Reflexive Pronouns: Dative or Accusative?
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Distinguish dative and accusative reflexive pronouns. Learn why an additional accusative object often requires mir or dir, and practise verbs whose meaning changes with the construction.
Explanation
Reflexive pronouns in the dative and accusative
Many reflexive verbs use an accusative reflexive pronoun:
Ich wasche mich. Du ziehst dich an.
If the sentence also contains its own accusative object, the reflexive pronoun is usually dative:
Ich wasche mir die Hände. Du ziehst dir eine Jacke an.
Forms
| Person | Accusative | Dative |
|---|
| ich | mich | mir |
| du | dich | dir |
| er/sie/es/man | sich | sich |
| wir | uns | uns |
| ihr | euch | euch |
| sie/Sie | sich | sich |
Only ich and du show a visible contrast: mich/mir and dich/dir.
How to decide
First look for another accusative object such as die Hände, einen Tee, das Gesicht. If it is present, the reflexive pronoun often marks the affected person and is dative. Without another object, many reflexive verbs use the accusative.
Compare:
- Lea kämmt sich. / Lea kämmt sich die Haare.
- Ich habe mich verletzt. / Ich habe mir den Fuß verletzt.
- Ihr zieht euch aus. / Ihr zieht euch die Schuhe aus.
With sich, uns, euch, the form does not reveal the case, so use the sentence structure.
Verbs and meanings
Common patterns with an additional object include sich etwas kaufen, wünschen, aussuchen, merken, vornehmen and sich Sorgen machen.
With vorstellen, meaning matters:
- Ich stelle mich vor. = I introduce myself.
- Ich stelle mir eine Reise vor. = I imagine a journey.
The reflexive pronoun normally stays close to the conjugated verb. The case depends on the verb's complements, not on the tense.
Exercises
- Decide whether the highlighted reflexive pronoun is dative or accusative. (11)
- Complete the connected text with reflexive pronouns from the word bank. (4)
- Build a complete sentence from the cues. Pay attention to case and word order. (11)
B1 · German · Grammar