In Croatian, the reflexive pronoun sebe translates to "oneself", "myself", "yourself", "himself", and so on, depending on the subject of the sentence. Because it always reflects back to the subject, it never acts as the subject itself and has no nominative form.
| Case | Form |
|---|---|
| Genitive / Accusative | sebe |
| Dative / Locative | sebi |
| Instrumental | sobom |
Genitive and Accusative: sebe
The form sebe is used for both the genitive and accusative cases. You will frequently see it as the direct object of a verb or following prepositions like za (for), na (on), and od (from).
| Forgetting about every obligation, set aside time for yourself. | Zaboravljajući na svaku obavezu, odvoji vrijeme za sebe. |
| When you do not have help, rely on yourself. | Kada nemaš pomoć, osloni se na sebe. |
Dative and Locative: sebi
The form sebi covers the dative and locative cases. Use it as an indirect object (doing something to or for yourself) or after locative prepositions like o (about) and u (in).
| My main obligation is taking care of myself. | Moja glavna obaveza je briga o sebi. |
| I feel a great inner peace within myself. | Osjećam velik unutarnji mir u sebi. |
To talk about buying or providing something for yourself, use the dative sebi with verbs like priuštiti (to afford).
| I want to afford that expensive coat for myself. | Želim sebi priuštiti taj skupi kaput. |
Instrumental: sobom
The instrumental form is sobom. It is often used with the preposition s/sa (with) when carrying something "with oneself," or with za (behind) when closing a door "behind oneself."
| Close the door behind you and focus on work. | Zatvori vrata za sobom i usredotoči se na posao. |
| Going to school, he always carries a heavy bag with him. | Idući u školu, uvijek nosi tešku torbu sa sobom. |
