German Reflexive Verbs

How to conjugate reflexive verbs in German

     

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German Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs express an action that reciprocates back to the subject. In other words, whoever is speaking is doing an action to himself. Examples in English would be: I wash myself, he hurts himself, we hate ourselves. Usually the -self words are a clue in English; however, there are more reflexive verbs in German than in English.

Reflexive Pronouns

Accusative		Dative
mich	uns	mir	uns
dich	euch	dir	euch
sich	sich	sich	sich

The reflexive pronoun follows the verb and agrees with the subject. When a clause contains another object besides the reflexive pronoun, then the reflexive pronoun is in the dative case since the other object is in the accusative case. This is when you use the dative reflexive pronouns instead of the accusative ones.

Accusative: Ich fühle mich nicht wohl - I don't feel well.

Dative: Ich ziehe mir den Mantel aus - I'm taking off my coat.

Also note that parts of the body and articles of clothing use the definite article, not a possessive.  

Reflexive Verbs

sich ärgern	to get angry	sich aufregen	to get agitated
sich ausruhen	to rest	sich erkälten	to catch a cold
sich freuen	to be happy	sich (wohl) fühlen	to feel (well)
sich hinlegen	to lie down	sich anziehen	to get dressed
sich verletzen	to get hurt	sich ausziehen	to get undressed
sich beeilen	to hurry	sich setzen	to sit down
sich erholen	to relax	sich vorstellen	to imagine

Reflexive Verbs + Accusative:
sich ärgern über	to get annoyed about
sich erinnern an	to remember
sich freuen über	to be happy about
sich freuen auf	to look forward to
sich gewöhnen an	to get used to
sich kümmern um	to take care of
sich bewerben um	to apply for
sich interessieren für	to be interested in
sich konzentrieren auf	to concentrate on
sich vorbereiten auf	to prepare for
sich entscheiden für	to decide on
sich verlieben in	to fall in love with
Reflexive Verbs + Dative:
sich trennen von	to break up with
sich erkundigen nach	to ask about
sich fürchten vor	to be afraid of

 

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