FR: laver / se laver - meaning of reflexive

[Atlus]

I am confused, very confused.
What does this actually mean??

For instance, use laver (to wash)

Je me lave
Tu te laves
Il se lave
Nous nous lavons
vous vous lavez
ils se lavent

Could domeone please give me a definition for each? It would be greatly appreciated. Merci beaucoup.

 

[fluxxii]

Basically, it means I wash myself, you wash yourself, he washes himself, and so on. Reflexive verbs (which confused the heck out of me when I first started learning them) are basically actions that the subject performs on his or her own self.

 

[Lisette123]

In the present, I wash myself is "Je me lave"

How do I say "I washed myself" and "I will wash myself?"

 

[kurban]

I washed myself = Je me suis lavé (or lavée if you're a woman)
I will wash myself = Je vais me laver or je me laverai

 

[jann]

Lisette, did you know that we have a conjugator to help you answer this sort of question?

se laver

 

[Sponge78]

Hi,

I would like to know how these phrases work in your mind.

non PP i understand eg;

Je me lave

...although 'I' and 'me' is the same person, 'I' is the subject and 'me' is the object. So it flows like this; I wash myself..

but..

Je me suis lavé

..since être (and not avoir) is used it implies to me that the phrase works the other way around,

eg; I am washed ('I' is now the object), by myself ('me' is now the subject).

So my question is do french people feel these PP reflexive phrases the other way around (like I am suggesting), eg, I am washed by myself, and not, I washed myself ?

Thanks

 

[dan144556]

What I would ask you, Sponge, is what the difference is between "I am washed by myself" and "I washed myself" semantically speaking. I don't think there really is one...so my advice to you is to think about the French language not as it corresponds to English grammatical structures, but as it corresponds to semantic meaning.

 

[Sponge78]

Ok thanks for your reply, maybe I'm not good enough at French yet to understand it properly.

I just thought there was always a 'flow/direction of meaning', eg, from subject to object, from word to word (even if 2 different words je/me represent the same thing) etc etc.

 

[bloomiegirl]

Hello Sponge... You're on the right track regarding se laver.
In the present tense: je me lave : I wash (myself)

But for the passé composé, reflexive verbs use the auxiliary "être" instead of "avoir":
je me suis lavé(e) : I washed (myself)

"Je m'ai lavé" would be wrong, grammatically (just as "j'ai allé" would be wrong, grammatically). But using "être" as the auxiliary verb doesn't turn "je me suis lavé" into a passive structure. The subject of the French sentence -- grammatically and semantically -- is still "je."

 

[berndf]

...although 'I' and 'me' is the same person, 'I' is the subject and 'me' is the object. So it flows like this; I wash myself..

but..

Je me suis lavé

..since être (and not avoir) is used it implies to me that the phrase works the other way around,

eg; I am washed ('I' is now the object), by myself ('me' is now the subject).

I think you fell victim here of a misunderstanding which frequently happens to English speakers. The fact that the auxiliary être is used instead of avoir does not imply passive meaning. French uses two different auxiliaries to construct the passé composé which corresponds to the English present perfect (though the meanings differ somewhat): avoir for transitive and être for intransitive and reflexive verbs. There is no semantic difference associated with this. In practice, there is no risk of confusion because passive voice makes sense only for transitive verbs in French. In English there would be a potential for confusion because English passive constructions also work with indirect objects (e.g. he is given the book). In French, such a construct would not be possible.

 

[janpol]

d'autres exemples :
les 2 phrases
1 - Il est sorti par la fenêtre
et 2 - L'OM est dominé par l'OL (les équipes de football de Marseille et de Lyon !...)
semblent avoir la même structure : "Sujet - auxiliaire ETRE au présent - participe passé + par + nom"
Il n'en est rien : 1 - "est sorti" = verbe actif au passé composé + Compl. Circonst.
2 - "est dominé" = verbe passif au présent + Compl. d'agent
Ceci dit, on peut expliquer "Je me suis lavé" au moyen de la phrase passive "J'ai été lavé par moi-même". Dans cette phrase (correcte mais que personne ne dirait spontanément le sujet et le C. d'agent se confondent bien entendu en une seule et même personne.

 

[Fred_C]

So my question is do french people feel these PP reflexive phrases the other way around (like I am suggesting), eg, I am washed by myself, and not, I washed myself ?

Thanks

Hi,
Semantically speaking, no.
Because unlike English, where you can only use the verb "have" to form a past tense (like in "I have washed", meaning (more or less) "I washed"), French can also use the verb "être" for some verbs.
"I have eaten" is "j'ai mangé", but "I have fallen" is "je suis tombé".
You are right to point that "Je suis lavé" also can mean "I am washed" (i.e. a passive present tense), but The French are also accustomed to understand it as a past tense meaning "I have washed".
And the "Me" part still means "myself".

Note : Little children often wrongly say "Je m'ai lavé"...

 

[dan144556]

Absolutely right. You explained it better than I could.

Now, if I might give a historical note about this discussion...keep in mind that what follows is purely historical and is not even close to the current language...

Actually English used to use "to be" as well as "to have" to form the past in the same way as French...the most famous example is the Christmas carol "Joy to the world, the Lord is come." Not "has come"..."is come." This text was written in 1719. There are some other examples in the King James Bible (1611) which is a good source for Early Modern English...

And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. (Isaiah 21:9b)

The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. (Psalm 118:2)

And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken. (1 Samuel 4:22)

For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets. (Jeremiah 9:21)

Hope you found that interesting!

 

[Sponge78]

Thanks soo much for the replies.

It is now clear to me that (as always) 'je' is the subject and 'me' the object.

So, 'me' is the object of 'being washed' (but in the PAST, (not passive present)), by subject 'je'.

dan144556. That historical note is fascinating.

 

[emanko]

Salut les amis

J'ai un ami avec qui j'avais programmer un appel et lorsque il était l'heure de l'appel, il ma dit "est ce qu'on peut s'appeler plus tard car je suis en train de laver là?".
Est ce que "laver" ici veut dire "showering" or "washing something"

Merci

 

[SwissPete]

What he said makes no sense.

Are you sure that's all he said? Not: "Je suis en train de laver la voiture"? (for example).

 

[Bezoard]

Non, soit il a dit "en train de me laver" (éventuellement prononcé "de m'laver") voire "en train de me lever" (prononcé "de m'lever" ou "d'mel'ver"), soit il suppose que vous étiez au courant qu'il avait entrepris un grand lavage (son linge, la voiture, la cuisine ?).

 

[Kitano]

D'accord avec Bezoard, il est probable que votre ami ait dit "me laver". Mais cependant dans le langage courant, il se peut que "je suis en train de laver" signifie "je nettoie/lave le sol de ma maison/de chez moi"