Pronominal verbs in the text
1 USAGE
aPronominal verbs are used to indicate an action where the subject and the object are the same.
These are sometimes referred to as ‘reflexive verbs’.
e.g. Ces expatriés se sont parfaitement intégrés(lines 14–15)b Pronominal verbs are often used as substitutes for the passive form (see Chapter 21).
e.g.Au cœur de la ville se situent le Capitole et sa place(= sont situés) (lines 31–2)2 FORMATION
aAll pronominal verbs are constructed with an unstressed personal pronoun (me, te, se, nous,
vous).
e.g. infinitive se tourner
present je metourne
tu tetournes
il/elle setourne
nous noustournons
vous voustournez
ils/elles setournentIt is important to remember to use the appropriate pronoun and to avoid the common error
of using seregardless of subject.b All pronominal verbs are conjugated with êtrein compound tenses.
c Agreement of past participle in pronominal verbs
Although pronominal verbs are all conjugated with être, their past participles follow the rules
of agreement of past participles conjugated with avoir, i.e. they agree with the preceding direct
object (see Chapter 2).
e.g. Elle s’est métamorphosée(line 6)
Ils sesont intégrés(lines 14–15)Other points to note in the text- Present (lines 2, 16, 28, etc.) (see Chapter 1)
- Passé composé(lines 6, 10, etc.) and past historic (lines 10, 21) (see Chapters 2 and 5)
- Articles:le, la, les, de, du, des(see Chapter 13)
- Relatives: qu’(line 2); qui(lines 18, 19); dont(line 15) (see Chapter 11)
- Superlative (line 32) (see Chapter 18)
Pronominal verbs 129