How to conjugate reflexive verbs in German + 111 top examples

Whether you’re making yourself a cup of tea, buying yourself a new notebook or teaching yourself a language, adding reflexive pronouns transforms ordinary actions into personal experiences - and regular verbs into reflexive verbs!

These are the verbs that include pronouns like “myself”, but in German, reflexive verbs are not just limited to things you’re actively doing for yourself. As a German language learner, you’ll encounter more reflexive verbs than you think.

The most common use cases for reflexive verbs in German include expressing feelings, certain movements, routines and personal care. You’ll often need them:

• When expressing your emotions: Ich fühle mich glücklich (I feel happy)
• When mentioning body parts: Ich hab mich am Knie verletzt (I injured my knee)
• When referring to internal or psychological processes: Ich erinnere mich an das Konzert (I remember the concert)
• When describing everyday routines, for example what you do in the bathroom: Ich wasche mich jeden Morgen (I wash myself every morning)

English often simplifies the use of reflexive verbs. For example, in English we say “I feel good”, while the German equivalent is “Ich fühle mich gut”, literally, “I feel myself good.”

At first, that may seem strange, but it makes sense if you think about it. After all, feelings are something we do to or for ourselves and so are many other things, as you’re about to see!

Table of contents

• What are reflexive verbs?
• How to recognize reflexive verbs
• Accusative vs. Dative
• How to conjugate reflexive verbs
• 111 most common reflexive verbs
• How to use reflexive verbs in a sentence

What are reflexive verbs?

Reflexive verbs are verbs that reflect back upon the subject. That means, the action of the verb is done by the subject to the subject itself.

Here are some English examples:

• I'm teaching myself to play the piano.
• He hurt himself while playing soccer.
• She found herself lost in the new city.

As you can see, these verbs use reflexive pronouns like "myself," "yourself," "himself," "herself," "itself," "ourselves," "yourselves," and "themselves."

Reflexive pronouns with reflexive verbs

These reflexive pronouns are the markers that signal the subject is also the object of the action. In German, they vary depending on the grammatical case (accusative or dative), the person (first, second, or third) and the numerus (singular, plural) of the subject.

How to recognize reflexive verbs in German

Your first clue that you might be looking at a German reflexive verb is the reflexive pronoun - but watch out!

The company of a reflexive pronoun doesn’t automatically make the verb reflexive. It can also indicate an object case for example.

To differentiate a German reflexive verb from a non-reflexive verbs, pay attention to the action's direction: If a verb doesn't affect the subject itself, it's a plain, non-reflexive verb.

Example: Ich sehe den Hund. (I see the dog).

The action is directed toward the dog, not back at the subject.

However, if the action swings back to the subject, we're in reflexive territory.

Example: Ich sehe mich im Spiegel. (I see myself in the mirror).

Accusative vs. Dative

Reflexive pronouns can be in one of two cases:

Accusative:

Accusative reflexive pronouns are the most common. They’re used when there's no other object in the sentence. For example: “Ich habe mich verlaufen” (I have lost my way, literally: “I have ‘misrun’ myself”).

German reflexive verbs in the accusative case use the German reflexive pronouns "mich" (myself), "dich" (yourself, singular informal), "sich" (himself, herself, itself, yourself formal), "uns" (ourselves), "euch" (yourselves), and "sich" (themselves, yourselves formal).

Dative:

Dative reflexive pronouns come into play when there's already an accusative object in the sentence. The reflexive pronoun then takes the dative form. For example: “Ich putze mir die Zähne” (I'm brushing my teeth). Here, “die Zähne” is the accusative object, and 'mir' is the reflexive pronoun in the dative form.In the dative case, reflexive verbs use “mir” (to/for myself), “dir” (to/for yourself, singular informal), “sich” (to/for himself, to/for herself, to/for itself, to/for yourself formal), “uns” (to/for ourselves), “euch” (to/for yourselves) and “sich” (to/for themselves, to/for yourselves formal).

A good rule of thumb is: If the verb is being done to a specific part of a person, their body or a personal belonging and there’s no accusative object in the sentence, it's likely that the verb will be a reflexive verb in the accusative. If the verb is directed towards oneself and there is an accusative object in the sentence, it's likely that the verb is a reflexive verb in the dative.

Reflexive verbs in the accusative:

Reflexive verbs in the dative:

How to conjugate reflexive verbs in German

Conjugating German reflexive verbs follows standard verb conjugation rules. The only difference is the addition of a reflexive pronoun.

