Breakdown of Je me sens entouré de ma famille au repas.
Questions & Answers about Je me sens entouré de ma famille au repas.
In French, se sentir is a reflexive verb that means “to feel (in oneself)” in the emotional or physical sense:
- Je me sens entouré = I feel (myself) surrounded.
- Je me sens triste = I feel sad.
- Je me sens bien = I feel good.
Without the reflexive pronoun, sentir usually means “to smell” or “to sense/feel” something external:
- Je sens une odeur de fumée. = I smell smoke.
- Je sens le froid. = I feel the cold.
So to talk about how you feel (emotionally or internally), you normally need se sentir: Je me sens…
Entouré is the past participle of entourer (“to surround”), but in this sentence it functions like an adjective describing the subject:
- Je me sens entouré = I feel (as if I am) surrounded.
Structurally you can think:
Je me sens + [adjective / participle acting as adjective]
Similar patterns:
- Je me sens fatigué. = I feel tired.
- Je me sens aimé. = I feel loved.
So grammatically it’s a past participle; functionally it behaves like an adjective agreeing with je.
Yes. Entouré must agree in gender and number with the subject je.
- Male speaker (singular): Je me sens entouré.
- Female speaker (singular): Je me sens entourée.
- Group of men / mixed group: Nous nous sentons entourés.
- Group of women only: Nous nous sentons entourées.
So if a woman is speaking, the correct written form is:
Je me sens entourée de ma famille au repas.
With entouré, French uses the preposition de to indicate who or what is doing the surrounding:
- entouré de ma famille = surrounded by my family
- entouré d’amis = surrounded by friends
- entouré de nature = surrounded by nature
Using avec here (entouré avec ma famille) is a typical English-influenced mistake. Avec means “with” in the sense of “together with”, not “surrounded by”.
So:
- Je suis avec ma famille. = I am with my family.
- Je me sens entouré de ma famille. = I feel surrounded by my family (they are all around me / supporting me).
Both de and par can appear after past participles, but the nuance is different.
With entouré:
- entouré de ma famille is the normal and idiomatic expression. It focuses on the resulting state: I am in a situation where my family is all around me (physically or emotionally).
- entouré par ma famille is possible but sounds more literal/passive, like describing a physical arrangement (“surrounded by X” in a very concrete way) and is less common with this emotional meaning.
For “feeling supported/loved and not alone”, native speakers will almost always say:
Je me sens entouré de ma famille.
In French, à + le contracts to au:
- à + le repas → au repas
- à + le cinéma → au cinéma
- à + le parc → au parc
So au repas literally means “at the meal”.
You cannot write à le repas; the contraction is obligatory in standard French.
Au repas is understandable, but depending on the context, French speakers might choose something slightly different:
- pendant le repas = during the meal
- au moment du repas = at mealtime / at the time of the meal
- lors des repas = during meals / at mealtimes (more general, plural)
Examples:
- Je me sens entouré de ma famille pendant le repas.
- Je me sens entouré de ma famille lors des repas.
Your sentence is not wrong, but in many real-life contexts, one of these alternatives may sound more natural.
Je suis entouré (de ma famille).
States an objective situation: I am (in fact) surrounded by my family. It can be physical or figurative.Je me sens entouré (de ma famille).
Expresses a subjective feeling: I feel surrounded / supported / not alone, thanks to my family. Even if physically they’re not all there, you feel their presence or support.
In English, “I feel surrounded by my family” vs “I am surrounded by my family”—the French distinction is very similar.
Yes, grammatically you can:
Je sens que je suis entouré de ma famille au repas.
But it’s more heavy and less natural than:
Je me sens entouré de ma famille au repas.
French strongly prefers the reflexive verb se sentir when talking about one’s own internal state, so Je me sens… is the idiomatic choice here.
Ma famille uses a possessive adjective (ma = my), so you don’t add another article:
- de + ma famille = de ma famille
- not de la ma famille
Compare:
- de la famille = of the family / some family (indefinite or generic)
- de ma famille = of my family / by my family
In this sentence, you mean your own family, so ma is required:
Je me sens entouré de ma famille.
Here is se sentir (to feel) in the present:
- Je me sens = I feel
- Tu te sens = You feel (singular, informal)
- Il/Elle/On se sent = He/She/One feels
- Nous nous sentons = We feel
- Vous vous sentez = You feel (plural or formal)
- Ils/Elles se sentent = They feel
Examples:
- Je me sens entouré(e) de ma famille.
- Nous nous sentons en sécurité.
- Ils se sentent fatigués.
Approximate breakdown (slashes show some liaison/linking):
- Je → /jə/ (like “zhuh”)
- me → /mə/ (“muh”)
- sens → /sɑ̃/ (nasal “an” sound; final s is silent)
- entouré → /ɑ̃.tu.ʁe/ (again nasal “an” at the start)
- de → /də/
- ma → /ma/
- famille → /fa.mij/ (final ille like “y” sound: “fa-mee(y)”)
- au → /o/ (like “oh”)
- repas → /ʁə.pa/ (final s is silent)
Spoken smoothly:
/ʒə mə sɑ̃ ɑ̃.tu.ʁe də ma fa.mij o ʁə.pa/.