Learn Dutch: Jij wast je met water en zeep. - You wash yourself with water and soap.

In Dutch, zich wassen (to wash oneself) is a reflexive verb. When you are the one doing the washing and also the one being washed, you must use a reflexive pronoun. For the 'you' form (jij or je), the reflexive pronoun is je, meaning 'yourself'.

Can I say Je wast je instead of Jij wast je?

Yes, you can! Jij is just the stressed version of 'you'. Using Jij at the beginning puts extra focus on the fact that you are the one washing yourself, perhaps in contrast to someone else. However, the reflexive pronoun that comes after the verb is always the unstressed je.

Wait, why is the verb wast with a -t? Doesn't the -t disappear for 'you' forms?

The -t only drops when the subject jij or je comes immediately after the verb, like when asking a question (Was jij je?). Because the subject Jij comes before the verb in this sentence, it follows the normal rule and gets a -t added to the stem (was + t).

Do I always have to use a reflexive pronoun with wassen?