Reflexive Verbs in Swedish

In Brief

A Swedish reflexive verb describes an action that returns to the subject: Jag tvättar mig means “I wash myself.” The reflexive pronoun changes with the subject—mig, dig, sig, oss, or er—while sig is used for all third-person subjects. Some very common Swedish expressions are reflexive even when English does not use “myself” or “yourself”: Hon känner sig trött means “She feels tired.”

Overview

A reflexive pronoun is an object word that refers back to the subject—the person or thing doing the action. Compare Jag tvättar bilen (“I wash the car”) with Jag tvättar mig (“I wash myself”). In the second sentence, jag and mig refer to the same person, so the action is reflexive.

This is a core A2 pattern because reflexive expressions appear constantly in ordinary Swedish: getting dressed, sitting down, feeling well or tired, hurrying, learning something, and getting married. The main rule is short, but English can sometimes be misleading. English often leaves the reflexive idea unspoken, as in “I get dressed,” while Swedish normally says Jag klär på mig. At other times, an English verb with -self does not require a reflexive pronoun in Swedish.

You should already be comfortable forming the present tense of Swedish verbs. Reflexive verbs do not have a special conjugation: the verb follows its normal tense pattern. What changes is the pronoun that accompanies it.

How It Works

The reflexive pronoun must match the subject

The subject is the person or thing performing the action. The object is who or what the action affects. When they are the same, Swedish chooses the following object forms:

Subject	Reflexive pronoun	Example	Meaning
jag	mig	Jag tvättar mig.	I wash myself.
du	dig	Du tvättar dig.	You wash yourself.
han	sig	Han tvättar sig.	He washes himself.
hon	sig	Hon tvättar sig.	She washes herself.
den/det	sig	Katten tvättar sig.	The cat washes itself.
vi	oss	Vi tvättar oss.	We wash ourselves.
ni	er	Ni tvättar er.	You wash yourselves.
de	sig	De tvättar sig.	They wash themselves.

The form sig is only third person: use it with han, hon, den, det, de or a third-person noun such as Erik, barnet, or mina vänner. Do not use sig with jag, du, vi, or ni.

In vocabulary lists, the verb is conventionally shown with sig: att tvätta sig, att känna sig, att sätta sig. This sig is a placeholder for the form required by the actual subject. Therefore att känna sig becomes jag känner mig, not jag känner sig.

Basic sentence pattern

The beginner pattern is:

subject + conjugated verb + reflexive pronoun + other information

• Jag känner mig glad. — I feel happy.
• Leo sätter sig på stolen. — Leo sits down on the chair.
• Vi skyndar oss till bussen. — We hurry to the bus.

The verb conjugates normally. The reflexive pronoun stays an object pronoun; it does not receive a tense ending.

Form	Swedish	English
Infinitive	att klä på sig	to get dressed
Present	Hon klär på sig.	She gets dressed.
Past	Hon klädde på sig.	She got dressed.
Perfect	Hon har klätt på sig.	She has got dressed.
Future expression	Hon ska klä på sig.	She is going to get dressed.

With a modal verb such as ska (“will/is going to”), måste (“must”), or vill (“want to”), the main verb remains in the infinitive and the reflexive pronoun follows the verb expression:

• Jag måste skynda mig. — I have to hurry.
• De ska gifta sig i juni. — They are going to get married in June.
• Vill du sätta dig? — Would you like to sit down?

Negation and questions

In a simple main clause, inte generally follows the reflexive pronoun:

• Jag känner mig inte sjuk. — I do not feel ill.
• De har inte bestämt sig än. — They have not decided yet.

In the second example, inte comes after the finite verb har but before the infinitive-related sequence bestämt sig. Swedish word order depends on the clause and verb construction, so learn complete sentences rather than treating verb + pronoun as unbreakable.

For a yes/no question, move the conjugated verb before the subject; the reflexive pronoun still agrees with the subject:

• Känner du dig bättre? — Do you feel better?
• Har hon satt sig? — Has she sat down?

With a question word, place that word first:

• Hur känner ni er idag? — How do you feel today?
• Varför skyndar han sig? — Why is he hurrying?

Commands

A command uses the imperative (the command form of the verb) and a pronoun matching the person addressed:

• Sätt dig ner! — Sit down! (one person, informal)
• Skynda dig! — Hurry up! (one person, informal)
• Sätt er ner! — Sit down! (several people, or polite/plural address)
• Ta hand om er! — Take care of yourselves!

