A whole family of everyday Danish verbs come with a reflexive pronoun built in. You don't add sig/mig/dig to give them a special meaning — without it, they are simply incomplete. Glæde sig ("to look forward to"), skynde sig ("to hurry"), sætte sig ("to sit down"): the reflexive is part of the verb, like a piece you can never unscrew. English almost never marks these — we just say "hurry," "sit down," "feel" — so the trap for English speakers is leaving the reflexive out. This page maps the most common inherently reflexive verbs and how to conjugate them.
What "inherently reflexive" means
In a plain reflexive sentence like han vasker sig ("he washes himself"), the sig is a real object — he could just as well wash the car (vasker bilen). The reflexive is one option among many.
An inherently reflexive verb is different: the reflexive is obligatory and meaningless on its own. You cannot glæde something else; glæde sig is a fixed unit meaning "to look forward to." Drop the sig and the sentence is broken, not just changed.
Jeg glæder mig til ferien.
I'm looking forward to the holiday.
Skynd dig — bussen kommer om to minutter!
Hurry up — the bus is coming in two minutes!
Sæt dig ned, så laver jeg kaffe.
Sit down, and I'll make coffee.
The reflexive agrees with the subject
The pronoun is not always sig. It agrees with the subject's person, using the full reflexive set: mig, dig, sig, os, jer, sig. Only the 3rd person (he/she/it/they) uses sig; the rest reuse the ordinary object pronoun. (For the underlying system, see the reflexive pronoun sig.)
| Subject | Reflexive | Example with glæde sig |
|---|---|---|
| jeg | mig | jeg glæder mig |
| du | dig | du glæder dig |
| han / hun / den / det | sig | han glæder sig |
| vi | os | vi glæder os |
| I | jer | I glæder jer |
| de | sig | de glæder sig |
Common inherently reflexive verbs
These are the high-frequency ones. Learn each with its sig — store "glæde sig," never bare "glæde."
| Verb (with sig) | Meaning | Present / Past |
|---|---|---|
| glæde sig (til) | to look forward (to) | glæder / glædede |
| skynde sig | to hurry | skynder / skyndte |
| sætte sig | to sit down | sætter / satte |
| føle sig | to feel (a certain way) | føler / følte |
| gifte sig (med) | to get married (to) | gifter / giftede |
| more sig | to have fun, enjoy oneself | morer / morede |
| lægge sig | to lie down | lægger / lagde |
Hun føler sig træt efter den lange rejse.
She feels tired after the long journey.
De giftede sig på rådhuset sidste sommer.
They got married at the city hall last summer.
Børnene morede sig i tivoli hele dagen.
The children had fun at the amusement park all day.
Vi satte os ved vinduet og bestilte to øl.
We sat down by the window and ordered two beers. (past: satte os)
Note føle sig + an adjective for "to feel [tired/happy/sick]." Without the reflexive, føle means "to feel" in the sense of touching something (føl på stoffet — "feel the fabric"), so the sig genuinely changes the meaning here.
Reflexive verbs are not reciprocals
Don't confuse an inherently reflexive verb (subject acts on itself) with a reciprocal (two parties act on each other). Danish marks reciprocity mainly with the -s ending, not with sig: mødes ("to meet each other"), ses ("to see each other / meet up"), skændes ("to quarrel").
Vi mødes klokken syv foran biografen.
We're meeting (each other) at seven in front of the cinema.
Vi ses i morgen!
See you tomorrow! (literally 'we see each other')
The difference matters: de morer sig = "they're enjoying themselves" (each individually), whereas de skændes = "they're quarrelling with each other." For the -s forms, see the -s passive and reciprocals; for the pronoun side of reciprocity (hinanden, "each other"), see reciprocals.
Word order: where the pronoun goes
The reflexive pronoun behaves like an ordinary object: it follows the finite verb in a main clause, and after a modal it follows the bare infinitive.
Nu skynder jeg mig hjem.
Now I'm hurrying home. (inversion: verb, then subject, then mig)
Du må gerne sætte dig.
You're welcome to sit down. (modal må + bare infinitive sætte + dig)
Common Mistakes
❌ Jeg glæder til ferien.
Wrong — glæde requires the reflexive; without it the verb is incomplete.
✅ Jeg glæder mig til ferien.
Correct — glæde sig is a fixed unit.
❌ Han glæder mig til weekenden.
Wrong pronoun — the subject is han, so the reflexive must be sig, not mig.
✅ Han glæder sig til weekenden.
Correct — 3rd-person subject takes sig.
❌ Skynd! Bussen kommer!
Wrong — skynde without a reflexive isn't a command; it sounds broken.
✅ Skynd dig! Bussen kommer!
Correct — even the imperative keeps the reflexive: skynd dig.
❌ Vi satte ned ved bordet.
Wrong — sætte sig is reflexive; without os it means 'set/put something down'.
✅ Vi satte os ned ved bordet.
Correct — 'we sat down' needs os.
Key Takeaways
- Some verbs are inherently reflexive: the sig/mig/dig is obligatory and the verb is broken without it.
- Learn each one with its reflexive: glæde sig, skynde sig, sætte sig, føle sig, gifte sig, more sig, lægge sig.
- The pronoun agrees with the subject (mig, dig, sig, os, jer, sig); the verb conjugates normally.
- The reflexive stays even in the imperative: skynd dig!
- Don't confuse reflexives (act on oneself) with reciprocals (mødes, ses — act on each other).
Now practice Danish
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Start learning Danish→Related Topics
- The Reflexive Pronoun SigA2 — Danish sig is the 3rd-person reflexive (singular and plural) used when the object refers back to the subject; learn the full mig/dig/sig/os/jer set, sig selv vs hinanden, and the inherently reflexive verbs.
- Reciprocal Pronouns: HinandenB2 — Hinanden means 'each other'; how it differs from the reflexive sig selv and from the reciprocal -s verbs like mødes and ses — Danish's three-way system for reciprocity.
- The -s PassiveB1 — The synthetic -s passive — formed by adding -s to the verb (taler → tales) — is the natural Danish passive for general truths, instructions, notices, recipes, and modal constructions. Here is how to build and use it.
- Modal Verbs: An OverviewA2 — The six core Danish modals — kunne, ville, skulle, måtte, burde, turde — their present and past forms, and the iron rule that they take a bare infinitive with no at.