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Reflexive Verbs: sich freuen, sich erinnern & Co.

B1

Many German verbs point the action back at the doer. Learn the reflexive pronouns, the prepositions that hitch a ride, and the sneaky dative reflexives.

What 'reflexive' actually means

A reflexive verb bounces back on its subject: the doer and the receiver are the same person. English often hides this ('I'm looking forward to it'), while German shows it openly ('ich freue mich darauf'). Some verbs are always reflexive, some only sometimes — the dictionary marks them with 'sich', so learn 'sich freuen' as one inseparable chunk, preposition included.

Beispiele — examples in context

Ich freue mich auf das Wochenende.

I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Tipp: sich freuen auf = happy about something still to come; sich freuen über = happy about something that already happened.

Wir interessieren uns für moderne Kunst.

We are interested in modern art.

Tipp: The preposition für belongs to the verb: 'sich interessieren für' is a package deal.

Er erinnert sich an seinen ersten Schultag.

He remembers his first day of school.

Tipp: sich erinnern an + Akkusativ — 'an seinen ersten Schultag', never 'an der'.

The reflexive pronouns

Most forms are just the object pronouns you already know; the special guest is 'sich', which serves er, sie, es, Sie and all plurals. In the dative column, only the ich- and du-forms change their costume (mir, dir). This is a small table that pays rent every single day.

Reflexive pronouns in accusative and dative
PersonAkkusativDativ
ichmichmir
dudichdir
er / sie / essichsich
wirunsuns
ihreucheuch
sie / Siesichsich

Beispiele — examples in context

Ich wasche mich, dann frühstücke ich.

I wash myself, then I have breakfast.

Tipp: Without the reflexive it changes meaning: 'Ich wasche das Auto' — I wash the car (the car, not me).

Zieh dich an, wir gehen raus!

Get dressed, we're going out!

Tipp: sich anziehen = to get dressed; 'anziehen' without sich means dressing someone else: 'Ich ziehe das Kind an.'

Beeil dich, der Bus kommt!

Hurry up, the bus is coming!

Tipp: sich beeilen exists only with sich — some verbs refuse to work alone.

Dative reflexives: when another object takes the stage

If the sentence already has a full accusative object, the reflexive pronoun politely steps aside into the dative. English does it too: 'I'm buying myself a jacket' — the jacket owns the direct-object slot, so 'myself' moves over. In German: 'Ich kaufe mir eine Jacke.'

Beispiele — examples in context

Ich kaufe mir eine neue Jacke.

I'm buying myself a new jacket.

Tipp: The jacket has the accusative slot, so the reflexive must be dative 'mir' — 'Ich kaufe mich' would be absurd.

Wir machen uns eine Tasse Tee.

We're making ourselves a cup of tea.

Tipp: Same logic: the tea is accusative, 'uns' slides into dative.

Putz dir die Zähne!

Brush your teeth!

Tipp: Your teeth claim the accusative, so it's 'dir', never 'dich'. A sentence said to every German child roughly nine thousand times.