Let’s take one example of a reflexive verb in the accusative and one in the dative and take them on a little time travel trip through the tenses, so you can learn how exactly they change.

Accusative reflexive verbs in the present tense

Here’s the accusative reflexive verb “sich erinnern” (to remember). As you can see, it’s conjugated just like any other regular German verb and then followed by the respective reflexive pronoun:

Dative reflexive verbs in the present tense

Now let’s take a look at the dative reflexive verb “sich Gedanken machen” (to contemplate).

While this expression can mean “thinking about something”, “worrying” or “coming up with new ideas”, it literally translates to “to make oneself thoughts”.

The thoughts (“Gedanken”) are the accusative in the sentence, so the reflexive pronoun becomes a dative case as it refers to the person the thoughts are created for, so to speak.

Accusative reflexive verbs in the imperfect tense

You’ll see that in the imperfect tense, called “Präteritum” in German, the position of the subject, verb and reflexive pronoun stay the same. The only thing that changes is the verb ending:

Dative reflexive verbs in the imperfect tense

For the dative reflexive as well, only the verb ending changes.

Accusative reflexive verbs in the present perfect tense

In the present perfect tense, the verb gets split in two parts, an auxiliary verb and a past participle, just like in English: I have remembered.

In the case of German accusative reflexive verbs, the reflexive pronoun gets sandwiched between those two verb parts:

Dative reflexive verbs in the present perfect tense

The same goes for dative reflexive verbs in the present perfect, and the accusative follows right after the reflexive pronoun:

Accusative reflexive verbs in future simple tense

In the simple future tense, German verbs also get split up, this time into an auxiliary verb form of “werden” (to become) and the infinitive, and again, the reflexive pronoun goes right between the two verb forms.

Dative reflexive verbs in future simple tense

In the case of a dative reflexive verb in the future, the accusative object directly follows the reflexive pronoun again:

Accusative reflexive verbs in present subjunctive tense

The present subjunctive tense (Konjunktiv I) expresses a grammatical mood that differs from the regular mood (Indikativ). It’s mostly used in reported speech. Note that only the third person singular is different and the reflexive pronouns are the same as in the indicative mood.

Dative reflexive verbs in present subjunctive tense

Dative reflexive verbs work the same way as accusative ones, only with the accusative following the reflexive pronoun again.

Accusative reflexive verbs in present conditional tense

The present conditional tense (Konjunktiv II) is used to express hypothetical situations, indirect discourse, and politeness.

It’s formed with the conjunctive form of the auxiliary verb "werden" (to become) and an infinitive, with the reflexive pronoun right in the middle:

Dative reflexive verbs in present conditional tense

The dative reflexive verb follows the same pattern:

Accusative reflexive verbs in formal imperative tense

The imperative expresses commands or suggestions. Watch!

Dative reflexive verbs in formal imperative tense

Accusative reflexive verbs in informal imperative tense

Dative reflexive verbs in informal imperative tense in German

Accusative reflexive verbs in infinitive

The infinitive form is the form you usually learn first when you learn a new verb. If you’re learning the infinitive of a reflexive verb, it always starts with a “sich” (oneself):

Dative reflexive verbs in infinitive in German

For dative reflexive verbs, there’s always an accusative that comes with the infinitive. If it’s a common expression or an idiom like “sich Gedanken machen” (to contemplate) or “sich Zeit nehmen“ (to take one's time), you learn it with the respective accusative object, in these cases “Gedanken” (thoughts) and “Zeit” (time) but if the accusative is interchangeable, you add the word “etwas” (something) to the infinitive, for example: “etwas ausprobieren” (to try something) or, short, “etw. ausprobieren” (to try sth.).

