français · A2 · verb · 4 minutes
Se lever: present tense
Build a daily-routine verb with a reflexive pronoun before every form.
Understand the choice
Se lever is both a conjugation and a word-order lesson. Match the reflexive pronoun to the subject, then choose the present ending. The written accent change keeps the stressed vowel open in lève, lèves, and lèvent.
Core rule: Pronominal verbs place me, te, se, nous, vous, or se before the conjugated verb; lever changes e to è except in nous and vous.
Notice it in context
Je me lève tôt, mais mes enfants se lèvent à huit heures.
I get up early, but my children get up at eight.
Me belongs to je and se to mes enfants; lève and lèvent share the è stem.
Nous nous levons avant le soleil.
We get up before sunrise.
Nous uses nous twice: first as subject, then as reflexive pronoun; levons keeps e.
À quelle heure vous levez-vous ?
What time do you get up?
Formal inversion moves subject vous after the verb while reflexive vous stays before it.
What to remember
- In a negative, ne and pas surround the conjugated verb and its reflexive pronoun stays before it: je ne me lève pas.
- The infinitive includes se, but another pronoun replaces it: je dois me lever.
Common trap: Do not omit the reflexive pronoun: je lève means I raise something, while je me lève means I get up.