Marcher, promener or se promener. do trip up over these three ways to walk?

Marcher, promener or se promener. do trip up over these three ways to walk? What are the difference and nuances between them?

In this mini-lesson, not only will you understand the meaning of each verb but you will also see other versions and idiomatic expressions associated with them.

Let's dive in:

What does “marcher” mean in French?

This regular French verb sounds familiar to you…just like to march. “Marcher” means to walk. It’s to put a step after another one without running.

Another meaning is to function or work for an object or machine.

Let’s quickly review the conjugation of “marcher”:

• je marche
• tu marches
• il / elle marche
• nous marchons
• vous marchez
• ils / elles marchent

Now, you are ready for the examples:

• Je marche pour aller au travail tous les jours >>> I walk everyday to go to work.
• Ma voiture marche très bien >>> My car works very well.

How to use the French verb “promener”?

Now, this other regular French verb also means to walk but more in the sense of “taking for a walk”. Let’s say that the action is more on the other person or animal than on yourself. 

You could for instance walk a dog, someone in a wheelchair, a baby in s stroller etc.

The conjugation is pretty basic:

• je promène
• tu promènes
• il / elle promène
• nous promenons
• vous promenez
• ils / elles promènent

And in context:

• Elle promène ses chiens 2 fois par jour >>> She walks her dogs twice a day.

Note that there is an idiomatic expression with this verb. In this case, it means to manipulate:

• Ça suffit! Tu me promènes là ! >>> It’s enough! You are manipulating me! (running rings around me)! 

“Promener” or “se promener”: what’s the difference?

Opposed to what you have just seen, “se promener” focuses on yourself (or someone else). Indeed, you are the one who is taking a stroll for fun with pleasure.

As you can see because of the pronoun “se”, we are dealing with a reflexive verb and you will conjugate like the following:

• je me promène
• tu te promènes
• il / elle se promène
• nous nous promenons
• vous vous promenez
• ils / elles se promènent

Not sure how to use it? Here’s a way:

• Les enfants se promènent dans le jardin >>> The children are taking a stroll in the garden.

Note that the reflexive verb  “se promener” has its colloquial version which is “se balader”. Let’s take the same sentence:

• Les enfants se baladent dans le jardin >>> The children are taking a stroll in the garden.

3 French verbs of movement and their meaning.

Let’s see the 3 verbs in order to compare and contrast them.

• marcher: walking, as opposed to running, etc.
• promener: walking something / someone
• se promener / se balader: (you) going for a (leisurely) walk

How do you translate “walk my dog” in French?

There’s nothing better than practising and test oneself to check if you have understood the information. That’s why you are invited to translate the following sentence in French (don’t peek at the answers yet):

“I’m walking with my dogs in the mountains”.

Ask yourself: “Who’s doing the action?” “what’s the context?” “what’s the action?”.

Take your time and write down the options. Then you can have a look at the answers…

Here are the different possible alternatives:

1) Je promène le chien dans les montagnes.

2) Je me promène le chien dans les montagnes.

3) On fait une balade (= se balade) dans les montagnes, moi et le chien.

In the first sentence, the dog isn’t as important, opposed to the other sentences where it is more included.

“Se promener” as a mode of transport.

At the stage, let’s explore more the verb “promener” and the modes of transport associated with it.

It could be with your bike:

• J’aime me promener à vélo avec les chiens le matin >>> I like biking with my dogs in the morning.

You could also do it with a motorbike:

• Ils se promènent à moto dans les montagnes >>> They are taking a stroll on motorbike in the mountains.

For the snow, you want this better:

• Cet hiver je vais inviter ma voisine à m’accompagner à se promener avec moi en raquettes. >>> This winter I’m going to invite my neighbour to take a stroll with me on snowshoes.

Finally it could be with an animal:

• Je me suis promenée à cheval hier soir au coucher du soleil>>> Yesterday evening I took a stroll on my horse at sunset.

There are other options with other means of transport.

“Se promener” as an idiomatic expression.

Of course, you can also use this verb as an idiomatic expression where it refers to something quick and easy like or dominate in this example:

• Le match était intéressant. Nous nous sommes promenés jusqu’a la fin ! >>> It was a walkover right to the end. We sailed through it!

“Marcher”, “promener” and “se promener” and its nuances.

In this lesson, you have seen the core meaning of the 3 verbs of movement. In addition, we have mentioned “se balader” the colloquial version of “se promener”. You also discovered the means of transport related to the reflexive verb of “se promener” and you have learned an idiomatic expression.

By the way, there are more idiomatic expressions with this multifaceted verb:

• envoyer promener quelqu’un >>> send somebody on their way
• tout envoyer promener >>> chuck it all in

The good news is that the 3 verbs are regular. As long as you check if the action is on the subject or another one, you will carefully choose the reflexive verb or not.

Is there a verb you can’t master 100%? Let me know I will help you!