Sy sien haarself in die spieël.

she

Breakdown of Sy sien haarself in die spieël.

• sien: to see
• die: the
• in: in

Questions & Answers about Sy sien haarself in die spieël.

Why is sy used here, and how can I tell it’s she and not the possessive his?

sy at the beginning of a sentence is the subject pronoun she. It’s not the possessive sy meaning his, because the possessive always precedes a noun (e.g. sy boek = his book). The possessive pronoun for her is haar, which appears in haarself.

What exactly is haarself, and why not just haar?

haarself is the reflexive pronoun meaning herself, used when the subject and object are the same person. haar alone can mean either the object pronoun her (referring to someone else) or the possessive pronoun her. To express that she sees her own self, you need the reflexive haarself.

How are reflexive pronouns generally formed in Afrikaans?