Vous vous réveilliez à 5 heures? Did you use to wake up at 5?

Question

Is "Vous vous réveilliez à 5 heures?" more conversational (given that it relies on inflection and punctuation) than 
"Vous reveilliez vous a 5 heures?"
Is the latter still correct, if so, when would you use it rather than the former?

Answer

French adhers to a pretty strict word order. That said, I don't believe you can say, "Vous réveilliez vous...". It is always "Vous vous réveilliez..."

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Answer

Both are correct Nigel but in general the French find the inversion more formal and don't use it as much in spoken French...hope this helps .

Answer

Cecile,
OK, many thanks!!

Does your response apply to simpler verb constructions as well, or primarily only the reflexive constructions?

For example, is  "Allez vous au cinema ce soir?"  less likely to be heard than "Vous allez au cinema ce soir?"

When might you choose to use/write the inversion rather than the direct form?
Is there a lesson on the topic?

Many thanks !!

Answer

Question to Cécile? Would the inverted form need a hyphen between the werb and the personal pronoun? As in:

Vous réveillez-vous à 6 heures.

Or is the hyphen only used in commands and questions?

-- Chris.