Most reflexive verbs in German are accusative reflexives: the reflexive pronoun is the direct object, and there is nothing else for the action to fall on. This is the pattern you meet first and use most, so it pays to get the pronoun forms and the underlying logic rock-solid. The good news is that the rule for choosing the case is simple once you know what to count.
The accusative reflexive pronouns
When the reflexive pronoun is the only object, it takes the accusative form:
| Subject | Accusative reflexive |
|---|---|
| ich | mich |
| du | dich |
| er / sie / es | sich |
| wir | uns |
| ihr | euch |
| sie / Sie | sich |
Notice these are identical to the ordinary accusative object pronouns except for the third person and formal Sie, where you get sich instead of ihn/sie/es/sie. That single special form is the whole "extra" you have to learn.
When the reflexive is the only object
The defining feature of an accusative reflexive is that the subject acts on itself and there is no second object. Think of verbs of grooming, body movement, and feeling:
Ich wasche mich jeden Morgen kalt.
I wash with cold water every morning.
Setz dich, das Essen ist gleich fertig.
Sit down, dinner's almost ready.
Er hat sich beim Sport verletzt.
He hurt himself doing sport.
In Ich wasche mich, the only thing being washed is me, and mich is the direct object. There is nothing else competing for the object slot — which is exactly why the pronoun stays accusative.
A core list of accusative reflexives
| Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|
| sich waschen | to wash (oneself) |
| sich setzen | to sit down |
| sich beeilen | to hurry |
| sich ausruhen | to rest |
| sich freuen | to be glad / look forward |
| sich erinnern | to remember |
| sich interessieren | to be interested |
| sich fühlen | to feel (a certain way) |
| sich entscheiden | to decide |
Beeil dich, der Bus kommt gleich!
Hurry up, the bus is coming any second!
Ich fühle mich heute viel besser.
I feel much better today.
Wir konnten uns nicht entscheiden.
We couldn't make up our minds.
Accusative reflexives with a fixed preposition
A large and useful subgroup pairs the reflexive verb with a fixed preposition that introduces what the feeling or interest is about. The preposition is not free — you have to learn it with the verb, just as in English you "look forward to" but are "interested in." Here the most common ones:
| Verb + preposition | Case after the preposition | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| sich freuen auf | accusative | to look forward to (something coming) |
| sich freuen über | accusative | to be glad about (something that happened) |
| sich interessieren für | accusative | to be interested in |
| sich erinnern an | accusative | to remember |
| sich ärgern über | accusative | to be annoyed about |
Two pronouns now live in the sentence — but they don't conflict, because they belong to different slots. The reflexive mich/dich/sich is the accusative object of the verb; the noun after the preposition is governed by that preposition, not the verb. So both can be accusative without clashing.
Ich interessiere mich sehr für alte Filme.
I'm very interested in old films.
Sie freut sich über das Geschenk.
She's pleased about the present.
Erinnerst du dich noch an unseren ersten Urlaub?
Do you still remember our first holiday?
Watch the auf / über distinction with sich freuen: you freuen sich auf something still to come (you look forward to it), and freuen sich über something that has already happened or that you've just received. Both prepositions take the accusative here.
Ich freue mich auf die Ferien.
I'm looking forward to the holidays (still to come).
Ich freue mich über deinen Anruf.
I'm glad about your call (it just happened).
For the broader system of verbs that come bundled with a preposition, and how to turn them into da-/wo-compounds (worauf freust du dich?), see verbs with fixed prepositions.
English contrast: why this trips you up
English handles these meanings in three different ways, none of which involves a reflexive pronoun:
- It uses a bare intransitive verb: sit down, hurry, rest — no object at all.
- It drops the object: I wash, I shave.
- It uses a plain transitive verb: I remember it, I'm interested in it.
German collapses all three into one structure — verb + accusative reflexive pronoun — so the single hardest habit to build is simply remembering to put the pronoun there at all. English gives you no warning signal.
Common Mistakes
❌ Ich wasche mir jeden Morgen.
Incorrect — with no second object, the reflexive of sich waschen is accusative (mich), not dative (mir).
✅ Ich wasche mich jeden Morgen.
I wash every morning.
❌ Setz dir, bitte.
Incorrect — sich setzen takes the accusative reflexive; the dir is dative and wrong here.
✅ Setz dich, bitte.
Please have a seat.
❌ Ich interessiere für Musik.
Incorrect — the reflexive pronoun is missing; sich interessieren needs mich/dich/sich.
✅ Ich interessiere mich für Musik.
I'm interested in music.
❌ Ich freue mich für die Ferien.
Incorrect preposition — sich freuen takes auf (for something coming) or über (for something that happened), not für.
✅ Ich freue mich auf die Ferien.
I'm looking forward to the holidays.
❌ Wir freuen uns über das Konzert nächste Woche.
Questionable — über points back at something already done; for an event still ahead, use auf.
✅ Wir freuen uns auf das Konzert nächste Woche.
We're looking forward to the concert next week.
Key Takeaways
- The accusative reflexive pronouns are mich, dich, sich, uns, euch, sich — identical to ordinary object pronouns except for sich in the third person and formal Sie.
- The reflexive is accusative whenever it is the only object in the clause.
- Many accusative reflexives come with a fixed preposition (sich interessieren für, sich freuen auf/über, sich erinnern an) that you must memorize with the verb.
- To choose the case, count the objects: one object → accusative; a second accusative object → the reflexive moves to dative.
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Start learning German→Related Topics
- Reflexive Verbs: OverviewA2 — What reflexive verbs are, how the reflexive pronoun agrees with the subject, and why German has so many more of them than English.
- Dative Reflexive Verbs and Body PartsB1 — When a reflexive verb already has an accusative object, the reflexive pronoun shifts to the dative — the pattern behind 'sich die Hände waschen' and 'sich etwas vorstellen'.
- Reflexive Pronouns: mich, mir, sichA2 — Reflexive pronouns point back to the subject; first and second person reuse the ordinary object pronouns, while the third person uses the invariable sich, and the accusative/dative choice hinges on whether there is another object.
- Reflexive Verbs with Fixed PrepositionsB2 — Verbs that stack a reflexive pronoun, a fixed preposition, and a governed case — dense three-part frames like sich freuen auf and sich interessieren für, plus their da- and wo-compounds.
- Verbs with Fixed PrepositionsB1 — The large class of German verbs that govern a fixed preposition with a fixed case (warten auf + Akk., teilnehmen an + Dat.) — why the preposition is never the literal English one and the two-way case is lexically frozen.