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### Internal Mental Processes

You have already learned that reflexive verbs take a **dative** reflexive pronoun (like *mir*, *dir*, or *sich*) when there is also a direct object in the sentence. 

This structure is incredibly common in German when describing internal mental processes, such as imagining, remembering, or deciding. You are essentially picturing a concept *to yourself* or committing a fact to memory *for yourself*.

### Imagining and Remembering

To say you "imagine" something, use the separable verb **sich etwas vorstellen**.

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Use **sich etwas merken** to say you are memorizing or remembering a specific piece of information.

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### Considering Options

When you need to think something over or consider a problem, use **sich etwas überlegen**.

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### Wishing and Choosing

Use **sich etwas wünschen** (to wish for) and the separable verb **sich etwas aussuchen** (to choose or pick out) to express personal desires or make a selection.

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### Worrying

To express that you are worrying, German uses the phrase **sich Sorgen machen** (literally, "to make worries *for oneself*").

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Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

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 pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

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
to imagine	sich vorstellen
the future	die Zukunft
I imagine the future.	Ich stelle mir die Zukunft vor.
Can you imagine this house?	Kannst du dir dieses Haus vorstellen?
It is getting late.	Es wird spät.
to memorize / to remember (commit to memory)	sich merken
I cannot remember this name.	Ich kann mir diesen Namen nicht merken.
He remembers every mistake.	Er merkt sich jeden Fehler.
the decision	die Entscheidung
easy / simple / simply, just	einfach
This decision is not easy.	Diese Entscheidung ist nicht einfach.
to consider / to think over	sich überlegen
the possibility / the option	die Möglichkeit
We are considering another possibility.	Wir überlegen uns eine andere Möglichkeit.
You must think carefully about this problem.	Du musst dir dieses Problem gut überlegen.
to wish for	sich wünschen
What do you wish for?	Was wünschst du dir?
The child wishes for a dog.	Das Kind wünscht sich einen Hund.
to choose / to pick out	sich aussuchen
You may choose a gift.	Du darfst dir ein Geschenk aussuchen.
We are picking out a film.	Wir suchen uns einen Film aus.
the worry	die Sorge
I often worry.	Ich mache mir oft Sorgen.
You do not have to worry.	Du musst dir keine Sorgen machen.
Is there another possibility?	Gibt es eine andere Möglichkeit?
I imagine the future to be simple.	Ich stelle mir die Zukunft einfach vor.
You must think the decision over well.	Du musst dir die Entscheidung gut überlegen.