Nous allons avoir froid We’re going to be cold

Nous aurons froid ce soir We’ll be cold this evening

Raison Right

Vous aviez raison You were right

Vous allez avoir raison You’re going to be right

Vous aurez raison la semaine prochaine You’ll be right next week

Tort Wrong

Ils avaient tort They were wrong

Ils vont avoir tort They’re going to be wrong

Ils auront tort demain matin They’ll be wrong tomorrow morning

La boulangerie The bakery

Je vais a la boulangerie I’m going to the bakery

Je suis a la boulangerie I’m at the bakers

Le marche The market

Je vais au marche I’m going to the market (note how a le contracts to au)

Vous etes au marche You’re at the market

Les magasins The shops

Je vais aux magasins I’m going to the shops (note aux)

Ils sont aux magasins They’re at the shops

La boucherie The butchers

Il va a la boucherie He’s going to the butchers

Vous etes a la boucherie You’re at the butchers

La tabac Tabacconis

Il va au tabac He’s going to the Tabacconis

Vous etes a la tabac You are at the Tabacconis

Le grand magasin Shopping centre

Il va aller au magasins He’s going to go to the shopping centre

Vous etes au magasins You’re at the shopping centre

Le supermarche The supermarket

J’etais au supermarche I was at the supermarket

Je serai au supermarche I will be at the supermarket

Je vais etre au supermarche I’m going to be at the supemarket

de

Je suis d’angleterre I’m from England

Il est de la France He’s from France

Elle est d’allemagne She’s from Germany

Nous sommes d’Italie We’re from Italy

Vous etes d’Espagne You’re from Spain

Ils sont du Russie They’re from Russia (from)

Je voudrais I would like

Kilo Kilo

Je voudrais deux kilos de pommes I would like 2 kilos of apples

Je voudrais un kilo de bananes I would like a kilo of bananas (of)

En

Je serai en anglettere I will be in England

Il etais en France He was in France

Elle va etre en allemagne She’s going to be in Germany

Nous sommes en Italie We are in Italy

Vous habitiez en espagne You lived in Spain

Ils habitaient en Russie They lived in Russia

J’habitais en angleterre I lived in England

Avec With

J’habitais en angleterre avec ma soeur et ma mere I lived in england with my sister and my mother

Mike est grand. Mike is tall.

Mike est plus grand. Mike is taller.

Mike est plus grand que Oli Mike is taller than Oli

Oli est petit. Oli is small.

Oli est plus petit. Oli is smaller.

Oli est plus petit que Mike. Oli is smaller than Mike

Graham est fatigue Graham is tired

Graham est mois fatigue Graham is less tired

Graham est mois fatigue que Anya Graham is less tired than Anya

Anya est vite. Anya is fast.

Anya est plus vite. Anya is faster.

Anya est plus vite que Graham. Anya is faster than Graham

Je suis I am

Je suis aussi rapide I am as fast

Je suis aussi rapide que vous I am as fast as you

Je ne suis pas aussi rapide que vous I am not as fast as you

Vous etiez You were

Vous etiez aussie bien You were as good as

Vous etiez aussi bien que lui You were as good as him

Ils etaient They were

Ils etaient plus petits They were shorter

Ils etaient plus petits que nous They were shorter than us

Ils etaient They were

Ils etaient moins bien They were less good

Ils etaient moins bien que nous They were less good than us

Vous allez You are

Vous allez etre plus lent You are going to be more slow

Vous allez etre plus lent que moi You are going to be slower than me

Je vais I’m going

Je vais etre plus gros I’m going to be more fat

Je vais etre plus gros que vous I’m going to be fatter than you

Ils seront They will be

Ils seront plus grands They will be taller

Ils seront plus grands que moi They’ll be taller than me

Vous seriez You will be

Vous seriez plus fatigue You will be more tired

Vous seriez plus fatigue que lui You’ll be more tired than him

Finissez  Finish

Finissons Let’s finish

Finissons vite Let’s finish quickly

Maintenant Now

Finissons maintenant Let’s finish now

Finissons-le maintenant Let’s finish it now (pronoun coming after)

Ne le finissons pas maintenant Let’s not finish it now (pronoun before – same as usual)

Attendez wait

Attendons Let’s wait

Attendons ici Let’s wait here

Attendons-moi Let’s wait for me

Attendez-moi Wait for me

Attendez-nous Wait for us

Ne nous attendez pas Don’t wait for us

When the imperative pushes the pronoun to the end of the sentence, me becomes moi

Ecouter To listen

Ecoutez Listen

Ecoutons Let’s listen

Ecoutez-moi Listen to me

Ne m’ecoutez pas Don’t listen to me

Ne l’ecoutez pas Don’t listen to him

There are four verbs that are irregular in the imperative: avoir, etre, savoir and vouloir. When giving orders, etre is the most common of these, so let’s learn that one know and we’ll look at the others later.

Soyez vite Be quick

Soyons vite Let’s be quick

Ne soyez pas vite Don’t be quick

Ne soyons pas vite Let’s not be quick

The good news is that the French tell the time in almost exactly the same way as us.

Quelle heure? What time?

Est it? Is it?

Quelle heure est-il? What time is it?

