Describing relationships in French

• Reflexive verbs used with reflexive pronouns are often used to describe relationships with others.

• Relative clauses usually start with the relative pronoun qui and can be used to develop more complex sentences.

• This guide contains reading and listening practice.

Useful verbs to describe relationships with others include:

For example:

Je m’entends bien avec ma nièce. - I get on well with my niece.

Je ne supporte pas mon frère. - I can’t bear my brother.

Verbs that describe relationships with other people are often reflexive.

Reflexive verbs have to include a reflexive pronoun, which changes depending on who is doing the action.

You can identify reflexive infinitives in French as they are preceded by the reflexive pronoun se or s’ if the next letter is a vowel or silent h.

For example:

• se ressembler à - to look like

• s’appeler - to be called

Have a look at the conjugation of the reflexive verb se séparer (to break up, to split up) in the singular:

For example:

Il va se séparer de son petit ami. - He is going to break up with his boyfriend.

C’est fini ! On se sépare ! - It’s over! We are breaking up!

When a reflexive verb starts with a vowel or a silent h, the reflexive pronoun before it is shortened:

• me becomes m’

• te becomes t’

• se becomes s’

Have a look at how to conjugate the verb s’entendre (avec), meaning ‘to get on (with)':

Press Start to choose the correct word to complete the following sentences:

Find out more about reflexive verbs and pronouns in the Present tense reflexive verbs in French guide.

Read these messages on an online forum about family relationships and answer the questions below.

Inès

Mes parents se sont séparés récemment et je ne comprends pas pourquoi. On ne parle pas beaucoup mais je m’entends bien avec ma sœur.

Charlie

Ma relation avec mon frère s’est ameliorée ces dernier jours. On partage une chambre maintenant et on discute de sport toute la nuit.

Ahmed

Je m’entends assez bien avec mon beau-père. Il écoute mes soucis et on ne se dispute jamais dans ma famille.

Positive adjectives

Useful adjectives to use when explaining why you might get along well with certain people include:

For example:

Je partage mes problèmes avec ma tante car on est très proches. - I share my problems with my aunt because we are very close.

Negative adjectives

Useful adjectives to use when explaining why you might not get along with certain people include:

For example:

Je ne comprends pas ma sœur parce qu’elle est vraiment égoïste. - I don’t understand my sister because she is really selfish.

All Foundation Tier vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

Remember

Some French words are ‘false friends’. This means that they look like an English word but have a different meaning.

For example, the French word sympathique means ‘nice’, not ‘sympathetic’.

The relative pronoun qui means ‘who’, ‘whom’, ‘which’ or ‘that’ and is usually used at the start of a relative clause.

A relative clause is a clause that cannot exist by itself.

For example, in the sentence 'I really enjoyed the meal that I ordered', the relative clause is ‘that I ordered’, which wouldn’t make sense on its own.

Qui comes before a verb and relates to the subject of that verb.

For example:

J’ai un frère qui s’appelle John. – I have a brother who is called John.

C’est une situation qui est un peu difficile. – It’s a situation which is a bit difficult.

Using qui to introduce a relative clause is a good way to develop more complex sentences.

Find out more about the relative pronoun qui in the Relative pronouns in French guide.

Press Start to listen to a podcast where four teenagers are talking about their relationships.

For each person, choose whether the relationship being discussed is positive, negative or both positive and negative.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful vocabulary to use when describing relationships.

Useful verbs to use when talking about relationships with others include:

For example:

Je me dispute parfois avec mes amis. - I sometimes argue with my friends.

Useful adjectives to use when talking about relationships with others include:

All vocabulary listed in this guide can be found on the vocabulary sheet below.

Remember

Some French words are ‘false friends’ meaning they look like an English word but have a different meaning.

For example, sensible in French means ‘sensitive’, not ‘sensible’.

Here is the full conjugation of the reflexive verb se disputer (to argue), including the nous, vous, ils and elles forms:

For example:

Elles se disputent tout le temps. – They argue all the time.

Tu te disputes avec tes parents ? – Do you argue with your parents?

Reciprocal verbs are used when the action of the verb is exchanged between two or more subjects. They also use a reflexive pronoun.

For example, the verb parler means ‘to talk’ but se parler means ‘to talk to each other’.

Vous vous parlez tous les jours. – You talk to each other every day.

The verb respecter means ‘to respect’ but se respecter means ‘to respect each other’.

Ils se respectent. – They respect each other.

Find out more about reciprocal verbs in the Present tense reflexive verbs in French guide.

When used as a relative pronoun, que means ‘who’, ‘whom’, ‘which’ or ‘that’ and is usually used at the start of a relative clause.

Que comes before a noun or pronoun and relates to the object of the verb.

For example:

Les problèmes que j’ai ne sont pas graves. – The problems that I have aren’t serious.

La fille que mon frère a rencontré était très sympa. – The girl who my brother met was really nice.

Find out more about using que in the Relative pronouns in French guide.

Click or tap on the image below for a list of useful Higher Tier vocabulary to use when describing relationships.

Now you have learned about describing relationships why not look at the Describing where people live guide.