Reflexive Verbs in the Present Tense

I. Theory

In German, a large amount of verbs are transitive. This means that these verbs require an object. Reflexive verbs are transitive verbs whose object is the same as the subject of the sentence. For this reason, they usually convey that the subject is doing something for his/her/itself.

Here we see some examples in English:

I am buying myself a new computer. The cat bathes itself. The woman sees herself in the mirror.

Reflexives in German

In German, we find reflexive verbs used more frequently than in English because it is less common in English for a verb to require an object. In the examples below, the English sentence requires no reflexive where the German does:



Die Welt verändert sich. The world is changing. Er kann sich nicht bewegen. He can’t move. Du musst dich jetzt entscheiden. You must decide now.




Body parts

Actions that have a body part as the object in English are usually conveyed with a reflexive in German. When this happens, the body part is preceded by a definite article, rather than a possessive adjective.



Ich wasche das Auto. I wash the car. (non-reflexive) but Ich wasche mir die Hände. I wash my hands. (reflexive) Literally: “I wash myself the hands.” Er putzt das Zimmer. He cleans the room. (non-reflexive) but Er putzt sich die Zähne. He cleans his teeth. (reflexive) Literally: “He cleans himself the teeth.”

II. The Reflexive Pronoun

Below, we see the reflexive pronouns. Notice that they are very similar to the accusative/dative pronouns with the exception of the third person singular and plural pronouns: sich.

ich	mich/mir	wir	uns
du	dich/dir	ihr	euch
er/sie/es	sich	sie/Sie	sich

Wann sehen wir uns wieder? When are we seeing eachother again? Er rasiert sich jeden Tag. He shaves every day. Das Projekt entwickelt sich weiter. The project is developing further. Amüsiert ihr euch im Urlaub? Are you having fun on vacation?

Note: As you can see from the examples above, reflexive verbs do not usually translate word-for-word into English.

III. Accusative and Dative Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are often in the accusative as they are the object of the verb. However if the verb already has a direct object, the reflexive pronoun will be in the dative, rather than in the accusative.

Note: this difference is only seen with the first and second person singular: mir, dir.

Ich kaufe mir (dative) ein Bier (accusative). I’m buying myself a beer. Kaufst du dir (dative) einen neuen Computer (accusative)? Are you buying yourself a new computer? Ich wasche mir (dative) die Hände I wash my hands. but Ich wasche mich (accusative). I wash myself. Sie wäscht sich (dative) die Hände. She washes her hands. but *Sie wäscht sich (accusative). She washes herself. * Here, we see no change in the pronoun, as sich can be either dative or accusative.