Reflexive Verben

German	English
Ich erinnere mich an den Urlaub. Sie interessiert sich für Deutsch. Wir freuen uns auf November.	I remember the holiday. She is interested in German. We are looking forward to November.

What are "reflexive Verben"?

"Reflexive Verben" are special verbs which require a pronoun to complete the sentence.

The term "reflexiv" is easy to explain: In sentences with "refexive verbs" the subject and the object (=pronoun) are the same person. The object (=pronoun) reflects back to the subject.

example 1:

• Ich wasche mich jeden Tag. (I wash myself every day.)

"Ich" is the subject of the sentence. I'm acting. I wash.
"waschen" is the reflexive verb of the sentence.
"mich" (=> ich) is the object of the sentence. Someone does something with me. Somebody washes me.

example 2:

• Ich konzentriere mich auf das Examen. (I concentrate on the exam.)

"Ich" is the subject of the sentence. I'm acting. I concentrate.
"konzentrieren" is the reflexive verb of the sentence.
"mich" (=> ich) is the object of the sentence although I must admit that's quite difficult to understand
because how can somebody or something "being concentrated"?
It's logical that somebody can wash me or move me or shave me but concentrate me???

Well this leads us to the insight that:

Whereas in English there are just a few reflexive verbs (e.g. wash oneself, enjoy oneself) German has many reflexive verbs even though they are not really logical in many situations.

 

Which are the reflexive pronouns?

Nominativ	Dativ		Akkusativ
	Deutsch	Englisch	Deutsch	Englisch
ich	mir	(myself)	mich	(myself)
du	dir	(yourself)	dich	(yourself)
er	sich	(himself)	sich	(himself)
sie	sich	(herself)	sich	(herself)
es	sich	(itself)	sich	(itself)
wir	uns	(ourselves)	uns	(ourselves)
ihr	euch	(yourselves)	euch	(yourselves)
sie	sich	(themselves)	sich	(themselves)

If you check the chart carefully you see that the reflexive pronouns are almost the same as the personal pronouns.
Just the er/sie/es and the sie (pl.) form is new to you.

Dative or Accusative?

The next question is how do you know
if the reflexive pronoun takes the dative case or the accusative case.

The answer is easy: If the object is a direct object then you need the accusative case. If the object is an indirect object then you need the dative case. If you are unsure about this check again the topic: Die 4 Fälle.

There is even an easier way to find out the case.

If there is just one object then reflexive pronoun takes the accusative. If there are two objects then the reflexive pronoun takes the dative.

examples:

• Ich wasche mich. (I wash myself.)
• Ich wasche mir die Hände. (I wash my hands.)

In the first example there is just one object (mich=direct object). So, the reflexive pronoun must take the accusative.
In the second example there are two objects: "mir" (=indirect object) and "Hände" (=direct object).
So, the reflex pronoun must take the dative.

Word order of reflexive pronouns

In statements the reflexive pronoun follows the conjugated verb (=main verb in typ1-sentences / =helping verb in typ2-sentences).

examples:

• Ich dusche mich abends. (I take a shower in the evenings.)
• Er bewegt sich sehr langsam. (He moves very slowly.)

• Ich habe mir die Haare gewaschen. (I washed my hair.)
• Wir haben uns gestern getroffen. (We met yesterday.)

In questions the reflexive pronoun follows the subject.

examples:

• Rasierst du dich jeden Tag? (Do you shave every day?)
• Erinnert ihr euch an Joy? (Do you remember Joy?)

• Hast du dir die Zähne geputzt? (Have you brushed your teeth?)
• Habt ihr euch erholt? (Have you recovered?)