Spatial reflexives (med sig, bakom sig)

In English, if a bodyguard hides a radio behind him, or a president looks in front of her, we use standard object pronouns like "him" and "her". Swedish is more specific. Whenever a spatial location is relative to the subject of the sentence, Swedish requires a reflexive pronoun.

The Third Person: Sig

For third-person subjects (he, she, it, they), the reflexive pronoun is always sig. You will see this frequently with spatial prepositions like bakom (behind), framför (in front of), and bredvid (next to).

The bodyguard has the enemy behind him.
Livvakten har fienden bakom sig.
She looks at the threat in front of her.
Hon tittar på hotet framför sig.

Fixed Spatial Expressions

Swedish also uses sig in a few fixed spatial expressions where English doesn't use a pronoun at all. The most common are se sig omkring (to look around) and ta med sig (to take with, or bring).

The president looks around, but does not see the threat.
Presidenten ser sig omkring, men ser inte hotet.
The president always takes the vest with him.
Presidenten tar alltid med sig västen.

The Second Person: Dig

For first- and second-person subjects (I, you, we), Swedish just uses the standard object pronouns (mig, dig, oss, er) as reflexives. If the subject is du (you), the spatial phrase uses dig.

Run to the cover and close the door behind you!
Spring till skyddet och stäng dörren bakom dig!

Staying Vigilant

You might need several spatial reflexives in the same sentence. As long as they all refer back to the third-person subject, keep using sig.

The bodyguard has the vest next to him and keeps his gaze in front of him.
Livvakten har västen bredvid sig och håller blicken framför sig.
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