Les Notes |
Moi, toi, elle, lui, soi, nous, vous, elles, eux: are stress or tonic pronouns that are used:
- all by themselves, without any verb ("Qui parle français?" "Moi!";
- after a prepositiion ("avec eux," "à cause de vous," "près de nous," "pour elles," etc.
- immediately after a form of the verb "être" ("Qui est à la porte?" "C'est lui," "Ce sont eux," etc.
- to emphasize a subject of a verb ("Eux, ils font leurs études à Denison," "Moi, je n'aime pas beaucoup la pizza," etc.
In French a dependent infinitive (an infinitive that completes the sense of a verb that it follows) is preceeded:
- by nothing (Je vais ______ sortir ce soir);
- by à (Ils nous invitent à sortir ce soir);
- by de (Elles nous demandent de sortir ce soir).
Pronominal verbs use subject and object pronouns that refer to the same person or thing. So:
- Je me réveille: I wake up
- Tu te lèves: You get up
- Elle se brosse les cheveux: She brushes her hair
- Nous nous coiffons: We do our hair
- Vous vous habillez: You get dressed
- Ils se douchent: They take a shower
Pronominal verbs can of course be used in all tenses and moods. So:
- Je me réveille: I wake up
- Je me réveillais: I was waking up, I used to wake up
- Je me suis réveillé(e): I woke up
- Je m'étais réveillé(e): I had woken up
- Je me réveillerai: I will wake up
- Je me réveillerais: I would wake up
- Je me serais réveillé(e): I would have woken up.
- Il faut que je me réveille avant sept heures: I have to wake up before seven.
- Il a peur que je me sois réveillé(e) trop tard: He's afraid that I woke up too late.
- Ils ont fait le petit déjeuner avant de me réveiller: They made breakfast before waking me up.
- Ils ont fait le petit déjeuner après m'être réveillé(e): They made breakfast after waking me up.
When using a negative, put ne just before the object pronoun (me, te, etc.) and the second part of the negation (for instance pas, plus, or jamais) right after the first verb. So:
- Je ne me réveille pas: I don't wake up
- Je ne me suis plus réveillé(e) cette nuit-là: I didn't wake up any more that nuit.
- Il a peur que je ne me sois jamais réveillé(e) frais et dispos/fraîche et dispose: He's afraid that I never woke up raring to go.