Reflexive Verbs and the Imperative Mood
Reflexive verbs (se lever, se laver, s'habiller, se coucher, s'amuser, se dépêcher, and others) describe an action the subject does to itself, and always need a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se) that matches the subject and sits directly before the verb. In the perfect tense, every reflexive verb uses être as its auxiliary and the past participle usually agrees with the subject, as in 'elle s'est levée'.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn that reflexive verbs describe an action the subject does to themselves, and always need a reflexive pronoun that matches the subject: me/m', te/t', se/s', nous, vous, se/s'.
- Conjugate the verb as normal but keep the reflexive pronoun directly before it: se lever gives je me lève, tu te lèves, il/elle/on se lève, nous nous levons, vous vous levez, ils/elles se lèvent.
- In the perfect tense, use être (never avoir) as the auxiliary for every reflexive verb, and make the past participle agree with the subject in gender and number: 'elle s'est levée', 'ils se sont couchés'.
- Watch for the exception to that agreement: if the reflexive verb has its own separate direct object after it (such as a body part), the past participle does not agree with the reflexive pronoun: 'elle s'est lavé les mains' (no extra -e, because les mains is the direct object).
- Form the imperative by taking the tu, nous or vous form of the present tense and dropping the subject pronoun; for -er verbs (including reflexive ones), also drop the final -s from the tu form: 'tu te laves' becomes 'lave-toi'.
- In the affirmative imperative, move the reflexive pronoun after the verb, joined by a hyphen, and change te to toi: 'Lève-toi!'; 'Levons-nous!'; 'Levez-vous!'.
- In the negative imperative, keep the reflexive pronoun in its normal position before the verb: 'Ne te lève pas!'; 'Ne vous inquiétez pas!'.
- Learn the three irregular imperatives that GCSE candidates need: être gives sois/soyons/soyez, avoir gives aie/ayons/ayez, and savoir gives sache/sachons/sachez.
Worked example
Translate into French, then give the affirmative and negative tu-imperative of se dépêcher: 'She got dressed quickly. Hurry up! Do not hurry!'
- Translate 'she got dressed quickly' using the reflexive verb s'habiller in the perfect tense: the auxiliary is être, so the past participle agrees with the feminine subject.
- Build the perfect tense: elle s'est habillée rapidement.
- Form the tu-imperative of se dépêcher by taking tu te dépêches and dropping both the subject pronoun and the final -s from this -er verb: dépêche-toi.
- For the affirmative imperative, move the pronoun after the verb with a hyphen and change te to toi: Dépêche-toi!
- For the negative imperative, keep the pronoun before the verb in its normal position: Ne te dépêche pas!
Practice questions
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Q1Conjugate se coucher for nous: 'Nous ___ à onze heures.' (we go to bed)Show answer
Answer: nous couchons.
Q2Give the perfect tense of se réveiller for il: 'Il ___ à six heures ce matin.'Show answer
Answer: s'est réveillé.
Q3Give the perfect tense of s'amuser for elles, with correct agreement: 'Elles ___ à la fête.'Show answer
Answer: se sont amusées.
Q4Explain why there is no extra -e here: 'Elle s'est brossé les dents.'Show answer
Answer: Because 'les dents' is the direct object of the sentence, so the past participle does not agree with the reflexive pronoun se.
Q5Give the affirmative tu-imperative of se laver.Show answer
Answer: Lave-toi!
Q6Give the negative vous-imperative of s'inquiéter (to worry).Show answer
Answer: Ne vous inquiétez pas!
Q7Give the irregular tu-imperative of être.Show answer
Answer: Sois (sage/prudent, and so on).
Q8Translate into French: 'Let's get up early tomorrow!' (nous-imperative of se lever)Show answer
Answer: Levons-nous tôt demain!
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE French exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Translate this passage into English: 'D'habitude, je me réveille à sept heures et je m'habille vite avant de partir au collège. Hier, par contre, je me suis levé en retard et je me suis dépêché pour ne pas rater le bus.'
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Translate into French: 1. My sister gets up at half past six every day. 2. We had fun at the party last Saturday. 3. Do not worry, everything will be fine!
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Rewrite each instruction as an affirmative imperative for tu, then as a negative imperative for tu: 1. se lever tout de suite 2. se calmer
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See real GCSE French past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
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