Reflexive Verbs

German uses reflexive verbs more frequently than English does. They are often used where we would use a passive construction or an intransitive verb. The best example of an English reflexive construction analogous to a German usage is the expression “to enjoy oneself.” For example, “I really enjoyed myself at the party last night.” The meaning is not that I literally was the object of my own enjoyment or that I had a narcissistic experience. It simply means, “I had a good time.” Here are a couple of German reflexive constructions:

sich unterhalten (mit) to sustain oneself, support oneself, have a good time with someone else; to engage in conversation with someone.

sich erinneren an means “remember.” In this case, erinneren without a reflexive pronoun means “remind,” so you can see how the reflexive usage can be equivalent to our “remember.”

Some common reflexive verbs:

sich anziehen, to dress
sich bewegen to move
sich verletzen to hurt oneself
sich vorstellen to introduce oneself

It is probably better, though, just to learn the definition: sich erinneren an means “to remember.” On the other hand, sometimes I make up odd sounding English expressions to remind me of the German patterns. “I had to apologize me last night because I forgot to shave me. I had interested me in a TV show, and therefore I lated me to the party. Still, at the party I very much happied me.”

The reflexive pronoun sich is the all-purpose third-person reflexive pronoun; It is used for all genders and both numbers (i.e., whenever the subject is er, sie, or es or sie, pl).

The reflexive pronoun for first and second-person subjects is simply the accusative case of the appropriate pronoun: mich, dich, uns, euch; sich is used with Sie (formal 2 person).

Advertisement