French Conversation · Level 1
82 words
French word
se
Pronunciation
IPA/sə/
Meaning
- pronounhimself
Example
Il se lave les mains.
He washes his hands.
More examples
Ils se parlent tous les jours.
They talk to each other every day.
Core concept
A small unstressed marker that sends a verb's action back to its subject, toward each other, or into a pronominal verb.
Common phrases
se parler
talk to each other
se téléphoner
call each other
Similar words
me: Shows that the action affects the speaker.
te: Shows that the action affects the listener.
nous: Shows that the action affects the speaker and others.
vous: Shows that the action affects the listener or listeners.
Definition in French
Clitique atone de la troisième personne placé devant le verbe et indiquant soit qu'une action revient sur le sujet, soit qu'elle est réciproque, soit servant à former un verbe pronominal.
Word origin
French se continues Latin se through Old French, where the pronoun developed its unstressed clitic use; modern French uses it in reflexive, reciprocal, and pronominal-verb constructions.
Usage tips
- Before a vowel, se contracts to s', as in Il s'habille and Elle s'est levée.
Other meanings
- each otheradverb