German reflexive verbs: ich wasche mich, ich wasche mir die Hände
A morning routine · pick a person, then a step
IchIwachewakeauf.up
ikh VA-khe AUF · “I wake up.”Why:Not every routine verb is reflexive: aufwachen has no sich. It is separable, so auf goes to the end.
Short answer: a reflexive verb has an object that points back to the subject: ich wasche mich, “I wash myself”. The reflexive pronoun is mich, dich, sich, uns, euch, sich. When there is a second object, such as a body part, the pronoun moves to the dative: ich wasche mir die Hände. Many verbs are reflexive in German but not in English: sich freuen, sich beeilen, sich erinnern.
The reflexive pronouns
Mich or mir?
Only ich and du have different accusative and dative forms. For everyone else the reflexive pronoun is the same in both cases, and the third person is always sich.
Person
Accusative · ich wasche …
Dative · ich wasche … die Hände
ich · I
mich
mir
du · you
dich
dir
er · he
sich
sich
sie · she
sich
sich
wir · we
uns
uns
ihr · you all
euch
euch
Verbs to learn with sich
Reflexive in German, not in English
These verbs always take sich, even though English has no “myself”. Learn them with the pronoun, and with their preposition where they have one.
Word order
Sich stays close to the verb
The reflexive pronoun normally comes right after the conjugated verb. In a question or after an inverted subject, it follows the subject when the subject is a pronoun. In a subordinate clause, it comes early and the verb goes to the end.
…, weilbecauseerhesichhimselfbeeilen muss.hurry must
vail air zikh be-AI-len MUS
“… because he has to hurry.”
In the perfect tense
Ich habe mich beeilt
Reflexive verbs always form the perfect with haben, even when they describe movement: Ich habe mich hingesetzt, “I sat down”. The pronoun sits right after haben.
hast doo DEER dee HEN-de ge-VA-shen · “Have you washed your hands?”
Each other
Wir treffen uns, sie kennen sich
With a plural subject, the reflexive pronoun can mean “each other”. Einander says the same thing more formally.
Wirwetreffenmeetunseach-othermorgen.tomorrow
veer TRE-fen uns MOR-gen · “We’re meeting tomorrow.”
Sietheykennenknowsicheach-otherseit Jahren.for years
zee KE-nen zikh zait YAA-ren · “They’ve known each other for years.”
Wirweschreibenwriteunseach-otheroft.often
veer SHRAI-ben uns OFT · “We write to each other often.”
Sietheyhelfenhelpeinander.one-another
zee HEL-fen ai-NAN-der · “They help one another.”
Reflexive verbs with a fixed preposition
Sich freuen auf, sich interessieren für
Many reflexive verbs come with one fixed preposition; learn them as a set. Sich freuen auf looks forward, sich freuen über is happy about something now.