Czech has two reflexive clitics, se and si, and they are not interchangeable. se is the accusative reflexive — "oneself" as a direct object. si is the dative reflexive — "to or for oneself." This page is about si: the quiet little word that turns an action into something you do for your own benefit or to your own body, and that hides inside dozens of everyday phrases like Dám si kávu ("I'll have a coffee"). Once you can feel the difference between washing yourself and washing your hands, si stops being mysterious.
se is accusative, si is dative
The Czech reflexive pronoun has one meaning ("self") but two case forms, and Czech keeps them strictly apart:
| Case | Clitic (unstressed) | Long (stressed) | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Accusative | se | sebe | direct object — "myself" |
| Dative | si | sobě | indirect / beneficiary — "for myself" |
The cleanest way to feel the split is a single verb that takes both. With se, the whole body is the direct object. With si, there is a separate direct object (the hands), and si marks you as the owner and beneficiary:
Ráno se myju studenou vodou.
I wash (myself) with cold water in the morning.
Myju si ruce před každým jídlem.
I wash my hands before every meal.
The rule behind this is mechanical and reliable: as soon as the verb already has its own direct object, the reflexive can no longer be that object — so it surfaces in the dative as si. Ruce ("hands") is the accusative object; si takes the dative slot.
The same minimal pair shows up across grooming verbs:
Češu se před zrcadlem.
I'm combing my hair in front of the mirror. (combing myself)
Češu si vlasy hřebenem.
I'm combing my hair with a comb. (hair is the object)
The benefactive si: doing something for yourself
The core flavour of si is benefit: the subject does something and is also the one who gains from it. The thing acted on keeps its own case (usually accusative); si layers "for me" on top.
Koupil jsem si nové auto.
I bought myself a new car.
Udělej si kafe a sedni si.
Make yourself a coffee and sit down.
Po obědě si musím chvíli odpočinout.
After lunch I need to rest for a while.
The single most common place an English speaker meets this si is ordering food and drink. The restaurant idiom dát si literally means "to give oneself," and the si is obligatory — drop it and you are offering the coffee to someone else.
Dám si kávu a kus dortu.
I'll have a coffee and a piece of cake.
Co si dáš? — Já si dám pivo.
What are you having? — I'll have a beer.
The possessive dative reflexive: your own body and belongings
When you act on your own body part, Czech marks you with si and leaves the body part as a bare noun — no possessive. This is the reflexive twin of the possessive dative: there the affected owner is someone else (myju mu ruce — "I wash his hands"); here the owner is the subject itself, so the dative is reflexive si.
Zlomil jsem si nohu na horách.
I broke my leg in the mountains. (literally: I broke myself the leg)
Nezapomeň si vyčistit zuby.
Don't forget to brush your teeth.
Umyla si vlasy a vysušila je.
She washed her hair and dried it.
Verbs that change meaning with si
For a whole set of verbs, adding si is not just "for myself" — it flips the meaning. The bare verb and the si verb are effectively two different words, and they often take different complements (the bare verb frequently needs na + accusative). These pairs are worth learning as fixed facts:
| Bare verb | With si |
|---|---|
| myslet na — to think about | myslet si — to hold an opinion |
| představit — to introduce (someone) | představit si — to imagine |
| pamatovat na — to bear in mind | pamatovat si — to remember / memorise |
| přát — to wish (someone something) | přát si — to wish for oneself, would like |
Celý den myslím na tebe.
I think about you all day. (myslet na)
Myslím si, že máš pravdu.
I think (in my opinion) you're right. (myslet si)
Představ si, koho jsem dneska potkal!
Imagine who I ran into today!
Vůbec si nepamatuju jeho jméno.
I don't remember his name at all.
Co si přejete?
What would you like? (in a shop or restaurant)
A further group of verbs only ever appear with si — the si is welded on and there is no bare counterpart: stěžovat si (to complain), všimnout si (to notice — and it takes a genitive object), hrát si (to play, of children), povídat si (to chat).
Pořád si na něco stěžuje.
He's always complaining about something.
Všiml jsem si té chyby až večer.
I only noticed the mistake in the evening. (genitive object: té chyby)
Děti si hrály celé odpoledne na zahradě.
The kids played in the garden all afternoon.
si is a second-position clitic
Like se, mi, ti, and the auxiliary jsem, the word si is a clitic: it leans on the word before it and wants the second slot in its clause. It can never open a clause, and inside the clitic chain it sits right after the auxiliary. The standard order is: auxiliary (jsem / jsi) → reflexive (se / si) → other pronouns.
Včera jsem si koupil nový telefon.
I bought a new phone yesterday. (jsem si — second position)
Ten film se mi líbil, koupil jsem si ho na disk.
I liked the film, so I bought it on disc. (jsem si ho)
If you want to put the subject pronoun first for emphasis, si still follows it: Já si dám čaj ("I'll have a tea"). What you cannot do is start the sentence with the clitic itself.
Common Mistakes
❌ Dám kávu.
Incorrect — without si this means 'I'll give a coffee (to someone)'.
✅ Dám si kávu.
I'll have a coffee.
❌ Koupil jsem se nové auto.
Incorrect — se is accusative; the beneficiary needs the dative si.
✅ Koupil jsem si nové auto.
I bought myself a new car.
❌ Myju se ruce.
Incorrect — ruce is already the object, so the reflexive must be the dative si.
✅ Myju si ruce.
I wash my hands.
❌ Nepamatuju jeho telefon.
Incorrect — 'to remember' needs si; the bare verb takes na and means 'bear in mind'.
✅ Nepamatuju si jeho telefon.
I don't remember his phone number.
❌ Si dám pivo.
Incorrect — si is a clitic and cannot open a clause.
✅ Dám si pivo.
I'll have a beer.
Key Takeaways
- se is the accusative reflexive (direct object); si is the dative reflexive (for/to oneself).
- When the verb already has a direct object, the reflexive must be the dative si: myju se vs myju si ruce.
- si carries benefit (koupil jsem si, dám si) and ownership of your own body (zlomil jsem si nohu) — and it replaces the English possessive.
- Some verbs change meaning with si: myslet si, představit si, pamatovat si, přát si.
- si is a second-position clitic that follows the auxiliary and never starts a clause.
Now practice Czech
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Start learning Czech→Related Topics
- The Reflexive Pronouns se and siA2 — Czech has a single reflexive pronoun for every person — accusative se and dative si — and the choice between them changes the meaning of the verb.
- The Dative Reflexive siB2 — How the dative reflexive si marks an action done to, for, or in the interest of oneself — koupit si, dát si, umýt si ruce — and how it differs from accusative se.
- The Dative of Interest and PossessionB1 — Using a bare dative to show the person affected by, interested in, or possessing something.
- Reflexive Verbs: se and si (Introduction)A2 — Czech has a whole class of reflexive verbs that carry se or si as part of their dictionary form; this page introduces them from the verb side — how the particle attaches, what the three types are, and how it travels through the conjugation.
- Full Declension of the Reflexive: sebe, sobě, sebouB1 — The stressed reflexive forms sebe/sobě/sebou used after prepositions and for emphasis.