8.2 Reflexive verbs

A large number of verbs are used with a REFLEXIVEPRONOUN (see section 3.8) in the ACCUSATIVE case, e.g. sich beeilen ‘hurry’, or sich waschen ‘wash oneself’: ich beeile mich I hurry wasche I wash myself du beeilst dich you hurry wäschst you wash yourself er/sie/es beeilt sich he/she/it hurries wäscht he/she/it washes himself/herself/itself wir beeilen uns we hurry waschen we wash ourselves ihr beeilt euch you hurry wascht you wash yourselves sie/Sie beeilen sich they/you hurry waschen they wash themselves/you wash yourself/yourselves

NB See also 3.8, and the accusative forms of the personal pronouns (3.7).

The sentence pattern is essentially that of SUBJECT VERB ACCUSATIVEOBJECT (B), with the object always being a pronoun that refers back to the subject.

With sich waschen and a few other reflexive verbs, the meaning is clearly that the action of the verb affects the subject of the sentence (i.e. ‘oneself’):

jemanden überzeugen convince somebody sich überzeugen convince oneself jemanden waschen wash somebody/something sich waschen wash oneself

With most reflexive verbs, the meaning of the reflexive pronoun is less distinct, although it is often possible to detect the sense in which the action is directed back at the subject of the verb.

Some verbs can be used either transitively, with an accusative object, or reflexively. When used transitively, they correspond to an English transitive verb. When used reflexively, they correspond to an English intransitive verb or an English passive construction:

jdn./etw. ändern change sb./sth. sich ändern change

jdn. ärgern annoy sb. sich ärgern

be annoyed jdn./etw. drehen turn sb./sth. sich drehen turn jdn. interessieren interest sb. sich interessieren be interested etw. öffnen open sth. sich öffnen open

NB jdn. (jemanden) somebody (accusative case) jdm.(jemandem) somebody (dative case) etw. (etwas) something

Other verbs have a different meaning depending on whether they are used transitively, with an accusative object, or reflexively, with a reflexive pronoun:

jdn. erinnern remind sb. sich erinnern remember jdn. fragen ask sb. sich fragen wonder, ask oneself jdn./etw. setzen put sb./sth. sich setzen sit down jdn. unterhalten entertain sb. sich unterhalten have a chat

Certain verbs, such as sich beeilen, are only ever used with the accompanying reflexive pronoun.

These reflexive verbs have no direct equivalent in English, and the REFLEXIVEPRONOUN is an integral part of the verb. Other common reflexive verbs of this type are:

sich bedanken (für) say ‘thank you’ (for) sich entschließen (zu) decide (to) sich befinden be (situated) sich erholen recover sich benehmen behave sich erkälten catch a cold sich beschweren (über) complain (about) sich irren be mistaken sich eignen (für) be suited (to) sich weigern refuse

NB Some of these typically also take a prepositional object (sentence pattern H, see 8.7). Sich befinden usually takes a place complement (see 8.8). Sich entschließen is often used with an infinitive clause: Ich entschloss mich (dazu), sie zu treffen.

„Nein, der Swimmingpool befindet sich weiter oben.“

Dative reflexive pronouns

A dative reflexive pronoun can be used in the same way, with verbs that have a DATIVEOBJECT (see 8.3), to refer back to the SUBJECT of the sentence (for a table of the pronouns see 3.8). They can be used for certain verbs that take only a dative object, e.g. sich widersprechen (contradict oneself),