Me, te, se, nous, vous : un pronom, deux fonctions — et les verbes pronominaux

Unité GR-55 · campagne 8 · il me voit, il me parle — je m'en souviens, souviens-t'en.

Le is always a direct object; lui is always an indirect one. Me, te, nous, vous — and their third-person partner se — are different: one form does both jobs. You cannot read the function off the pronoun; you read it off the verb. That matters in two places: the agreement of the past participle, and the pronominal verbs, where se combines with other pronouns in a few fixed ways.

One form, two functions

In the third person the two jobs have two forms — il la voit, il lui parle — so a quick test is to replace me by a third person: if it becomes le/la, it was direct; if it becomes lui, it was indirect.

Why it matters: the passé composé. A direct pronoun placed before avoir makes the participle agree; an indirect one does not.

• Il m'a vue (a woman speaking: voir quelqu'un → direct → agreement).
• Il m'a parlé (parler à quelqu'un → indirect → no agreement).
• Elle nous a invités, but elle nous a téléphoné.

Pronominal verbs: se is the same pronoun

A pronominal verb carries a pronoun of its own subject's person: je me lave, tu te laves, il se lave, nous nous lavons, vous vous lavez, ils se lavent. That pronoun is direct or indirect exactly as above — and it decides the agreement, even though the auxiliary is always être:

The full participle rules are on GR-14; the point here is that se follows the same logic as me.

Se with y and en

A pronominal verb whose complement starts with à or de takes y or en after its own pronoun, in the order of the clitic table (me/te/se… first, y, then en):

• Je m'en souviens (se souvenir de). Il s'en va (s'en aller). Ne t'en fais pas (s'en faire).
• Elle s'y intéresse (s'intéresser à + thing). Je m'y habitue.
• In the passé composé the chain goes before être: Je m'en suis souvenu. Elle ne s'y est jamais habituée.

Fixed expressions: when y or en replaces nothing you can point to

Some pronominal verbs carry a y or an en that is part of the verb itself. You cannot ask "y for what?" — the expression has to be learnt whole, like a single word. They follow every placement rule all the same.

Three things to notice in the In use column:

• With aller or arrêter de + infinitive, the chain sits before the infinitive: tu vas t'y prendre, arrête de t'en prendre à lui.
• In the passé composé the chain sits before être, and the participle agrees with the subject: je m'y suis pris (a man), je m'y suis prise (a woman).
• S'en prendre à has a person after it, and that person stays after the verb as à + tonic — never je m'en lui prends. That is the blocked combination below.

The blocked combination: me, te, se, nous, vous never meet lui, leur

French never puts a pronoun of the first column (me, te, se, nous, vous) next to lui or leur. When both would be needed, the person moves after the verb as à + tonic:

• Je me présente à lui — never je me lui présente.
• *Elle **s'*intéresse à eux. Je me fie à elle. *Tu **t'*adresses à lui.
• The same with a non-pronominal verb: On vous a présentés à elle (not on vous lui a présentés).

This is why every pronominal verb + à + a person keeps à + tonic (see Personne ou chose, P49.pronoun-systems.10).

Two pronouns with a pronominal verb

The pronominal pronoun takes the first column, the direct object the second:

• Il se le demande. *Elle **se l'*est promis.
• Ces chaussures ? Je me les suis offertes. (direct object les before → agreement)

The imperative

Affirmative: the pronoun goes after the verb, and te becomes toi — except before en or y: Lève-toi ! Assieds-toi ! Souviens-t'en ! Va-t'en ! Occupe-t'en !

Negative: the normal order returns, in front of the verb: Ne te lève pas ! Ne t'en souviens pas ! Ne t'en va pas !

If your first language is Russian

Russian writes the reflexive on the verb as -ся / -сь — мыться, я моюсь — and it never moves. French se changes with the person (je me, tu te, nous nous), moves to the front of the verb or its auxiliary, and jumps behind the verb in the affirmative imperative. And many French pronominal verbs have no -ся in Russian (se souvenir de — помнить; s'en aller — уходить), or the other way round.

The items below practise direct/indirect agreement, se with y and en, the blocked combination and the imperative.

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