This Resource Sheet May Have Been Changed from the Original

La famille et les relations personnelles Feuille de travail

La famille et les relations personnelles – En famille 10A: Bons parents, mauvais parents (Grammaire 2)

Reflexive verbs Reflexive verbs are different from most ordinary verbs in two ways: 1) They always have a reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nous, vous, se) meaning the subject and direct object are the same person/thing. Ma voiture? Je la lave. My car? I’m washing it. Here the subject of the second sentence (Je / I) is different from its direct object (la / it). Et maintenant je me lave. And now I’m washing myself. In the case of the reflexive verb above, the subject (Je / I) and direct object (me / myself) are the same (person). 2) They take être as their auxiliary in compound past tenses. Elle s’est disputée avec sa mère. She had a row / got herself into an argument with her mother. Position of the reflexive pronoun Like other pronouns, the reflexive pronoun generally comes before the main verb, or the auxiliary (avoir or être) in the case of compound tenses such as the perfect. Reflexive verbs are always listed in the dictionary with se before the infinitive: present perfect se lever: Je me lève tôt. Je me suis levé(e)… s’entendre bien avec: On s’entend bien avec les profs. On s’est bien entendus… s’énerver: Mes parents s’énervent facilement. Mes parents se sont énervés…

1 Translate the following passage into French using the reflexive verbs in brackets.

I get up (se lever) at eight o’clock. I wash (se laver) or I shower (se doucher), then I get dressed (s’habiller). At breakfast I row (se disputer) with my parents and get on badly (s’entendre mal) with my brother and sister. At school I have fun (s’amuser) then I lose my temper (se fâcher) with my maths teacher. I hurry (se dépêcher) to catch the bus. I get bored (s’ennuyer) with homework, so I go to bed (se coucher) early and fall asleep (s’endormir) straight away. ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………………

© Oxford University Press 2014 http://www.oxfordsecondary.co.uk/acknowledgements This resource sheet may have been changed from the original. 1 La famille et les relations personnelles Feuille de travail ………………………………… ………………………………… ……………………………

© Oxford University Press 2014 http://www.oxfordsecondary.co.uk/acknowledgements This resource sheet may have been changed from the original. 2 La famille et les relations personnelles Feuille de travail

2 Now translate it into the perfect tense.

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Lots of reflexive verbs deal with relationships, emotions, attitudes, (mis)trusting: you can often add se in front of a verb to produce a reflexive: s’aimer / s’adorer = to love one another se détester = to hate one another se méfier = to mistrust one another.

3 List as many of this type of reflexive verb as you can, then write a sentence for each, including at least three or four in the perfect tense.

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