Reflexive verbs

Some German verbs come with a pronoun attached that points back at whoever is doing the action. Ich freue mich — literally I please myself, meaning I am glad*. The pronoun is not optional: without it the verb is incomplete.

The reflexive pronoun changes with the subject. Get the subject right and the pronoun follows.

Notice that mich, dich, uns, euch are the ordinary accusative pronouns you would use for anyone else. Only the third person has its own word: sich, which covers he, she, it, they and formal you.

The clearest way to feel what reflexive means is to compare the same verb with and without it.

• Ich wasche das Auto.

  I am washing the car.

  the object is something else

• Ich wasche mich.

  I am washing (myself).

  the object is me

Most reflexive verbs, though, are simply learned as a unit — the pronoun belongs to the verb the way a preposition belongs to an English phrasal verb.

• Ich freue mich.

  I am glad / I am looking forward to it.

• Ich treffe mich mit meinem Freund.

  I am meeting my friend.

  sich treffen mit + dative

• Ich interessiere mich für Deutsch.

  I am interested in German.

  sich interessieren für + accusative

• Wie fühlst du dich?

  How do you feel?

• Wir treffen uns morgen.

  We are meeting tomorrow.

• Er wäscht sich.

  He is washing.

• Ich erinnere mich an meinen ersten Tag.

  I remember my first day.

  sich erinnern an + accusative

Where does the pronoun sit? Directly after the conjugated verb in a normal sentence, and after the subject when something else has taken position 1: Heute treffe ich mich mit meinem Freund.

Several of these verbs come with a fixed preposition — sich freuen auf, sich interessieren für, sich erinnern an. Learn the preposition with the verb; guessing from English rarely works.