The subject du or ni is normally omitted because the command itself addresses the listener.

Truly reflexive actions and fixed reflexive expressions

Some verbs can take either an ordinary object or a reflexive object:

• Sara tvättar barnet. — Sara washes the child.
• Sara tvättar sig. — Sara washes herself.

Other expressions are normally learned as a unit because the reflexive form has a particular meaning:

Reflexive expression	Usual meaning	Useful contrast
känna sig	feel, experience a state	känna någon = know someone
sätta sig	sit down, take a seat	sätta något = put/set something
gifta sig	get married	vara gift = be married
bestämma sig	decide, make up one’s mind	bestämma något = decide/determine something
lära sig	learn	lära någon något = teach someone something
skynda sig	hurry	commonly used reflexively in this meaning
klä på sig	get dressed	klä på barnet = dress the child
raka sig	shave oneself	raka någon = shave someone

For these verbs, memorise the reflexive pronoun as part of the vocabulary entry, then change it to match the subject.

Examples in Context

Swedish	English	Note
Jag tvättar mig före frukost.	I wash before breakfast.	English naturally omits “myself”; Swedish states mig.
Känner du dig trött efter resan?	Do you feel tired after the journey?	dig agrees with du.
Hon känner sig mycket bättre idag.	She feels much better today.	känna sig introduces a state or feeling.
Sätt dig ner, så hämtar jag kaffe.	Sit down, and I’ll get some coffee.	Informal singular command.
Barnen sätter sig på golvet.	The children sit down on the floor.	A plural third-person subject takes sig.
Vi klär på oss och går ut.	We get dressed and go out.	oss agrees with vi.
Ni måste skynda er till tåget.	You need to hurry to the train.	er agrees with ni.
De gifter sig nästa sommar.	They are getting married next summer.	Swedish present tense can refer to a planned future event.
Amir har bestämt sig för att studera svenska.	Amir has decided to study Swedish.	bestämma sig för att + infinitive.
Jag försöker lära mig tio nya ord varje dag.	I try to learn ten new words every day.	After försöker, the infinitive lära has no att.
Hur mår ni? Känner ni er bättre?	How are you? Do you feel better?	Plural or formal ni requires er.
Katten ligger i solen och tvättar sig.	The cat is lying in the sun grooming itself.	A third-person noun takes sig.
Ta hand om dig på resan!	Take care of yourself on the trip!	A common farewell to one person.
Vi träffas utanför stationen klockan sex.	We’ll meet outside the station at six.	träffas is reciprocal in form; it does not use a separate reflexive pronoun.

Common Mistakes

Using sig for every person

• Wrong: Jag känner sig trött.
• Right: Jag känner mig trött.
• Why: The dictionary form uses sig, but a first-person subject requires mig. Think of the pair jag–mig.

Copying English and leaving out the pronoun

• Wrong: Hon klär på före jobbet.
• Right: Hon klär på sig före jobbet.
• Why: English “She gets dressed” has no visible -self, but Swedish normally uses klä på sig when the person dresses herself.

Choosing a pronoun that does not refer back to the subject

• Wrong: Erik tvättar honom when Erik washes himself.
• Right: Erik tvättar sig.
• Why: Honom means another male person in this context. Sig refers back to the third-person subject, Erik.

This distinction can change the meaning completely:

• Hon såg henne i spegeln. — She saw another woman in the mirror.
• Hon såg sig i spegeln. — She saw herself in the mirror.

Translating “feel” with känna alone

• Wrong: Jag känner glad.
• Right: Jag känner mig glad.
• Why: To describe how someone feels, Swedish uses känna sig followed by an adjective such as glad, trött, or sjuk. Känna without the reflexive pronoun has other uses, including knowing a person or physically feeling something.

Confusing “get married” and “be married”

• Wrong: De är gifta sig.
• Right: De gifter sig. — They are getting married.
• Also right: De är gifta. — They are married.
• Why: Gifta sig describes the event or process. Vara gift describes marital status and has no reflexive pronoun.

Using sig when people act on one another

• Potentially wrong: De hjälper sig for “They help each other.”
• Right: De hjälper varandra.
• Why: Sig normally points each action back to its own subject, while varandra means “each other.” English themselves and “each other” should not be treated as interchangeable.

Usage Notes

English and Swedish do not mark the same verbs as reflexive

Do not decide from the English translation alone whether Swedish needs a reflexive pronoun. English often suppresses “myself” in routine actions: “I wash,” “I shave,” and “I get dressed.” Swedish commonly makes the person affected explicit: Jag tvättar mig, jag rakar mig, and jag klär på mig.

