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verbs/reflexive-verbs.md

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+title: "Reflexive Verbs - German for English SpeakersGerman for English Speakers"
+source: "https://germanforenglishspeakers.com/verbs/reflexive-verbs"
+crawled: "2026-06-30"
+---
+
+# Reflexive Verbs - German for English SpeakersGerman for English Speakers
+
+# Reflexive Verbs
+
+A reflexive verb is one that refers back to the subject using a reflexive pronoun, as in "Give **yourself** a break!" We covered the reflexive pronouns in [Section IV.2](/nouns/reflexive-pronouns.md "IV.2 Reflexive Pronouns"), but here they are again:
+
+Singular
+
+Plural
+
+Formal
+
+1st
+
+2nd
+
+3rd
+
+1st
+
+2nd
+
+3rd
+
+2nd
+
+**ACC**
+
+mich
+
+dich
+
+sich
+
+uns
+
+euch
+
+sich
+
+sich
+
+**DAT**
+
+mir
+
+dir
+
+English
+
+myself
+
+yourself
+
+him-/her-/  
+itself
+
+ourselves
+
+yourselves
+
+themselves
+
+\[yourself/  
+yourselves\]
+
+As in English, most verbs _can_ take a reflexive pronoun in one of these positions, but some verbs _require_ them. These **reflexive verbs** in German are usually given with the 3rd person pronoun _sich_ in front of the infinitive. This may seem redundant at times, but there are two reasons you need to learn them this way:
+
+1.  There are many actions that drop the reflexive pronoun in English but not in German, so you can’t just translate them word for word. For example, in English you’d say _I’m going to shower_, but in German you say _I’m going to shower **myself**._ (_Ich werde **mich** duschen_). By learning the verb _shower_ as _sich duschen_ rather than just _duschen_, you’ll remember when you have to include a reflexive pronoun.  \[But if you use these verbs non-reflexively (_to shower someone with compliments_), then you don’t need the pronoun.\]
+2.  Some verbs in German have different meanings in their reflexive and non-reflexive forms. For example, _versprechen_ means _to promise_, but _sich versprechen_ means _to misspeak_; _umziehen_ means _to move house_, but _sich umziehen_ means _to change clothes._
+
+As far as where to put the reflexive pronouns, they usually go right after the conjugated verb. In questions or subordinate clauses, where the conjugated verb moves to the end, the reflexive pronoun comes after the subject:
+
+\[examples\]
+
+The reflexive clauses that sound the most unnatural to English speakers are those where the reflexive pronoun has to be used in addition to a separate direct object. This usually occurs with parts of the body:
+
+German:
+
+_Ich wasche **mir** die Haare._
+
+_Er putzt **sich** die Zähne._
+
+Literal English:
+
+“I wash **myself** the hair.”
+
+“He cleans **himself** the teeth.”
+
+Correct English:
+
+I wash my hair.
+
+He cleans \[brushes\] his teeth.
+
+[Continue to next section >>](/verbs/dative-verbs.md)