Reflexive Verbs

A verb that points back at you

Some German verbs come with a small extra pronoun that refers back to the subject. Ich dusche mich literally means "I shower myself", and Er freut sich means "he is pleased" — word for word, "he pleases himself". These are reflexive verbs, and dictionaries list them with sich in front: sich duschen, sich freuen, sich treffen.

Sometimes the reflexive idea is visible in English too — you can say "I hurt myself" — but very often it is not. Nobody says "I meet myself with friends", yet German insists on Wir treffen uns. So treat the pronoun as part of the verb, not as a word you translate. When you learn a new reflexive verb, learn it with sich attached and practise it in the ich-form straight away: sich freuen → ich freue mich.

The accusative reflexive pronouns are the ones to memorise first: mich, dich, sich, uns, euch, sich. Only the third person is new — er, sie, es and the plural sie all share the same word, sich, and so does the formal Sie.

• Ich dusche mich jeden Morgen.

  I shower every morning.

• Er freut sich, weil er heute frei hat.

  He is pleased because he has the day off today.

• Wir treffen uns am Bahnhof.

  We are meeting at the station.

  English has no "ourselves" here — German still needs uns.

• Fühlst du dich gut?

  Do you feel well?

Where the pronoun goes

In a plain statement, the reflexive pronoun follows the conjugated verb directly: Ich ziehe mich an. In a yes/no question it follows the subject: Freust du dich? With a modal verb the pronoun stays close to the front while the infinitive goes to the end, a pattern you know from A1: Ich muss mich beeilen.

Two other patterns you already own combine smoothly with reflexives. Separable verbs behave exactly as before — the prefix goes to the end, the pronoun stays after the verb: Ich ziehe mich schnell an. And in the Perfekt, every reflexive verb without exception uses haben, with the pronoun right after it: Ich habe mich gefreut. Even verbs of movement like sich treffen take haben once they are reflexive: Wir haben uns gestern getroffen.

• Ich habe mich gestern mit Anna getroffen.

  I met up with Anna yesterday.

  Reflexive verbs always build the Perfekt with haben.

• Ziehst du dich schnell an?

  Are you getting dressed quickly?

  sich anziehen is separable and reflexive at the same time.

• Setzen Sie sich, bitte.

  Please sit down.

  A polite formula you will hear at every office and doctor's practice.

mir and dir: the dative reflexive

There is one refinement. When the sentence already has a direct object, the reflexive pronoun steps aside into the dative. Compare Ich wasche mich (I wash myself — no other object) with Ich wasche mir die Hände (I wash my hands — die Hände is the direct object, so the pronoun becomes mir).

The good news: only two forms actually change. Mich becomes mir and dich becomes dir; sich, uns, euch and sich stay exactly the same. So the pattern really only matters in the ich- and du-forms — which happen to be the forms of daily routine talk: Putzt du dir die Zähne? Ich kämme mir die Haare.

Notice one more habit hiding in these sentences: German says die Hände, die Zähne, die Haare with the definite article where English says "my hands, my teeth, my hair". The dative pronoun already tells everyone whose hands they are.

• Ich wasche mir die Hände.

  I wash my hands.

  die Hände is the direct object, so the reflexive moves to the dative: mir.

• Putzt du dir die Zähne?

  Are you brushing your teeth?

• Sie bestellt sich eine Pizza.

  She orders herself a pizza.

  In the third person the dative reflexive is still sich — no visible change.

• Ich kämme mir die Haare.

  I comb my hair.

Reflexives in your everyday sentences

Reflexive verbs carry a large share of daily life. Your morning is almost entirely reflexive: sich duschen, sich anziehen, sich beeilen. Your feelings are too: sich freuen (to be pleased), sich ärgern (to be annoyed), sich fühlen (to feel). And your social life runs on sich treffen and sich verabreden.

Because these verbs describe routines and reactions, they combine naturally with the clause types you learned earlier in this course. A weil-clause explains the feeling: Sie ärgert sich, weil der Zug Verspätung hat. A wenn-clause makes a routine out of it: Wenn ich Sport mache, fühle ich mich gut. Try narrating your own morning aloud, from Ich dusche mich to Ich muss mich beeilen, and the pronouns will settle in within a week.

• Ich muss mich beeilen, weil der Bus gleich kommt.

  I have to hurry because the bus is coming any minute.

• Sie ärgert sich, weil der Zug Verspätung hat.

  She is annoyed because the train is delayed.

• Ich fühle mich heute nicht gut. Ich bleibe zu Hause.

  I do not feel well today. I am staying at home.