Reflexive Verbs

When the action bounces back to the subject — mich, dich, sich... and the one pronoun that never changes.

What is a reflexive verb?

A reflexive verb is one where the subject does the action to itself. English sometimes shows this ("I hurt myself"), but German uses it far more often, including for verbs that aren't reflexive at all in English — sich freuen (to be happy/glad) has no "self" in the English translation, but German still needs the reflexive pronoun. You cannot drop it.

The reflexive pronouns

For ich, du, wir, ihr, the reflexive pronoun is identical to the Akkusativ/Dativ personal pronoun you already know from Pronouns. The one new thing to learn is sich — used for er/sie/es, sie (they), and Sie, in both Akkusativ and Dativ. Unlike "er → ihn → ihm," the 3rd-person reflexive never changes form.

Person	Akkusativ	Dativ
ich	mich	mir
du	dich	dir
er / sie / es	sich	sich
wir	uns	uns
ihr	euch	euch
sie (they) / Sie	sich	sich

The one thing to memorize: sich is the same word for he/she/it/they/formal-you, in both cases. Everything else you already know from the personal pronoun table.

Akkusativ reflexive verbs

Most reflexive verbs take an Akkusativ reflexive pronoun as their only object — there's nothing else in the sentence for the pronoun to compete with. Common ones: sich freuen (to be glad), sich interessieren für (to be interested in, + Akkusativ), sich setzen (to sit down), sich beeilen (to hurry), sich fühlen (to feel).

Ich freue mich auf die Ferien.

I'm looking forward to the holidays.

sich freuen auf (+ Akkusativ) = to look forward to. "Mich" — Akkusativ reflexive for "ich," matching the subject. "Die Ferien" is the object of "auf," not of "freuen."

Interessierst du dich für Musik?

Are you interested in music?

sich interessieren für (+ Akkusativ) = to be interested in. "Dich" — Akkusativ reflexive for "du."

Das Kind freut sich über das Geschenk.

The child is happy about the present.

sich freuen über (+ Akkusativ) = to be happy about (something already received). "Sich" — the 3rd-person reflexive, unchanged whether the subject is maskulin, feminin, or neutrum.

Wir setzen uns an den Tisch.

We sit down at the table.

sich setzen = to sit down. "Uns" — Akkusativ reflexive for "wir." "An den Tisch" (Akkusativ) because it describes movement toward the table — see Two-Way Prepositions.

Beeilen Sie sich, bitte!

Please hurry (formal)!

sich beeilen = to hurry. "Sich" is used with "Sie" too — the formal "you" always takes the 3rd-person reflexive.

Dativ reflexive verbs — when there's another object

Some reflexive verbs already have a direct object (Akkusativ) — usually a body part or a possession. When that happens, the reflexive pronoun steps back to Dativ, because Akkusativ is taken. This is the same logic as Dativ in general: one Akkusativ object per verb, and a second "for/to whom" slot becomes Dativ. Compare the same verb, sich waschen, in both patterns below.

Ich wasche mich.

I wash (myself).

sich waschen = to wash (oneself). No other object in the sentence, so "mich" is Akkusativ — the direct object.

Ich wasche mir die Hände.

I wash my hands.

Same verb, but now die Hände (plural) is the direct object (Akkusativ) — the thing being washed. So the reflexive pronoun moves to Dativ: mir (to/for myself). Note: German uses die Hände, not "meine Hände" — the reflexive pronoun already shows whose hands they are.

Putzt du dir die Zähne?

Are you brushing your teeth?

sich die Zähne putzen = to brush one's teeth. die Zähne (plural) = teeth — Akkusativ direct object. "Dir" — Dativ reflexive for "du," since Akkusativ is already taken.

Er zieht sich eine Jacke an.

He puts on a jacket.

sich (etwas) anziehen = to put on (clothing), separable. eine Jacke = a jacket — Akkusativ direct object. "Sich" here is Dativ (unchanged in form from the Akkusativ "sich," which is exactly why the 3rd person is the easy case).

Why this matters for er/sie/es: because sich is identical in Akkusativ and Dativ, this whole distinction is invisible for 3rd-person subjects — "Er wäscht sich" and "Er wäscht sich die Hände" both just use "sich." The Akk-vs-Dat choice only shows up as a visible change for ich (mich/mir) and du (dich/dir).

Reflexive verbs in one line

The reflexive pronoun matches the subject. Use Akkusativ (mich/dich/sich/uns/euch/sich) when the reflexive pronoun is the only object. Use Dativ (mir/dir/sich/uns/euch/sich) when there's already an Akkusativ object (usually a body part). sich never changes — it covers er/sie/es/sie(they)/Sie in both cases.

Related

• Pronouns — the personal pronouns reflexives are built from
• Akkusativ · Dativ — the case system behind the pronoun choice
• Separable Verbs — sich anziehen and other separable reflexive verbs