111 most common reflexive verbs in German

Some of the most important verbs are reflexive verbs in German - from apologizing to getting dressed. Now that you know how they work, it’s time to study them - with this helpful list:

• sich bedanken - to thank
• sich entschuldigen - to excuse oneself/apologize
• sich anziehen - to get dressed
• sich beteiligen - to participate
• sich ausruhen - to rest
• sich beeilen - to hurry
• sich befassen - to deal with
• sich einmischen - to interfere
• sich beherrschen - to control oneself
• sich beklagen - to lament
• sich bemühen - to make an effort
• sich benehmen - to behave
• sich abkühlen - to cool down
• sich beruhigen - to calm down
• sich beschäftigen - to employ oneself
• sich beschweren - to complain
• sich bilden - to educate oneself
• sich entspannen - to relax
• sich einstellen auf - to brace oneself for
• sich empfehlen - to recommend oneself
• sich entscheiden - to decide
• sich erholen - to recover
• sich erinnern - to remember
• sich erkälten - to catch a cold
• sich erkundigen - to inquire
• sich hinsetzen - to sit down
• sich erschrecken - to get scared
• sich fühlen - to feel
• sich freuen - to be excited
• sich fürchten - to be afraid
• sich gewöhnen ab - to get used to
• sich halten - to stop oneself
• sich hüten - to constrain oneself
• sich informieren - to inform oneself
• sich interessieren - to be interested
• sich irren - to be mistaken
• sich kämmen - to comb one's hair
• sich konzentrieren - to focus
• sich kümmern - to take care of
• sich langweilen - to be bored
• sich melden - to report
• sich nähern - to approach
• sich orientieren - to orient oneself
• sich putzen - to clean oneself
• sich rächen - to revenge oneself
• sich rasieren - to shave oneself
• sich rechtfertigen - to justify oneself
• sich vorstellen - to introduce oneself
• sich regen - to move
• sich reinigen - to cleanse oneself
• sich ändern - to change
• sich verkleiden - to disguise oneself
• sich schämen - to be ashamed
• sich umdrehen - to turn around
• sich verstecken - to hide
• sich schützen - to protect oneself
• sich schminken - to put on makeup
• sich sehnen nach - to long for
• sich verspäten - to be late
• sich sichern - to secure oneself
• sich sorgen - to worry
• sich strecken - to stretch
• sich stylen - to style oneself
• sich täuschen - to be mistaken
• sich ernähren - to nourish oneself
• sich trauen - to dare
• sich verabreden - to make an appointment
• sich ergeben - to surrender
• sich verabschieden - to say goodbye
• sich verschlucken - to choke
• sich verhalten - to behave
• sich verlieben - to fall in love
• sich verlaufen - to get lost
• sich verfahren - to get lost while driving
• sich vermehren - to procreate
• sich verständigen - to communicate
• sich versichern - to insure oneself
• sich widersetzen - to resist
• sich versuchen - to try
• sich vorbereiten - to prepare oneself
• sich vorsehen - to watch out
• sich waschen - to wash oneself
• sich wehren - to defend oneself
• sich wundern - to wonder
• sich eignen - to be suitable
• sich zurückziehen - to withdraw
• sich zusammenreißen - to keep it together
• sich anstrengen - to strain oneself
• sich aufhalten - to stop oneself
• sich aufregen - to get upset
• sich bewerben - to apply
• sich bücken - to bend down
• sich widmen - to dedicate oneself
• sich verkriechen - to crawl into hiding
• sich bessern - to improve
• sich ersparen - to spare oneself
• sich fürchten - to fear
• sich gewöhnen an - to get used to
• sich schmücken - to adorn oneself
• sich spezialisieren - to specialize
• sich umziehen - to change
• sich verirren - to lose one's way
• sich verwöhnen - to spoil oneself
• sich weigern - to refuse
• sich zwingen - to force oneself
• sich gruseln - to be creeped out
• sich unterwerfen - to submit
• sich freuen - to rejoice
• sich ducken - to duck down
• sich auskennen - to know one's way around
• sich niederlassen - to settle down

How to use reflexive verbs in a sentence

To use these verbs in a sentence, stick to these four steps:

1. Start with the subject of the sentence (i.e., “Ich”, “die Katze”, “wir”)
2. Continue with the verb or if the verb consists of two parts with the first part of the verb (“kämme”, “putzt”, “werden”)
3. Match the reflexive pronoun to the subject (“Ich → “mich”, die Katze” → “sich”, “wir” → “uns”)
4. If the verb has a second part, add this last (“wir werden uns beeilen”)

Here are some examples of reflexive verbs used in sentences:

Teaching yourself

One reflexive verb you’re already practicing right now is teaching yourself! Since you’re reading our German vocabulary articles, you’re doing a great job actively teaching yourself German, which can be a helpful addition to taking a German class or a valuable practice on its own.

So keep it up: Motivate yourself. Teach yourself - and then go out there and express yourself!