122
Valency and cases
8.2 Reflexive verbs A large number of verbs are used with a REFLEXIVE PRONOUN (see section 3.8) in the ACCUSATIVE case, e.g. sich beeilen ‘hurry’, or sich waschen ‘wash oneself’: ich
beeile wasche
mich
I hurry I wash myself
du
beeilst wäschst
dich
you hurry you wash yourself
er/sie/es
beeilt wäscht
sich
he/she/it hurries he/she/it washes himself/herself/itself
wir
beeilen waschen
uns
we hurry we wash ourselves
ihr
beeilt wascht
euch
you hurry you wash yourselves
sie/Sie
beeilen waschen
sich
they/you hurry they wash themselves/you wash yourself/yourselves
NB See also 3.8, and the accusative forms of the personal pronouns (3.7).
The sentence pattern is essentially that of SUBJECT VERB ACCUSATIVE OBJECT (B), with the object always being a pronoun that refers back to the subject. With sich waschen and a few other reflexive verbs, the meaning is clearly that the action of the verb affects the subject of the sentence (i.e. ‘oneself’): jemanden überzeugen jemanden waschen
convince somebody sich überzeugen wash somebody/something sich waschen
convince oneself wash oneself
With most reflexive verbs, the meaning of the reflexive pronoun is less distinct, although it is often possible to detect the sense in which the action is directed back at the subject of the verb.
Some verbs can be used either transitively, with an accusative object, or reflexively. When used transitively, they correspond to an English transitive verb. When used reflexively, they correspond to an English intransitive verb or an English passive construction: jdn./etw. ändern jdn. ärgern jdn./etw. drehen jdn. interessieren etw. öffnen
change sb./sth. annoy sb. turn sb./sth. interest sb. open sth.
NB jdn. (jemanden) somebody (accusative case) jdm. (jemandem) somebody (dative case) etw. (etwas) something
sich ändern sich ärgern sich drehen sich interessieren sich öffnen
change be annoyed turn be interested open