Lesson 22: Talking About Daily Routine (La Routine Quotidienne)
Objective: By the end of this lesson, you will be able to describe your daily routine in French, use
reflexive verbs, and talk about time.
1. Vocabulary: Daily Activities (Les Activités Quotidiennes)
Here are some common daily activities in French:
Se réveiller – to wake up
Se lever – to get up
Se laver – to wash
Se brosser les dents – to brush your teeth
Prendre une douche – to take a shower
S’habiller – to get dressed
Prendre le petit-déjeuner – to have breakfast
Aller au travail – to go to work
Aller à l’école – to go to school
Déjeuner – to have lunch
Rentrer à la maison – to come home
Faire les devoirs – to do homework
Dîner – to have dinner
Se coucher – to go to bed
Dormir – to sleep
2. Using Reflexive Verbs
In French, many verbs related to daily routine are reflexive verbs. This means the action is done to
oneself. Reflexive verbs use reflexive pronouns: me, te, se, nous, vous, se.
Conjugation of a Reflexive Verb (e.g., se lever – to get up)
Subject Pronoun Reflexive Pronoun Verb Form Example
Je me lève Je me lève à 7h.
Tu te lèves Tu te lèves tôt.
Subject Pronoun Reflexive Pronoun Verb Form Example
Il/Elle/On se lève Elle se lève à 6h30.
Nous nous levons Nous nous levons à 8h.
Vous vous levez Vous vous levez tard.
Ils/Elles se lèvent Ils se lèvent à 9h.
3. Talking About Time
To talk about when you do something, you need to know how to tell time in French. Here’s a quick
review of how to express time:
Il est une heure. – It’s one o’clock.
Il est deux heures. – It’s two o’clock.
Il est midi. – It’s noon.
Il est minuit. – It’s midnight.
Il est quatre heures et demie. – It’s half past four.
Il est sept heures moins le quart. – It’s quarter to seven.
Il est cinq heures et quart. – It’s quarter past five.
When talking about when you do something, you can say:
Je me réveille à 7h. – I wake up at 7 o’clock.
Il prend son petit-déjeuner à 8h30. – He has breakfast at 8:30.
4. Describing Your Daily Routine
To describe your daily routine, you can use reflexive verbs along with time expressions:
Le matin, je me réveille à 7h. – In the morning, I wake up at 7 o’clock.
Ensuite, je me lave et je m’habille. – Then, I wash up and get dressed.
Je prends le petit-déjeuner à 8h. – I have breakfast at 8 o’clock.
À 8h30, je vais à l’école. – At 8:30, I go to school.
Je rentre à la maison à 17h. – I come home at 5 o’clock.
Le soir, je fais mes devoirs et je dîne à 19h. – In the evening, I do my homework and have dinner
at 7 o’clock.
Je me couche à 22h. – I go to bed at 10 o’clock.
5. Asking About Someone’s Routine
You can ask questions about someone’s routine like this:
À quelle heure tu te lèves? – What time do you get up?
Qu’est-ce que tu fais le matin? – What do you do in the morning?
À quelle heure tu vas au travail? – What time do you go to work?
Est-ce que tu te couches tôt ou tard? – Do you go to bed early or late?
6. Practice Sentences
Here are some example sentences to help you talk about your daily routine:
Le matin, je me lève à 7h et je prends une douche. – In the morning, I get up at 7 o’clock and
take a shower.
Je prends le bus pour aller à l’école à 8h30. – I take the bus to go to school at 8:30.
Je rentre à la maison à 18h et je dîne à 19h. – I come home at 6 p.m. and have dinner at 7 p.m.
Je me couche vers 22h. – I go to bed around 10 p.m.
7. Dialogue Practice
Here’s a short conversation about daily routine:
A: À quelle heure tu te réveilles le matin?
B: Je me réveille à 6h30, et toi?
A: Moi, je me lève à 7h, puis je prends le petit-déjeuner.
B: Tu te couches tard le soir?
A: Oui, je me couche vers 23h.
8. Practice Exercises
Exercise 1: Complete the sentences with the correct form of the reflexive verb.
1. Je ______ (se lever) à 6h.
2. Nous ______ (se laver) après le petit-déjeuner.
3. Il ______ (s’habiller) avant d’aller à l’école.
4. Elles ______ (se coucher) à 22h.
Exercise 2: Translate the following sentences into French.
1. I brush my teeth every morning.
2. She goes to bed at 11 o’clock.
3. We take a shower after jogging.
4. They have dinner at 8 o’clock.
Exercise 3: Write a short paragraph describing your daily routine.
9. Additional Vocabulary
Le matin – the morning
L’après-midi – the afternoon
Le soir – the evening
La nuit – the night
Le déjeuner – lunch
Le petit-déjeuner – breakfast
Le dîner – dinner
Un emploi du temps – a schedule
