german_sentence_builder

Reflexive pronouns
The reflexive pronoun sich is used with all third person pronouns and all nouns. It is only in the
first and second persons that other forms occur, with certain differences between the accusative
and dative cases:
Nom. Acc. Dat.
ich mich mir I, myself
du dich dir you, yourself
er sich sich he, himself
sie sich sich she, herself
es sich sich it, itself
wir uns uns we, ourselves
ihr euch euch you, yourselves
Sie sich sich you, yourself, yourselves
sie sich sich they, themselves
When the subject of a sentence and the pronoun object of that sentence refer to different
persons or things, a reflexive pronoun is not used:
Der Mann fragte sie, wie es geschehen ist.
The man asked her how it happened.
But when the subject and object are the same person or thing, a reflexive pronoun is used:
Der Mann fragte sich, wie es geschehen ist.
The man asked himself how it happened.
If the pronoun object is a direct object or follows an accusative preposition, use the accusative
reflexive pronoun. If the pronoun object is an indirect object or follows a dative preposition,
use the dative reflexive pronoun:
Accusative
Wofür interessiert sie sich?
(direct object)
Du denkst nur an dich.
(accusative preposition)
Dative
Ich bestelle mir ein Glas Bier.
(indirect object)
Er hat kein Geld bei sich.
(dative preposition)
What’s she interested in?
You only think about yourself.
I order myself a glass of beer.
He doesn’t have any money on him.
Übung
11·6
Example:
Change the underlined word or phrase in each sentence to the appropriate reflexive
pronoun. Then rewrite the sentence with the new subject provided in parentheses.
Er bestellte dem Mann eine Tasse Kaffee.
a. Er bestellte sich eine Tasse Kaffee.
b. (du) Du bestelltest dir eine Tasse Kaffee.
88 Practice Makes Perfect German Sentence Builder