Je me lève tôt le matin.

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Breakdown of Je me lève tôt le matin.

• lever: to get up
• tôt: early
• le matin: the morning

Questions & Answers about Je me lève tôt le matin.

Why do we use me in Je me lève?

Me is a reflexive pronoun in French. Se lever is a reflexive verb that literally translates to to get oneself up. Using me shows that the action is done to oneself.

Why use se lever instead of se réveiller?

Se lever means to get up (physically getting out of bed or standing up) while se réveiller means to wake up (the moment you regain consciousness). So Je me lève tôt le matin emphasizes actually getting out of bed early.

Why do we say le matin instead of dans le matin or en la matin?

In French, we often use le matin to mean in the morning. Prepositions like dans or en aren’t usually used that way when describing repeated or habitual actions in the morning.

Why is tôt placed after me lève?

In French, short adverbs of time like tôt usually come right after the verb in simple tenses. So you get Je me lève tôt instead of Je me lève and then adding tôt somewhere else in the sentence.

Is it okay to say Je me lève tôt without le matin?

Yes. Je me lève tôt on its own means I get up early. The phrase le matin just makes it explicit that it’s in the morning. It’s also common to say Je me lève tôt le matin for emphasis or clarity.