Breakdown of Die Ärztin wäscht sich die Hände.
waschen
to wash
die Hand
the hand
sich
herself
die Ärztin
the doctor
Questions & Answers about Die Ärztin wäscht sich die Hände.
Why is there sich in this sentence?
In German, when you wash a part of your own body, you use a reflexive construction. Here waschen becomes reflexive, so you need a reflexive pronoun. For third person singular that pronoun is sich, showing that the action refers back to the subject (the doctor).
Why is sich in the dative case rather than accusative?
Reflexive verbs like sich waschen often require the reflexive pronoun in the dative when you also mention the body part as a direct object. You wash yourself something (your hands), so yourself (sich) is in dative and your hands (die Hände) is in accusative.
Why is die Hände in the plural and in the accusative case?
Hände is simply the plural form of Hand. Since the hands are the direct object of the action “to wash,” they take the accusative plural article die. In singular you would say die Hand, but here both hands are being washed.
Can you omit sich and just say Die Ärztin wäscht die Hände?
Technically you can say that, but it sounds odd. Without sich, it implies she’s washing someone else’s hands or washing unspecified hands. The reflexive sich makes it clear she’s washing her own hands.
Why does come before in word order?