English Translation
I wanted to fight.
“Je voulais me battre” //
Why is it “me battre” and not just “battre” or “une battre”?
Generally battre means to beat or to defeat when it is used transitively (i.e. when the verb is able to take a direct object) or intransitively:
il bat son chien - He beats his dog (transitive)
le sang me battait aux tempes - I could feel my temples throbbing (intransitive)
It’s when the verb is used in its pronominal form, i.e. se battre, that its meaning becomes to fight or to struggle:
leurs enfants n’arrêtent pas de se battre - their children are always fighting
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