Module 4 of the free French course (CEFR A2, completed), lesson 7 of 30: Je me lave (I wash), je me brosse les dents (I brush my teeth. On this page: 7 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 7.
| French | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| se laver | to wash (oneself) | suh lah-VAY |
| je me lave | I wash | zhuh muh LAHV |
| se brosser les dents | to brush one's teeth | suh bruss-ay lay DAH(n) |
| je me brosse les dents | I brush my teeth | zhuh muh bruss lay DAH(n) |
| les dentsplural | the teeth | lay DAH(n) |
| elle se lave les mains | she washes her hands | ehl suh lahv lay MA(n) |
| le savon | the soap | luh sah-VOH(n) |
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
Je me lave (I wash), je me brosse les dents (I brush my teeth — note LES dents, not "my": the me already says whose).
Elle se lave les mains. Tu te brosses les dents ce soir?
je me brosse LES dents, never mes dents: the reflexive me already says whose teeth they are.
je me lave · tu te laves · il/elle se lave · nous nous lavons · vous vous lavez · ils/elles se lavent
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.
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