Questions & Answers about Das Kind muss sich heute ausruhen.
Why do we need sich in muss sich ausruhen?
Because sich ausruhen is a reflexive verb in German.
- The basic verb is sich ausruhen = to rest (oneself), to take a rest.
- With reflexive verbs, the action reflects back onto the subject:
- Ich ruhe mich aus. – I rest (myself).
- Du ruhst dich aus.
- Das Kind ruht sich aus.
Without sich, ausruhen would either sound incomplete or mean something different (like to rest something), which is rare and not what is meant here.
So muss sich ausruhen = has to rest (itself) → has to rest.
Why is the reflexive pronoun sich and not something else?
Reflexive pronouns in German change with person and number. For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it / er, sie, es), the reflexive pronoun is always sich, no matter the gender:
- Er ruht sich aus.
- Sie ruht sich aus.
- Es / Das Kind ruht sich aus.
In our sentence, das Kind is grammatically third person singular (like es), so we use sich:
- Das Kind muss sich heute ausruhen.
Why is ausruhen at the very end of the sentence?