Today we’ll look at a highly interesting reflexive verb: Se vanter, meaning “to brag” and “to boast”. Keep reading as we’ll introduce the really fun noun m’as-tu-vu (show-off, poser) at the bottom of the page.
se vanter
to brag, to boast
Se vanter – to brag, to boast
Word origin
The French verb vanter (to praise, to extole) comes from the Latin vānĭtās, which means emptiness, untruthfulness, empty pride. Vanter in French is related to “vanity” in English.
Present tense conjugation
Se vanter (to brag, to boast) is a reflexive verb. These are the “to myself verbs”. Vanter is a regular ER verb. This means that its endings are the same as all other regular ER verbs when conjugated in the present tense.
Je me vante I brag (or boast)
Tu te vantes You brag (singular, informal)
Il, elle se vante He, she brags
Nous nous vantons We brag
Vous vous vantez You brag (plural, formal)
Ils, elles se vantent They brag
Example sentences
Sophie n’est pas du tout humble, elle se vante tout le temps.
Sophie isn’t humble at all. She brags all the time.
This next sentence uses the verb essayer (to try). The feminine noun réussite means accomplishment or achievement and is related to the verb réussir (to succeed).
J’essaie de ne pas trop me vanter de mes réussites.
I try to not brag too much about my accomplishments.
In this next sentence, the verb vanter becomes and adjective vantard(e), meaning boastful. Vantard can also be a noun for bragger or braggart.
Marc est un mec très vantard. Il adore frimer dans sa nouvelle bagnole.
Marc is a very boastful guy. He loves showing off in his new car.
This final example sentence uses the really fun noun m’as-tu-vu, which means “show-off” or “poser”. It’s based off the phrase “Est-ce que tu m’as vu?” (did you see me).
Le musicien est un vrai m’as-tu-vu mais en réalite il ne joue pas très bien.
The musician is a real show-of but in reality doesn’t play very well.
Related lessons
- Reflexive Verbs
- Se Débrouiller: To Get By, To Manage
- Se détendre – To Relax
- Se tromper – To mistaken, get wrong
- Se méfier – To be wary of
References
