German Reflexive Pronouns: mich, dich, sich, uns, euch

German reflexive pronouns are the six forms — mich, dich, sich, uns, euch, sich — that appear when the subject of a verb acts on itself. They are required by reflexive verbs like sich waschen (to wash oneself), sich freuen (to be happy), and sich setzen (to sit down). Four of the six are identical to the regular accusative personal pronouns; only sich is new, and it covers every third-person subject plus the formal Sie.

The hard part is rarely the form itself. It's recognizing which German verbs demand a reflexive pronoun even though their English translation has no "-self" — and not slipping into sich when the subject is ich, du, wir, or ihr.

German reflexive pronouns at a glance: quick reference

The accusative reflexive pronouns line up almost exactly with the accusative personal pronouns. The only divergence is in the third person and formal Sie, where every personal form (ihn, sie, es, sie, Sie) collapses to sich.

The surest way to lock in when sich beats mich or dich is to use it: the interactive drill at the bottom of this page hands you reflexive-verb sentences to complete, costs nothing, asks for no account, and checks each pronoun the instant you choose it.

Read the table left-to-right: if you already know the personal pronouns, you only have to learn one new word — sich — and the rule that it replaces every third-person object form.

What are German reflexive pronouns?

A reflexive pronoun marks the moment when the subject and the direct object of a verb are the same person. Compare:

Er wäscht das Kind. — He washes the child. (subject ≠ object)

Er wäscht sich. — He washes himself. (subject = object)

In the second sentence, "He" and "the person being washed" are one and the same. German signals this with a dedicated pronoun in the accusative slot. English has the same idea (himself, herself, ourselves), but German needs the pronoun far more often, because many German verbs are inherently reflexive — the reflexive pronoun is baked into the verb's lexical entry:

Ich freue mich. — I am happy. (literally: I delight myself)

Wir beeilen uns. — We hurry. (literally: we hurry ourselves)

No "myself" or "ourselves" appears in the natural English translation, but German still requires the reflexive pronoun. Learn each such verb together with sich, the way you learn the gender of a noun together with its article.

How do reflexive pronouns work in the 1st and 2nd person?

For ich, du, wir, and ihr the reflexive pronoun is identical to the accusative personal pronoun. There is no new form to memorize — the pronoun you already use as a direct object ("Siehst du mich?") is reused reflexively.

Ich wasche mich. — I wash myself.

Du setzt dich hin. — You sit down.

Wir freuen uns auf die Party. — We look forward to the party.

Ihr müsst euch beeilen. — You (all) have to hurry.

The reflexive pronoun follows the conjugated verb in a main clause. In a yes/no question it sits right after the inverted verb: Beeilst du dich? — Are you hurrying?

When do you use sich? Third person and formal Sie

For every third-person subject — er, sie, es, plural sie — and the formal Sie, the reflexive pronoun is always sich. Gender, number, and politeness make no difference: sich is invariable.

Er wäscht sich. — He washes himself.

Sie setzt sich. — She sits down.

Es dreht sich. — It is turning.

Sie (plural) freuen sich. — They are happy.

Setzen Sie sich bitte. — Please sit down. (formal)

This is the one truly new piece of vocabulary in the whole table. The trade-off: once you have sich, you stop having to choose between ihn, sie, es, sie, Sie in reflexive contexts. One form covers all five.

Common reflexive verbs in German

Many German verbs are obligatorily reflexive, even though the natural English translation drops the "-self". You cannot leave out sich — Ich freue (without mich) is not a sentence. Here are the most useful A1–A2 verbs to memorize as a block:

Several of these verbs also take a fixed preposition with the accusative — sich freuen auf, sich interessieren für, sich ärgern über — which is governed by the verb itself. See accusative prepositions for how those preposition-verb pairs lock the case.

sich waschen in detail: full conjugation

The verb sich waschen ("to wash oneself") is the textbook reflexive. The verb conjugates as a normal strong verb; only the reflexive pronoun changes by person.

Ich wasche mich jeden Morgen. — I wash (myself) every morning.

Wäschst du dich vor dem Frühstück? — Do you wash before breakfast?

Compare with a non-reflexive direct object, where the reflexive pronoun disappears and a normal accusative object takes its place: Ich wasche das Auto. — I wash the car. Same verb, no reflexive pronoun, because the subject and object are now different.

Word order: where does the reflexive pronoun sit?

The reflexive pronoun is short and clitic-like — German prefers to keep it close to the conjugated verb.

• Main clause: directly after the finite verb. Er wäscht sich jeden Morgen.
• Yes/no question: after the inverted finite verb. Wäschst du dich?
• Imperative: right after the imperative form. Beeil dich! / Setzen Sie sich!
• Subordinate clause (weil, dass, wenn): after the subject, before the rest. …, weil er sich freut.
• Modal verb (a finite modal + reflexive infinitive): the pronoun goes after the modal, the verb stays at the end. Ich muss mich beeilen.

The pronoun never moves to the end of the clause with the verb. It stays near the front, in the so-called "Wackernagel" middle-field position.

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

These are the reflexive errors that show up most often in A1–A2 writing, with the fix in each case.

The single most important habit: when you learn a reflexive verb, learn it with sich attached (sich freuen, sich erinnern, sich beeilen) — the way you learn a noun with its article. Half of these mistakes vanish the moment the pronoun is part of the vocabulary card.

Reflexive vs. reciprocal: "themselves" vs. "each other"

With a plural subject, uns, euch, and sich are ambiguous between reflexive ("themselves") and reciprocal ("each other"). Context usually resolves it; einander can be added when ambiguity is real.

Wir treffen uns. — We meet (each other). (reciprocal — the normal reading)

Wir sehen uns im Spiegel. — We see ourselves in the mirror. (reflexive — forced by im Spiegel)

Sie helfen sich gegenseitig / einander. — They help each other. (explicit reciprocal marker)

This is the foothold for the B1 topic of reflexive vs. reciprocal contrast, where the distinction becomes grammatically important.

Accusative vs. dative reflexives: when does the form change?

The pronouns in this doc are all accusative reflexives, used when the reflexive pronoun is the direct object of the verb. When the verb already has a separate direct object — typically a body part or article of clothing — the reflexive pronoun shifts to the dative: mir, dir, sich, uns, euch, sich.

Ich wasche mich. — I wash myself. (accusative — body washes itself)

Ich wasche mir die Hände. — I wash my hands. (dative — die Hände is the accusative object)

Only ich and du change shape (mich → mir, dich → dir); sich, uns, and euch stay identical. The full accusative-vs-dative contrast is the B1 follow-up; for now, just remember: two objects in the sentence → reflexive moves to dative.