se réveiller Examples, Sentences & Quiz in French

se réveiller — wake up — is one of the verbs you will use every day in French. se réveiller is the verb for describing waking up: it comes up whenever you talk about talking about the morning or explaining an early start. On this page you will find se réveiller in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself.

Example sentences with se réveiller

In the present tense

  • “Je me réveille tôt.” — “I wake up early.”
  • “Tu te réveilles à six heures.” — “You wake up at six o'clock.”
  • “Il se réveille tous les matins.” — “He wakes up every morning.”
  • “Nous nous réveillons en forme.” — “We wake up feeling fresh.”
  • “Vous vous réveillez tôt.” — “You wake up early.”
  • “Ils se réveillent à six heures.” — “They wake up at six o'clock.”

In the passé composé

  • “Je me suis réveillé tôt cette semaine.” — “I have woken up early this week.”
  • “Tu te es réveillé à six heures cette semaine.” — “You have woken up at six o'clock this week.”
  • “Il se est réveillé tous les matins cette semaine.” — “He has woken up every morning this week.”
  • “Nous nous sommes réveillé en forme cette semaine.” — “We have woken up feeling fresh this week.”
  • “Vous vous êtes réveillé tôt cette semaine.” — “You have woken up early this week.”
  • “Ils se sont réveillé à six heures cette semaine.” — “They have woken up at six o'clock this week.”

In other tenses

The same verb in the imperfect, the future, the conditional and the present subjunctive — the four tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Je me réveillais tôt avant.” — “I used to wake up early before.”
  • “Je me réveillerai à six heures demain.” — “I will wake up at six o'clock tomorrow.”
  • “Je me réveillerais tous les matins un jour.” — “I would wake up every morning one day.”
  • “Bien que il se réveille en forme” — “Although he wakes up feeling fresh.”

se réveiller in context

Je me réveille tôt. Tu te réveilles à six heures. Il se réveille tous les matins. Nous nous réveillons en forme.

I wake up early. You wake up at six o'clock. He wakes up every morning. We wake up feeling fresh.

Je me suis réveillé tôt. Il se est réveillé à six heures. Nous nous sommes réveillé tous les matins.

I have woken up early this week. He has woken up at six o'clock this week. We have woken up every morning this week.

Common mistakes with se réveiller

Mistake 1

Wrong: Je se réveiller tôt.

Right: Je réveille tôt.

The infinitive never takes a subject: after je you need the conjugated form réveille.

Mistake 2

Wrong: Je réveillons à six heures.

Right: Je réveille à six heures.

réveillons is the nous form. With je, use réveille.

Mistake 3

Wrong: Hier, je réveille tous les matins.

Right: Hier, j'suis réveillé tous les matins.

Yesterday needs the passé composé suis réveillé, not the present.

Mistake 4

Wrong: Bien que je réveille en forme.

Right: Bien que je réveille en forme.

After bien que French needs the subjunctive réveille.

Mistake 5

Wrong: Je réveillais tôt hier. (said of one finished moment)

Right: J'suis réveillé tôt hier.

The imperfect describes an ongoing or repeated past. One finished moment yesterday takes the passé composé.

Quiz: test yourself on se réveiller

Ten questions on se réveiller. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.

  1. What is the tu form of se réveiller in the Present indicative?

    • A) réveillez
    • B) réveillent
    • C) réveilles
    • D) réveille

  2. What is the nous form of se réveiller in the Present indicative?

    • A) réveillons
    • B) réveille
    • C) réveillez
    • D) réveillent

  3. What is the il/elle form of se réveiller in the Present perfect?

    • A) est réveillé
    • B) suis réveillé
    • C) êtes réveillé
    • D) es réveillé

  4. What is the je form of se réveiller in the Imperfect?

    • A) réveillais
    • B) réveillait
    • C) réveillions
    • D) réveillaient

  5. What is the nous form of se réveiller in the Future?

    • A) réveillerez
    • B) réveillera
    • C) réveillerons
    • D) réveilleras

  6. What is the tu form of se réveiller in the Conditional?

    • A) réveillerions
    • B) réveillerait
    • C) réveilleriez
    • D) réveillerais

  7. What is the je form of se réveiller in the Present subjunctive?

    • A) réveilles
    • B) réveilliez
    • C) réveille
    • D) réveillions

  8. What is the il/elle form of se réveiller in the Imperfect subjunctive?

    • A) réveillât
    • B) réveillassiez
    • C) réveillassent
    • D) réveillassions

  9. What is the gerund of se réveiller?

    • A) réveillant
    • B) buvant
    • C) dormant

  10. What is the past participle of se réveiller?

  • A) réveillé
  • B) dormi
  • C) bu

Answer key

  1. C) réveilles — The tu form of se réveiller in the present indicative is réveilles.
  2. A) réveillons — The nous form of se réveiller in the present indicative is réveillons.
  3. A) est réveillé — The il/elle form of se réveiller in the present perfect is est réveillé.
  4. A) réveillais — The je form of se réveiller in the imperfect is réveillais.
  5. C) réveillerons — The nous form of se réveiller in the future is réveillerons.
  6. D) réveillerais — The tu form of se réveiller in the conditional is réveillerais.
  7. C) réveille — The je form of se réveiller in the present subjunctive is réveille.
  8. A) réveillât — The il/elle form of se réveiller in the imperfect subjunctive is réveillât.
  9. A) réveillant — The gerund of se réveiller is en réveillant; it is used after en for actions in progress.
  10. A) réveillé — The past participle of se réveiller is réveillé; perfect tenses use être + réveillé.

Frequently asked questions

What does se réveiller mean in English?

se réveiller means “wake up”. You use it for describing waking up, for talking about the morning, and for explaining an early start.

Is se réveiller regular or irregular?

se réveiller is regular, and it is irregular in these tenses: none — it is regular in every tense. The gerund is en réveillant and the past participle is réveillé.

How do I say “I wake up” in French?

Say “Je me réveille tôt.” — “I wake up early.” The je form of the present is réveille.

Where can I see the full conjugation of se réveiller?

On the full conjugation page, which has every tense, and on the Se réveiller Present Tense Conjugation in French page.

How to practise se réveiller this week

Pick one tense a day and say five sentences with se réveiller out loud, using the examples on this page as your starting point. On the first day, use only the present tense and the complements from the examples above — tôt, à six heures and tous les matins — and change only the person, so you hear how réveille, réveilles and réveille sound next to each other. On the second day, retell yesterday in the passé composé with suis réveillé and the other perfect forms from the table. On the third day, write three short plans for tomorrow in the future tense, and on the fourth day, turn them into polite conditional sentences. Keep a small notebook and write each new sentence down: seeing en réveillant and réveillé in your own handwriting fixes them in memory far better than reading them once. Finally, take the quiz above again without looking at the answer key — when you can answer all ten questions from memory, move on to the next verb in the hub.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for se réveiller, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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