Tu te lèves tard le week-end.

You get up late on weekends.

Breakdown of Tu te lèves tard le week-end.

• tu: you
• te: yourself
• se lever: to get up
• tard: late
• le week-end: the weekend

Questions & Answers about Tu te lèves tard le week-end.

Why do we say tu te lèves instead of just tu lèves?

In French, se lever is a reflexive verb. The se part (which changes to te when using tu) indicates that the action is done by the subject on him- or herself. So tu te lèves literally means you lift yourself up (you get up), whereas tu lèves would mean you lift (something else).

What is the infinitive of tu te lèves and how do we conjugate it?

The infinitive is se lever. It’s conjugated like a regular -er verb, but we also need to adjust the reflexive pronoun for each subject:

• Je me lève
• Tu te lèves
• Il/Elle/On se lève
• Nous nous levons
• Vous vous levez
• Ils/Elles se lèvent

Why do we use le in le week-end?

In French, a definite article (like le) often precedes expressions of time or recurring days/moments. Saying le week-end indicates a habitual activity or a general statement about weekends, such as Je me repose le week-end (I rest on weekends).

How do we pronounce tu te lèves correctly?

Pronounce tu with a clear t and a rounded u vowel (like in “too”). The te is weakly pronounced, almost like tuh. For lèves, the è sounds like the e in bed. Put simply, it’s tyuh-tuh-lev (with the lev sounding like the English word “lev”).

What does tard mean?

The word tard means late in English. So, Tu te lèves tard le week-end translates to You get up late on weekends.