The reverse is also possible. English says “I concentrate myself” only in unusual wording, and standard Swedish normally says Jag koncentrerar mig. Meanwhile some English -self expressions use a different Swedish structure altogether. The safest method is to learn the Swedish expression as a complete phrase.

Pronunciation in everyday speech

The written forms are mig, dig, and sig. In ordinary spoken Swedish, they are normally pronounced approximately “may,” “day,” and “say,” without a pronounced final g. Keep the standard spellings in writing. Oss and er are written and pronounced more directly.

Word order with particles

Some common reflexive expressions contain a particle, a short stressed word that helps create the verb’s meaning, as in klä på sig and sätta sig ner. Keep the natural phrase order:

• Jag klär på mig.
• Hon sätter sig ner.

Do not mechanically place the pronoun immediately after the first verb word. Listening to and memorising the complete phrase is especially useful here.

Body parts often use the definite form

When the owner is obvious from the reflexive pronoun, Swedish often uses a definite body-part noun rather than an English-style possessive:

• Jag tvättar mig i ansiktet. — I wash my face.
• Hon skar sig i fingret. — She cut her finger.

Literally analysing every word can make these sentences feel strange to an English speaker. Treat the Swedish pattern as the natural way to connect the body part to the affected person.

Beyond the Basics: Advanced Use

You do not need to master all of these distinctions at A2, but you will meet them frequently later.

Sig can refer back across an infinitive

In a sentence such as Anna försöker lära sig svenska, sig refers to Anna even though it stands beside lära, not försöker. The understood subject of “learn” is still Anna. Compare:

• Anna försöker lära sig svenska. — Anna tries to learn Swedish.
• Anna försöker lära barnet svenska. — Anna tries to teach the child Swedish.

With more complex clauses, the intended reference matters. Swedish generally interprets sig in relation to the relevant third-person subject, so context and clause structure help identify who is meant.

Reflexive sig versus possessive sin, sitt, sina

Sig stands on its own as an object: Han tvättar sig. The related forms sin, sitt, and sina are reflexive possessives—words placed before a noun to show that something belongs to the subject:

• Han tvättar sin bil. — He washes his own car.
• Han tvättar hans bil. — He washes another man’s car.

Choose sin with an en noun, sitt with an ett noun, and sina with plural nouns. This is a separate grammar topic, but the shared reflexive idea explains why confusing sig and sin is tempting.

Reflexive meaning, reciprocal meaning, and verbs ending in -s

Swedish also has verbs ending in -s. Some express a reciprocal action—people doing something to one another:

• Vi träffas i morgon. — We’ll meet tomorrow.
• De kramades. — They hugged each other.

These forms do not take sig merely because more than one person is involved. When Swedish explicitly means “each other,” it can use varandra: De hjälper varandra. Keep these three patterns separate:

1. De tvättar sig. — They each wash themselves.
2. De hjälper varandra. — They help each other.
3. De träffas. — They meet.

Meaning changes with an ordinary object

A reflexive pronoun is not decorative. Replacing it can create a new participant and therefore a new meaning:

• Läkaren undersöker sig. — The doctor examines themself.
• Läkaren undersöker henne. — The doctor examines her.

This contrast becomes particularly important in longer texts, where sig helps the reader track whose action returns to whom.

Practice Tips

1. Learn subject–pronoun pairs aloud. Recite jag–mig, du–dig, han/hon/de–sig, vi–oss, ni–er. Then use one verb through the whole set: Jag tvättar mig; du tvättar dig; hon tvättar sig.
2. Store verbs as complete phrases. Make vocabulary cards for känna sig, bestämma sig för att, klä på sig, and ta hand om sig, not just for the bare verbs. Add one personal example to each card.
3. Transform sentences. Change Hon känner sig trött to a question, a negative sentence, and another tense: Känner hon sig trött? Hon känner sig inte trött. Hon har känt sig trött. This practises both pronoun agreement and Swedish word order.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Tense (Verb Groups) — reflexive verbs use the same regular and irregular present-tense forms as other Swedish verbs.
• Useful next step: Reflexive possessives sin, sitt, and sina — these also refer back to the subject but accompany a noun rather than standing alone as an object.
• Useful contrast: Reciprocal expressions with varandra and reciprocal -s verbs — these describe people acting on one another rather than on themselves.