The reflectives neuter are mostly neuter verbs, to which the reflective form is given, such as s'abstenir, to abstain, s'échapper, to run away, s'élancer, to rush upon, s'enfuir, to run away, s'évanouir, to faint, se jouer, to play, se plaire, to take pleasure in, to like, se repentir, to repent, &c. &c.

Vous plaisez-vous à Paris? do you like Paris?

The reflectives passive are only used in speaking of inanimate things, which, in themselves, are incapable of action. Ex.

Cela se voit tous les jours;

Ce bruit se répand;

Ces fruits se mangent en hiver;

that is seen every day.

that report is spread.

these fruits are eaten in winter.

Se voit, se répand, se mangent, are used here instead of the passive forms, est vu, est répandu, sont mangés. See p. 99. Some are also called réfléchis réciproques, reciprocal reflectives, because they express what two persons or two things do to each other. Ex.

Paul et Robert s'aiment;
Le feu et l'eau se détruisent;

Paul and Robert love each other. fire and water destroy each other.

French reflective verbs, without exception, are conjugated with the auxiliary verb être; hence it may be supposed how much French people are shocked to hear English people say,

Je m'ai acheté un cheval,
Je m'avais blessé,

Il s'a fait mal,

Elle s'avait moquée de moi, &c.

when they ought to say,

Je me suis acheté un cheval.
Je m'étais blessé.

I bought myself a horse;
I had hurt myself;
he has hurt himself;
she had laughed at me ;

Il s'est fait mal.

Elle s'était moquée de moi.

Reflective verbs being difficult to conjugate, a model is here given of the four regular conjugations, with the simple and compound tenses given at full,-affirmatively, negatively, and interrogatively,—and the pupil cannot learn them too soon, nor too well, as there are few things at once more important and more difficult, in French, than to conjugate a reflective verb, through all the forms of which it is susceptible.

Compound of the Present.

Je me suis levé (oulevée*), I have risen.

Present Tense.

Je ne me repens pas, I do not &c.
tu ne te repens pas, thou &c.
il ne se repent pas, he does &c.
nous ne nous repentons pas, we &c.
vous ne vous repentez pas, you &c.
ils ne se repentent pas, they &c.

Compound of the Present.

Je ne me suis pas repenti, I have not repented.

tu t'es levé (ou levée), thou hast tu ne t'es pas repenti, thou hast

risen.

il s'est levé, he has risen.

elle s'est levée, she has risen. nous nous sommes levés (ou levées), we have risen.

vous vous êtes levés † (ou levées), you have risen.

not repented.

il ne s'est pas repenti, he has not repented.

nous ne nous sommes pas repen

tis, we have not repented. vous ne vous êtes pas repentis†, you have not repented.

ils se sont levés, they have risen. ils elles se sont levées, they h. risen.

ne se sont pas repentis, they have not repented.

Observe, that the participle past must agree with the subject.
Repentis, levés, are in the plural, in the supposition that this is

addressed to more than one person.

Imperfect.

Je me levais, I did rise.

tu te levais, thou didst rise. il se levait, he did rise.

nous nous levions, we did rise.

vous vous leviez, you did rise. ils se levaient, they did rise.

Imperfect.

Je ne me repentais pas, I did not repent.

tu ne te repentais pas, thou didst not repent.

il ne se repentait pas, he did not repent.

nous ne nous repentions pas, we did not repent.

vous ne vous repentiez pas, you did not repent.

ils ne se repentaient pas, they did not repent.

Compound of the Imperfect. Compound of the Imperfect.

Je m'étais levé, I had risen.

Je ne m'étais pas repenti, I had not repented.

tu t'étais levé, thou hadst risen. tu

il s'était levé, he had risen.
elle s'était levée, she had risen.
nous nous étions levés, we
risen.

ne t'étais pas repenti, thou hadst not repented.

il ne s'était pas repenti, he had not repented.

had nous ne nous étions pas repentis, we had not repented.

vous vous étiez levés, you had vous ne vous étiez pas repentis, risen.

you had not repented.

ils s'étaient levés, they had risen. ils ne s'étaient pas repentis, they elles s'étaient levées, they had &c. had not repented.

Preterite.

Je me levai, I did rise.

tu te levas, thou didst rise. il se leva, he did rise.

nous nous levâmes, we did rise.

vous vous levâtes, you did rise. ils se levèrent, they did rise.

Preterite.

Je ne me repentis pas, I did not repent.

tu ne te repentis pas, thou didst not repent.

il ne se repentit pas, he did not repent.

nous ne nous repentîmes pas, we
did not repent.

vous ne vous repentites pas, you
did not repent.
ils ne se repentirent pas, they did
not repent.

Je me lèverai, I shall or will Je ne me repentirai pas, I shall

il ne se repentira pas, he will not repent.

shall nous ne nous repentirons pas, we shall not repent.

shall vous ne vous repentirez pas, you shall not repent.

Je me serai levé, I shall or will Je ne me serai pas repenti, I shall have risen. tu te seras levé, thou shalt tu ne te seras pas repenti, thou have risen. wilt not have repented. il se sera levé, he shall have il ne se sera pas repenti, he will

ils se seront levés, they shall ils ne se seront pas repentis, they

il se lèverait, he should rise.

nous nous lèverions, we should rise.

vous vous lèveriez, you should rise.

Conditional.

Je ne me repentirais pas, I should or would not repent.

tu ne te repentirais pas, thou wouldst not repent.

il

ne se repentirait pas, he should not repent.

nous ne nous repentirions pas, we should not repent.

vous ne vous repentiriez pas, you should not repent.

ils se lèveraient, they should ils ne se repentiraient pas, they rise. should not repent.

Compound of the Conditional. Compound of the Conditional.

REMARK.-Reflective verbs sometimes govern one of the pronouns le, la, les, en, y; as se le rappeler, to remember it; in conjugating the verb, this pronoun is placed immediately before the verb (except