The Reflexive Pronoun "Sig"
When a third-person subject (he, she, it, or they) performs an action on themselves, Danish uses the reflexive pronoun sig.
It translates to himself, herself, itself, or themselves, and its form never changes. This prevents confusion: han vasker ham (he washes him) means he is washing someone else, while han vasker sig means he is washing himself.
| oneself / himself / herself / themselves | sig |
Reflexive vs. Regular Objects
Many daily routine verbs, especially for personal hygiene, use sig. If the action is performed on an object, drop sig and use the regular noun instead.
Notice the difference between drying yourself and drying a floor:
Inherent Reflexive Verbs
Some Danish verbs always require a reflexive pronoun, even if they are not reflexive in English. When using verbs for hurrying, sitting down, feeling a certain way, or looking forward to something, expect to see sig right after the verb.
Bathroom Vocabulary
You will also use a few new bathroom-related nouns, such as the bathtub and the cream.