Vous avez You have

L’heure The hour / time

Vous avez l’heure You have the time

Il est It is

Une heure One hour

Du matin The morning

Il est une heure du matin It is one o’clock (am)

Il est it is

Quatre heures Four hours

De l’apres-midi In the afternoon

Il est quatre heures de l’apres midi It is four in the afternoon

Il est It is

Sept heures Seven hours

Du soir The evening

Il est sept heures du soir It is seven o’clock (pm)

Il est It is

Onze heures Eleven hours

De la nuit The evening

Il est onze heures de la nuit It is eleven o’clock (pm)

Il est minuit It is midnight

Il est midi. It is midday.

Il est sept heures et quart. It is 7 and a quarter.

Il est sept heures et demi. It is 7 and a half.

Il est huit heures moins le quart. It is a quarter to 8.

Il est huit heures moins vingt. It is 20 to 8.

Il est cinq heures et quart It is quarter past five.

Il est six heures et demi It is half past six.

Il est neuf heures moins le quart It is a quarter to nine.

Il est onze heures dix It is ten past eleven.

Il est dix heures moins cinq It is five to ten.

Occasional use of 24 hour clock

Il est dix huit heures It is 6 pm

Il est dix sept heures vingt It is 5:20pm

Il est vingt et un heures quinze 9:15pm

Il faut It is necessary / One must

Manger To eat

Il faut manger tous les jours. It is necessary to eat every day.

Il faut It is necessary / One must

Visiter To visit

Il faut It is necessary / One must

Aller To go

Il faut aller a la gare. It is necessary to go to the station.

Il faut It is necessary / One must

Travailler To work

Il faut travailler. It is necessary to work.

Il faut It is necessary / One must

Regarder To watch

Il faut regarder le foot. It is necessary to watch the football.

Il faut It is necessary / One must

Partir To leave

Il faut partir demain. It is necessary to leave tomorrow.

Il faut It is necessary / One must

Acheter To buy

Il faut acheter un billet. It is neccessary to buy a ticket.

Il faut It is necessary / One must

Jouer To play

Il faut jouer au tennis. It is necessary to play tennis.

Est-ce qu’il faut Is it necessary?

Habiter To live

Est-ce qu’il faut habiter a londres? Is it necessary to live in London?

Est-ce qu’il faut Is it necessary?

Arriver To arrive

Est-ce qu’il faut arriver demain matin? Is it necessary to arrive tomorrow morning?

Est-ce qu’il faut Is it necessary?

Partir To leave

Est-ce qu’il faut partir ce soir? Is it necessary to leave this evening?

Ou Where

Vous allez You are going

Vous allez ou ? You are going where?

Ou allez-vous ? Where go you?

Ou est-ce que vous allez ? Where is it that you are going?

Combien How much / How many

Ils mangent They are eating

Combien de pommes mangent-ils? How many apples are they eating?

Combien de pommes ont-ils mange? How many apples have they eaten?

Combien de pommes vont-ils manger? How many apples are they going to eat?

Comment How

Allez-vous Go you

Comment allez-vous How go you?

Comment allez-vous a la gare? How go you to the station?

Comment est-ce que vous allez a la gare? How is that you’re going to the station?

Vous allez comment? You go how?

Quoi What

Ils mangeaient They were eating

Ils mangeaient quoi ? They were eating what?

Qu’est-ce que What is it that?

Qu’est-ce qu’il mangerai? What is it that they were eating?

Quoi What

Nous regardersons We will watch

Nous regarderons quoi ? We will watch what?

Qu’est-ce que nous regarderons? What is it that we will watch?

Quand When

Partez-vous Do you leave

Quand partez-vous? When do you leave?

Quand est-ce que vous partez? When is it that you leave?

Vous partez quand? You leave when?

Quand est-ce qu’il est parti? When did he leave?

Qui Who

Est la femme Is the lady

Qui est la femme? Who is the lady?

Qui est-ce que la femme. Who is the lady?

Qui est le papa? Who’s the Daddy?

Pourquoi Why

Est-ce que vous l’avez fait? Is it that you’ve done it?

Pourqoui est-ce que vous l’avez pas fait? Why have you done it?

Pourquoi Why

Il va a l’eglise He goes to church.

Il va a l’eglise pourquoi? He goes to church why?

Pourquoi est-ce qu’il va a l’eglise? Why is that he goes to church?

Je jouais au tennis I played tennis

Il jouait au foot He played football

Nous jouions au hockey We played hockey

Vous jouiez au golf. You played golf.

Ils joueaient au rugby. They played rugby.

Marcher To walk

Vous marchez You walk

Vous marchiez You used to walk

Vous marchiez tous les jours You used to walk every day

Elle marchait vite She used to walk quickly

Ils marchaient au travail They used to walk to work

Rester – To Stay

Je reste I stay

Je restais I stayed

Dans In

Je restais dans la chambre I stayed in the bedroom

Ma mere restait dans la cuisine My Mother stayed in the kitchen

Mes souers restaient dans la voiture My sisters stayed in the car

Habiter – To live

Il habite He lives

Mon frere habitait My brother lived

Avec With

Mon frere habitait avec mon pere My brother lived with my Father

J’habitais a Paris  I lived in Paris

Nous habitions dans une grande maison We lived in a big house

The Only irregular one - Etre

Je suis I am

J’etais a Paris I was in Paris

Il etait a Paris He was in Paris

Nous etions a Paris We were in Paris

Vous etiez a Paris You were in Paris

Ils etaient a Paris They were in Paris