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### 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*.

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### Third-Person and Plural Pronouns

For *er*, *sie*, *es*, and *sie/Sie* (they/you formal), the dative reflexive pronoun is **sich**.

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For *wir* (we) and *ihr* (you all), use **uns** and **euch**.

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### 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).

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Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Subordinate clauses for reasons (weil)

Question	Answer
the face	das Gesicht
I must wash my face.	Ich muss mir das Gesicht waschen.
the back (body part)	der Rücken
I cannot wash my back.	Ich kann mir den Rücken nicht waschen.
the tooth	der Zahn
Are you brushing your teeth?	Putzt du dir die Zähne?
the hand	die Hand
Wash your hands immediately!	Wasch dir sofort die Hände!
oneself / himself / herself / themselves (reflexive pronoun)	sich
He washed his face.	Er hat sich das Gesicht gewaschen.
the beard	der Bart
The man is cutting his beard.	Der Mann schneidet sich den Bart.
the leg	das Bein
She is washing her legs.	Sie wäscht sich die Beine.
We are brushing our teeth now.	Wir putzen uns jetzt die Zähne.
Did you wash your hands?	Habt ihr euch die Hände gewaschen?
Put on your shoes quickly!	Zieh dir schnell die Schuhe an!
the hair	das Haar
I must wash my hair.	Ich muss mir die Haare waschen.
My grandpa is washing his beard and his hair.	Mein Opa wäscht sich den Bart und die Haare.
Can you wash your hands?	Könnt ihr euch die Hände waschen?
We are putting on our shoes.	Wir ziehen uns die Schuhe an.
I am washing my back.	Ich wasche mir den Rücken.
You are shaving your legs.	Du rasierst dir die Beine.

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