Throughout your French learning journey, you have most likely encountered many verbs and their meanings.
You might have even learned about reflective verbs, which conjuga-te with a reflective pronoun, for example se demander (to wonder).
But did you know, some reflective verbs’ definitions change drastically when we add the pronoun “en”?
For example, you might know faire, to do, and se faire, to do for oneself (e.g. se faire des gaufres, to make waffles for oneself). But there is also s’en faire, which means to worry.
Ne t’en fais pas!
Don’t worry!
In this blog post you will find a list of some common verbs with s’en and how their definition switches accordingly, as well as numerous example sentences to help you understand.
Verbes avec s’en
S’en aller – to leave
Je m'en vais, désolée. Je suis fatiguée.
I'm leaving, I'm sorry. I'm tired.
S’en remettre – to recover
Cette maladie est sérieuse, j'espère que tu t'en remettras rapidement.
This disease is serious, I hope you'll recover quickly.
S’en sortir – To get out of a situation, to figure it out
J'avoue que ce mois-ci est difficile financièrement, mais je vais m'en sortir.
I have to admit this month is tough financially, but I will figure it out.
S’en faire Pour – to worry
Arrête de t'en faire pour moi, je vais bien.
Stop worrying about me, I'm okay.
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S’en prendre à quelqu’un – to blame someone
Ne t'en prends pas à lui, il n'a rien fait.
Don't blame him, he hasn't done anything.
S’en vouloir – to blame yourself
Tu crois qu'il s'en veut?
Do you think he's blaming himself?
S’en remettre à quelqu’un – to relay to someone
Je m'en remets à toi pour finir cette tâche. Merci!
I relay this task for you to finish. Thanks!
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What are reflective verbs in French?
Se V de -> s’en V
S’en servir – se servir de – to use
Tu te sers de cette fourchette?
Are you using this fork?
Oui, je m'en sers.
Yes, I'm using it.
se servir de means to use. In the second sentence, we want to shorten “cette fourchette” to avoid repetion. Because of the preposition de mandatory after se servir, we replace it by en. So in that sentence, “en” replaces”de cette fourchette”. “En” answers the question “de quoi?”
S’en mêler – to mind (business), to be nosy
Ce sont ses affaires, arrête de t'en mêler!
That's her business, stop minding it!
Se mêler de quoi? De ses affaires.
en : de ses affaires
S’en douter – to know/to have figured
Je vais sortir avec lui à nouveau.
I'm going to go out with him again.
Je m'en doutais! Tu souriais tellement la dernière fois.
I knew it! You were smiling so much last time.
S’en rendre compte – to realise
Il la traite horriblement. Heureusement, elle s'en rend compte petit à petit.
He treats her horribly. Thankfully, she's slowly realising it.
Elle se rend compte de quoi? De son comportement.
S’en occuper – S’occuper de – To take care of
Ils s'en occupent.
They'll take care of it.
S’en moquer – Se moquer de – To not care
Je te parle! T'écoutes pas mes histoires! Tu t'en moques, c'est ça?
I'm talking to you! You don't listen to my stories! You don't care, is that it?
Tu te moques de quoi? De mes histoires.
S’en débarrasser – Se débarrasser de – To get rid of
Quand est-ce que tu vas jeter tout ça? Tu dois t'en débarasser.
When are you throwing all of this away? You have to get rid of it.
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Expressions and idioms
S’en mettre plein les poches
To get very rich, to make a lot of money.
S’en mordre les doigts
To struggle, to have trouble accomplishing something
S’en mettre partout
To put stuff all over the place (for example if you spill something)
Practice Exercises
Guess which expression with s’en is correct. (comment below and I will correct!)
1) J’ai trop de vêtements. Je devrais …..
2) Je vais en vacances mais je n’ai personne pour donner à manger à mes chats… – Ne t’inquiète pas, je …..
3) Il …. plus tôt parce qu’il travaille demain.
…
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