Learn French: Je m'occupe du bébé. - I look after the baby.

Je m'occupe du bébé.

I look after the baby.

Breakdown of Je m'occupe du bébé.

le bébé

the baby

of the / from the (masculine singular, with plural des)

s'occuper

to take care of, to look after

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Questions & Answers about Je m'occupe du bébé.

Why is there an m' in this sentence?

The verb here is s'occuper, which is a reflexive verb meaning to take care of or to look after. It literally means to occupy oneself. Because the subject is je (I), the reflexive pronoun is me (myself). Since occupe starts with a vowel, me drops its vowel and becomes m' before it.

Why does it say du bébé instead of just le bébé?

The verb s'occuper is always followed by the preposition de (of). You are literally saying I occupy myself OF the baby. The French word for the baby is le bébé. When de and le are right next to each other, they always combine into the single word du.

How do I know to use occupe and not another ending?

s'occuper is a regular -er verb. To conjugate it for je (I) in the present tense, you drop the -er ending from the infinitive and add -e, giving you occupe.

Can I use s'occuper for things other than people?

Yes! You can use s'occuper de for taking care of tasks, pets, or situations. For example, you could say Je m'occupe du chien (I am taking care of the dog) or Je m'occupe du dîner (I am taking care of dinner).