Breakdown of Ziet de opdrachtgever zichzelf als de baas?
zien
to see
de baas
the boss
als
as (like / conjunction)
zichzelf
himself / herself / themselves (emphatic)
Questions & Answers about Ziet de opdrachtgever zichzelf als de baas?
Why use zichzelf here instead of just zich?
The verb zien (to see) is not a standard reflexive verb. The client is performing the action of seeing on himself, rather than on someone else. When we want to emphasize that the object of the verb is the same as the subject, we add -zelf to make it zichzelf.
If de opdrachtgever was female, would the pronoun change?
No, it would still be zichzelf. In Dutch, the third-person reflexive pronoun zich (and its emphatic form zichzelf) is used for both 'himself' and 'herself', as well as for 'itself' and the plural 'themselves'.
The word opdrachtgever is quite long. How is it constructed?
It is a compound noun made of opdracht (assignment or task) and gever (giver). Literally the 'assignment giver', it is the standard term for a client or the person commissioning a project.
Could I say zoals de baas instead of als de baas in this sentence?
No, that would mean something entirely different. Using als de baas means he considers himself to be the boss. If you used zoals de baas, it would mean he sees things in the exact same way that the actual boss sees them.