UNIT SIX
Unit 6 Reflexive verbs
What are reflexive verbs?
Reflexive verbs refer to an action where the subject of a sentence is doing
something to itself:Ich habe mich verletzt.
I have hurt myself.Marco amüsiert sich.
Marco enjoys himself.Reflexive verbs are always used with a reflexive pronoun (mich,sichetc.)
which reflects the action back to the subject of the sentence.Two types of reflexive verbs
There are two main types of reflexive verbs in German:- ‘true’ reflexive verbs such assich bedanken‘to say thank you’, sich
verabschieden‘to say goodbye’, which can onlybe used reflexively;
and - a large group of verbs, which are usually used in a non-reflexive way
but can also function reflexively:
Non-reflexive Reflexive
Ichwaschedas Asuto. → Ichwasche mich.
I wash the car. I wash myself./I have a wash.
Both types of reflexive verbs are usually used with an accusative pronoun
(michetc.) but can also be accompanied by a dative reflexive pronoun
(miretc.).