Reflexive Verbs in German

Reflexive Verbs are a special kind of verb in German. They have attached to them, syntactically and semantically, a reflexive pronoun. This reflexive pronoun is in agreement with the subject of the sentences; it reflects off the subject like an image reflects off a mirror. The reflexive pronouns in German correspond loosely to the English pronouns myself, yourself, ourselves, themselves, himself, herself and itself.

The reflexive pronouns in German are as follows:

	Accusative	Dative
ich	mich	mir
du	dich	dir
er sie es	sich	sich
wir	uns	uns
ihr	euch	euch
sie	sich	sich
Sie	Sich	Sich

Notice that only in the first and second person singular does the reflexive pronoun change its form.

Where does the reflexive pronoun go in the German sentence? Examine the chart.

First Position Second Position 3rd Position 4th, 5th, 6th, etc. Position Final Position

Subject Verb Reflexive Pronoun Everything Else Other Verbal Elements

The reflexive pronoun is mandatory and in a German statement it follows the finite verb in the 3rd position. There are exceptions to this rule. If something other than the subject is in the first position, and the subject is a pronoun, then the reflexive pronoun is in the fourth position. Look at a few examples of this.

sich rasieren - to shave (oneself)
---->>Ich rasiere mich jeden Morgen. - I shave (myself) each morning

If Jeden Morgen were in the first position, which is perfectly acceptable in German, then the sentence would look like this:
---->>Jeden Morgen rasiere ich mich. Mich is in the fourth position because the subject of the sentence is a pronoun (ich).

However, if the original sentence were Der Mann rasiert sich jeden Morgen, the sentence with jeden Morgen in first position would look like this:
---->>Jeden Morgen rasiert sich der Mann. Sich remains in this case in the third position because the subject - der Mann - is NOT a pronoun but a noun phrase.
sich beeilen - to hurry (oneself)
---->>Der Deutschlehrer muß sich immer beeilen. - The German teacher must always hurry.

A few common Reflexive Versb in German

Accusative Case Reflexive Verbs

sich waschen -- to wash oneself
sich duschen -- to shower oneself
sich treffen mit + (dat) -- to meet with someone
sich beeilen -- to hurry oneself
sich freuen auf + (acc) -- to look forward to
sich rasieren -- to shave oneself
sich hinsetzen -- to set yourself down

Dative Case Reflexive Verbs

sich ansehen -- to look at (something)
sich bürsten -- to brush (one's teeth, hair)
sich die Hände waschen -- to wash one's hands

How do you know if a reflexive verb requires an accusative case or a dative case reflexive pronoun? If the verb's only direct object is the reflexive pronoun itself, then the accusative case pronoun is required. Examples:

sich hinsetzen - Du mußt dich hinsetzen.

The only object of the verb hinsetzen - to set (oneself) down - is the reflexive pronoun; thus, you use the accusative case reflexive pronoun.
sich freuen auf - Ich freue mich auf das Rockkonzert.

Auf das Rockkonzert is not a direct object of the verb freuen; it's a prepositional phrase that is independent of the verb. The verb sich freuen has no direct object; thus, you use the accusative case pronoun mich.

Note again that only in the ich and du forms is this an issue because in the other forms, the accusative and dative case pronouns are same in both cases. Examine the chart again.
What about the dative case reflexive verbs in the list above? These verbs all have their own direct objects; thus the reflexive pronoun to be used is the dative case one. You'll recall that the dative case is the case used almost always for indirect objects. Examples:

sich die Hände waschen - Ich wasche mir die Hände. - I wash my hands.

Sich waschen already has an accusative case object - die Hände - and it doesn't require another. Thus the reflexive pronoun used here would be the dative case one.
sich den Video ansehen - Du siehst dir den Video an. - You look at the video.

In this sentence there is already an accusative case object - den Video. The reflexive pronoun then would be in the dative case.

Assignments

Reflexive Verbs and their Pronouns
Writing sentences with reflexive Verbs

First Position	Second Position	3rd Position	4th, 5th, 6th, etc. Position	Final Position
Subject	Verb	Reflexive Pronoun	Everything Else	Other Verbal Elements