German reflexive pronouns
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Reflexive pronouns are necessary for reflexive verbs. Their position in the sentence is where the accusative object would normally be (cf. German word order).
German reflexive pronouns are invariable in gender and case, they only depend on the person and number.
In 1st and 2nd person, they are identical with the accusative pronouns. The infinitive is always given with the 3rd person reflexive pronoun.
- 1st person singular: mich
- 2nd person singular: dich
- 3rd person singular: sich
- 1st person plural: uns
- 2nd person plural: euch
- 3rd person plural: sich
- polite 2nd person: sich
As an example, see the conjugation of the reflexive verb sich waschen (to wash oneself):
ich wasche mich, du wäschst dich, er/sie/es wäscht sich,
wir waschen uns, ihr wascht euch, sie waschen sich
The reflexive pronouns are mainly needed for the 3rd person, and that's why they are different from the accusative pronouns there. If you said er wäscht ihn (with the accusative pronoun), it would mean "he washes him", i.e. another man. Thus er wäscht sich (with the reflexive pronoun) is the German way to say "he washes himself". Such a distinction is not necessary for 1st and 2nd person. Think about it yourself...
Dative
Of course such a distinction is also useful in dative case. Compare "she buys a book for herself" to "she buys a book for her" (for another woman). In German you use the reflexive pronoun sich for the first case and the dative pronoun ihr for the second, just like in English.
So the complete conjugation of sich ein Buch kaufen (to buy a book for oneself) is as follows:
ich kaufe mir, du kaufst dir, er/sie/es kauft sich ein Buch
wir kaufen uns, ihr kauft euch, sie kaufen sich ein Buch
Nominative
In English, reflexive pronouns can also be used for a subject, i.e. in nominative case: "He can say it myself." But a distinction between "him" and "himself" is not necessary here, so sich is not used here in German.
The reflexive "himself" is meant to emphasize, not to distinguish. This emphasis is done with the word selbst in German: Er kann es selbst sagen.
The word is the same for all persons, thus "We can say it ourselves" is translated as Wir können es selbst sagen.
Genitive
Not even English uses "herself" in genitive case. Compare "she reads her book" to "she reads her own book". The first phrase is ambiguous (Does she read her own book or another woman's?), the second one makes it clear. This is exactly the same in German: sie liest ihr Buch is ambiguous, sie liest ihr eigenes Buch emphasizes that she doesn't read another woman's book.
The word "eigenes" is declined like an adjective and doesn't depend on the person. And of course you can say ich lese mein eigenes Buch (I read my own book) to emphasize that you don't read someone else's book.
The adjective "eigen" is in fact more regularly used than in English. You say Ich habe ein eigenes Haus for "I have a house of my own".
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German reflexive pronouns (dialect case study)
