Die Ärztin wäscht sich die Hände.

The doctor washes her hands.

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 sich come before die Hände in word order?

When both a dative and an accusative object appear, German usually places the dative before the accusative. Also, pronouns normally come before nouns. So the dative reflexive pronoun sich precedes the accusative noun phrase die Hände.

What role does Die play at the beginning, and why is it capitalized?

The first Die is the definite article for Ärztin (feminine, singular) in the nominative case. It’s capitalized because it starts the sentence. It’s the same die you learn as “the” for feminine nouns.

Why is it Ärztin and not Arzt?

Ärztin is the feminine form of “doctor” in German. Arzt is masculine. Since the sentence refers to a female doctor, you use Ärztin.

What tense is wäscht here and how do you recognize it?

Wäscht is the present-tense, third-person singular form of waschen. In German present tense is often used where English would use “is washing” or even simple past, but here it simply means “(the doctor) washes (her hands).”