Today, we will be discussing the missing piece when it comes to pronominal verbs: the idiomatic pronominal verbs, or verbes pronominaux subjectifs.
In previous lessons, we talked about reflexive and reciprocal verbs. However, some pronominal verbs in French need a reflexive pronoun but are neither reflexive nor reciprocal. These would fall under idiomatic pronominal verbs and, in this lesson, we will learn how to use them to speak French correctly.
Idiomatic pronominal verbs have a specific categorization because they have a completely different meaning in the pronominal form. Many of them only exist in the pronominal form and, when there is no reflexive pronoun to go with them, they don't mean anything (they are called "essentiellement pronominaux").
Let’s take a look at some common examples of idiomatic pronominal verbs in French, as well as what their original non-pronominal meanings are.
Listen to Week 20 Day 5 Track 1
| Pronominal verb | Meaning | What its non-pronominal usage means |
|---|---|---|
| s’abstenir | to refrain/to abstain | none; can only be used in pronominal |
| s’amuser | to have a good time | to amuse |
| s’apercevoir | to notice | to perceive; to glimpse |
| s’appeler | to be named | to call |
| s’attendre | to expect | to wait |
| se débrouiller | to manage, to get by | to disentangle |
| se dédire | to recant or go back on one’s word | none; can only be used in pronominal |
| se demander | to wonder | to ask |
| se dépêcher | to hurry up | to send quickly |
| se diriger vers | to head towards | to run or be in charge of |
| se désister | to stand down/to withdraw | none; can only be used in pronominal |
| se douter | to suspect | to doubt |
| s’entendre | to get along | to hear |
| se méfier de | to be suspicious/to mistrust | none; can only be used in pronominal |
| se plaindre | to complain | to pity; to begrudge |
| se servir de | to use/make use of | to serve |
| se tromper | to be mistaken | to deceive |
| se trouver | to be located | to find |
| se rendre compte | to realize | to account for |
| se souvenir de | to remember | none; can only be used in pronominal |
Speaking Practice 1
To use:
1. Example in its original meaning:
Nous servons de la salade pour chaque repas.
We serve (offer) salad for every meal.
2. Example in its reflexive meaning:
Je me sers de la salade.
I take salad to eat/I serve myself salad.
3. Example in its idiomatic meaning :
Il ne peut plus se servir de son bras gauche.
He can’t use his left arm anymore.
- Nous trouvons un centre-ville dans chaque ville.
- We find a center in each city.
- Je me trouve dans le centre-ville.
- I am in the city center.
Vocabulaire complémentaire:
Listen to Week 20 Day 5 Track 3
| Il n'y a pas le feu. | Calm down./We're in no hurry. (There's no fire.) |
| C'est un travail de Romain. | It's a Herculean task. (It's a job for a Roman.) |
| C'est au bout du monde. | It's at the end of the earth. |
| Ce n'est pas la mer à boire. | It's not all as bad as that. (It's not the sea to drink.) |
| ce n'est pas le Pérou. | It's nothing to write home about. (It's not Peru.) |
| C'est la goutte d'eau qui a fait déborder le vase. | It's the last straw. (It's the drop that made the vase overflow.) |
| être au four et au moulin | to be in two places at the one time (to be at the oven and the windmill) |
| tenir le haut du pavé | to be upper crust (to hold the top of the cobblestone) |
| tomber des nues | to be taken aback/fall from one's chair (to fall from the clouds) |
| sauter au plafond | to be very angry (to jump to the ceiling) |
| bâtir des châteaux en Espagne | to build castles in the air/have mad dreams (to build castles in Spain) |
| mettre la clef sous la porte | to close down a business (to put the key under the door) |
| tirer des plans sur la comète | to count your chickens before they're hatched (to draw up plans on a comet) |
| faire le mur | to escape (to do the wall) |
| brûler les étapes | to go faster than expected (to burn the stops in between) |
| faire le pont | to have a long weekend (to make the bridge) |
| raser les murs | to keep a low profile (to shave the walls) |
| n'être jamais sorti de son trou | to live in a cave/under a rock (to never leave your hole) |
| casser la baraque | to spoil something someone else has done (to destroy the shack) |
| jeter l'argent par les fenêtres | to squander money (to throw money out the window) |
Speaking Practice 2
A Quick Recap of this Lesson-
Un petit résumé de la leçon
Sharpen Your Knowledge with Exercises
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Answer the questions about the dialogue.
Exercise 3
For each sentence, choose the right meaning.
Responses