Dative Reflexive Pronouns
When a reflexive verb has a direct object—such as a body part or a piece of clothing—the reflexive pronoun shifts to the dative case. You are essentially saying that you are doing the action to or for yourself.
| Subject | Dative Reflexive |
|---|
| ich | mir |
| du | dir |
| er / sie / es | sich |
| wir | uns |
| ihr | euch |
| sie / Sie | sich |
Notice that only mir and dir are different from the accusative forms (mich and dich). The rest of the pronouns remain exactly the same!
Grooming and Body Parts
In English, you might say "I wash my face." In German, you say "I wash to myself the face." Because the dative reflexive pronoun already establishes whose body it is, you simply use the definite article (der, die, das) instead of a possessive word like mein or dein.
Third-Person and Plural Pronouns
For er, sie, es, and sie/Sie (they/you formal), the dative reflexive pronoun is sich.
For wir (we) and ihr (you all), use uns and euch.
Clothing and Commands
This structure also applies when putting on clothes. The separable verb sich anziehen (to put on clothes) takes a dative reflexive pronoun when you specify what piece of clothing you are putting on.
You will frequently hear this structure used in commands (the imperative).
