Go to the homepage of our German Course Chapter 10: Daily Life University of Portsmouth
10.8 Reflexive verbs (1)

Definition
In most sentences with objects, the subject and the object are two different people or things - e.g. Ich sehe ihn ("I see him").

Sometimes however a verb's subject and object are the same person or thing. Such verbs are called reflexive. In English, reflexive verbs end in "-self" or "-selves" - e.g. "I hurt myself", "she flatters herself", "they're giving themselves a break".

Bad news!Not all German reflexive verbs however can be translated by "-self". In fact, whilst most English reflexive verbs are also reflexive in German, there are a number of German reflexive verbs that are not reflexive in English. Some of them have English equivalents which use "get" (i.e. to get dressed, to get washed, to get shaved), whereas some of them describe physical actions for which we do not use a reflexive verb. Many other German reflexive verbs however do not fall into either of these two categories (i.e. to be interested, to relax).


The infinitive of a German reflexive verb
German reflexive verbs consist of a simple verb together with the reflexive pronoun in the accusative or (in certain circumstances) the dative case. In the infinitive form, the reflexive pronoun (sich) precedes the verb itself.

Here is the infinitive form of the reflexive verbs taking an accusative pronoun which we have encountered in this and earlier chapters:

sich anziehen
(to get dressed)
   sich ausruhen
(to relax)
sich ausziehen
(to get undressed)
   sich bemühen
(to make an effort)
sich interessieren
(to be interested)
   sich langweilen
(to be bored)
sich rasieren
(to have a shave)
   sich treffen
(to meet)
sich vorstellen
(to introduce oneself)
   sich waschen
(to get washed)

Notes
1. The verb treffen (= to meet) is only used reflexively in the plural. In this context, the reflexive pronoun denotes reciprocity and is the equivalent of each other:

  • Wir treffen uns morgen. (We will meet each other tomorrow.)
  • Wo treffen sie sich? (Where are they meeting each other?)

We will meet more reflexive verbs of this sort in subsequent chapters.

2. When using sich interessieren, you should employ the preposition für followed by a noun in the accusative case to say what it is that you are interested in. If your interest is an activity, you should express this by using the infinitive of the German verb, spelling it with a capital letter. This is called a verbal noun.

  • Paula interessiert sich für Fußball. (Paula is interested in football.)
  • Interessieren Sie sich für Lesen? (Are you interested in reading?)

Reflexive and non-reflexive verbs
Most of the verbs which we have met on the previous page can either be used as a reflexive verb followed by a reflexive pronoun in the accusative case, or as a normal verb using a personal pronoun in the accusative case. In the second case the action of the verb is being carried out to somebody else.

sich anziehen
(to get dressed)
   jemanden anziehen
(to dress somebody)
sich ausziehen
(to get undressed)
   jemanden ausziehen
(to undress somebody)
sich interessieren
(to be interested)
   jemanden interessieren
(to interest somebody)
sich langweilen
(to be bored)
   jemanden langweilen
(to bore somebody)
sich rasieren
(to have a shave)
   jemanden rasieren
(to shave somebody)
sich treffen
(to meet)
    jemanden treffen
(to meet somebody)
sich vorstellen
(to introduce oneself)
    jemanden vorstellen
(to introduce somebody)
sich waschen
(to wash oneself)
   jemanden waschen
(to wash somebody)

Notes
1. In dictionaries, verbs which take a direct object are listed as in the table above, namely preceded by jemanden or its abbreviated form jdn.. The word jemand is the German word for somebody. In the accusative case (as here), it adds "-en". To use the verb, simply replace jemanden with the accusative of the noun to which you are referring.

2. Care needs to be taken in distinguishing between the reflexive and non-reflexive usages of a verb:

  • Claudia wäscht sich.
    (Claudia washes herself.)
  • Claudia wäscht das Kind.
    (Claudia washes the child.)
  • Er stellt sich vor.
    (He introduces himself.)
  • Er stellt ihn vor.
    (He introduces him (i.e. somebody else).)
  • Sie treffen sich.
    (They meet each other.)
  • Sie treffen sie.
    (They meet them (i.e. some other people).)



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