Me, te, se in French: object and reflexive pronouns

Me, te and se are short pronouns that go before the verb. Me means “me” or “to me”, te means “you” or “to you”, and se is reflexive: “himself”, “herself”, “itself”, “themselves” or “each other”. Before a vowel, me, te and se become m', t' and s'.

Me and te can be direct or indirect

French uses the same form whether English says “me” or “to me”.

Tu me vois ?
Do you see me?

Tu me parles ?
Are you talking to me?

The verb decides whether the pronoun is direct or indirect. You do not change me to a different word.

Se is reflexive or reciprocal

Use se when the subject and object refer to the same person or group.

Elle se prépare.
She gets herself ready.

For plural subjects, se can also mean “each other”.

Ils se regardent.
They look at each other.

Before a vowel: m’, t’, s’

Before a vowel sound or silent h, the vowel in the pronoun drops.

Il m’appelle. Je t’écoute. Elle s’habille.
He calls me. I’m listening to you. She gets dressed.

This is the same elision pattern you see in je t’aime and il s’appelle.

Common mistakes

Putting the pronoun after the verb

In normal statements, me, te and se go before the verb.

Il appelle me. → Il m’appelle.
He calls me.

Using se for me or you

Se matches a third-person subject or a group. For “me” use me; for “you” use te.

Je se lave. → Je me lave.
I wash myself.

Forgetting elision before a vowel

Before a vowel, use m', t', s'.

Je te écoute. → Je t’écoute.
I’m listening to you.

These pronouns are the first slot in the wider French object pronoun order. In Fluera you place them before real verbs and hear the elision, so je te parle and je t’écoute become automatic sentence shapes. Try it when you practice French.

Practice