1.80520 · Section 1: Grammar

Reflexive verbs, the imperative and modes of address

Key learnings

Reflexive verb = pronoun + ordinary present
A reflexive (pronominal) verb describes an action the subject does to or for itself — many routine verbs are reflexive in French even where English is not: se laver, se lever, s'habiller, s'appeler, s'entendre avec. Formation: reflexive pronoun matching the subject + the ordinary present conjugation — je me lave, tu te laves, il se lave. The pronoun sits before the verb and elides before a vowel or mute h (je m'habille). The full table stays in the note.
Imperative = present minus subject pronoun
The imperative gives an order. It exists only for tu, nous, vous and is built from the present tense minus the subject pronoun: Parle ! Finis ! Vends ! One quirk: -er verbs (and aller) drop the tu -s — tu parles → Parle !; -ir/-re verbs keep it. For a reflexive verb, a positive command moves the pronoun after the verb with a hyphen, te → toi (Lève-toi !); a negative command keeps it in front (Ne te lève pas !).

Common mistakes

Drawn from real examiner reports.

Dropping the reflexive pronoun

A reflexive verb is not complete without its pronoun — dropping it, or forgetting a verb is reflexive when you change who acts, both lose marks: ✗ je entends avec ma sœur → je m'entends avec ma sœur (s'entendre = get on; bare entendre = to hear). On a person change, je me suis douché → il s'est douché, not ✗ il est douché — carry the pronoun (me → se).

Digest: reflexive verbs are a specific weak point — je entends / je s'entend instead of je m'entends (s23 43 Q3(b) Task 2); je me suis douché → il s'est douché failed because candidates did not recognise the verb as reflexive (w23 22 Q4(c)).

Echoing the vous form instead of rebuilding

Reflexive verbs and imperatives are often answered in the WRONG person because the candidate copies the ending of the question instead of rebuilding it: Comment vous appelez-vous ? → Je m'appelle..., not ✗ Je vous appelez.... Identify the infinitive and the reflexive pronoun family, then rebuild the form fresh for the person needed; never echo what you heard.

Digest: register/conjugation slip on formal vous role-play cards flagged every sitting — echoing the vous form heard instead of conjugating to je, e.g. Préférez-vous...? answered je préférais/préférer not je préfère (s22, w22, s23, w23 Speaking).

tu used where vous is required

French marks formality through tu (friends, family, other students) vs vous (an adult you do not know well, a teacher; also the ONLY form for more than one person): ✗ a formal email Comment vas-tu ? → Comment allez-vous ?; ✗ a teacher Tu es content ? → Êtes-vous content ?. A formal task expects vous throughout — a stray tu breaks the register.

Digest: register/conjugation slip on formal vous role-play cards flagged in every sitting's Speaking key messages (s22, w22, s23, w23); the same tu/vous consistency underlies the Writing Accuracy boilerplate.

Keeping the -s on an -er tu command

For -er verbs and aller, the tu imperative drops the present-tense final -s: ✗ Parles ! → Parle !; ✗ Vas ! → Va !; ✗ Manges ta soupe ! → Mange ta soupe !. -ir and -re verbs keep their tu form (Finis ! Vends !), so only the -er/aller family loses the letter.

(general FL trap)

Reflexive command: te → toi, after the verb

In a POSITIVE reflexive command the pronoun moves after the verb with a hyphen, and te becomes toi: ✗ Tu te lèves ! / ✗ Lèves-toi ! → Lève-toi ! (drop the subject, drop the -er -s, invert te → toi). In a NEGATIVE command the pronoun stays in front, unchanged: Ne te lève pas !

(general FL trap)

se lever / s'appeler stem changes

se lever and s'appeler are spelling-change -er verbs: the stem shifts before a silent ending. ✗ je me leve → je me lève, but nous nous levons (no accent); ✗ nous nous appellons → nous nous appelons, but je m'appelle (double l). Get the change right for je/tu/il/ils, drop it back for nous/vous. Not machine-checked — watch by hand.

(general FL trap)

Reflexive/imperative are their own forms

Two errors recur. The reflexive pronoun is not optional: il se lave, not ✗ il lave — "il lave" means "he washes something else", not "gets washed"; the pronoun must match the subject. The imperative is not the present with the pronoun kept: ✗ Tu parle ! stays a statement; the true imperative removes the subject — Parle !, Levez-vous !.

Digest: candidates did not recognise the verb as reflexive when transforming person (je entends / je s'entend not je m'entends, s23 43 Q3(b) Task 2) — the same "pronoun must travel" gap.

Exam tips

Fix tu vs vous before conjugating anything
Fix the register first: is the person a friend/family member (tu) or an adult/stranger/more than one person (vous)? Decide before conjugating anything — it fixes every verb, reflexive pronoun and imperative, and must stay consistent throughout.
Build a reflexive verb in one routine
For a reflexive verb: pick the reflexive pronoun matching the subject (je → me, tu → te, il/ils → se, nous → nous, vous → vous), place it before the conjugated verb, then conjugate the verb as its non-reflexive family. Elide me/te/se before a vowel or mute h.
Build an imperative, then place the pronoun
For an imperative: take the present tu/nous/vous form, drop the subject pronoun, and (for -er verbs and aller only) drop the tu final -s. For a reflexive positive command, move the pronoun after the verb, te → toi (Lève-toi !); a negative keeps it in front.
Sanity-check register and every pronoun
Sanity-check at the end: did you keep the same register (tu or vous) through the whole answer, and keep the reflexive pronoun attached every time you changed the subject? A dropped pronoun or a mid-answer register switch is the most common avoidable loss here.

Revision notes