Reflexive Verbs in Danish

In Brief

A Danish reflexive verb describes an action or state that refers back to the subject: Jeg vasker mig means “I wash myself.” Use mig, dig, sig, os or jer according to the subject; sig is used for all third-person subjects, both singular and plural. Some Danish verbs require a reflexive pronoun even when English uses no “-self” word: Hun føler sig træt means “She feels tired.”

Overview

A reflexive construction points back to the subject—the person or thing that performs the action. In Han barberer sig (“He shaves”), han is the subject (the person doing the action), while sig refers to that same person. If the object is someone else, Danish uses an ordinary third-person object pronoun instead: Han barberer ham means that he shaves another male person.

At A2, the essential task is to match the reflexive pronoun to the subject and learn the most common verbs as complete expressions. Danish has no special reflexive verb ending. Instead, it places a separate pronoun after the verb or after the relevant subject–verb group: jeg vasker mig, du vasker dig, hun vasker sig.

The idea partly resembles English myself, yourself, and themselves, but the two languages do not always choose a reflexive construction in the same places. Danish says føle sig træt (“feel tired”), skynde sig (“hurry”), and gifte sig (“get married”). It is therefore safer to learn these combinations as vocabulary rather than translating “-self” word for word.

How It Works

The reflexive pronouns

The reflexive pronoun must refer to the subject of its clause. The forms for the first and second person are identical to the ordinary object forms; Danish has one special third-person form, sig.

Subject	Reflexive pronoun	Basic pattern	English meaning
jeg	mig	Jeg vasker mig.	I wash myself.
du	dig	Du vasker dig.	You wash yourself.
han / hun / den / det	sig	Hun vasker sig.	She washes herself.
vi	os	Vi vasker os.	We wash ourselves.
I	jer	I vasker jer.	You wash yourselves.
de	sig	De vasker sig.	They wash themselves.

The beginner rule is simple:

1. Find the subject.
2. Choose the matching pronoun.
3. Put it with the verb: jeg–mig, du–dig, han/hun/den/det–sig, vi–os, I–jer, de–sig.

The lowercase de means “they,” while uppercase De is a formal “you” that is now uncommon in everyday Danish. Beginners will normally use du to one person and I to more than one.

Literal reflexive actions

With a literal reflexive action, the subject acts directly on itself:

• Jeg vasker mig. — I wash myself.
• Hun barberer sig. — She shaves.
• Barnet klæder sig på. — The child gets dressed.

The contrast between sig and an ordinary object pronoun is important:

Danish	Meaning
Hun vasker sig.	She washes herself.
Hun vasker hende.	She washes her, meaning another female person.
De vasker sig.	They wash themselves.
De vasker dem.	They wash them, meaning other people.

Verbs that are reflexive as a whole expression

Many frequent combinations cannot be translated literally with English “-self.” The pronoun is still required in Danish because it belongs to the expression.

Danish expression	Natural English meaning	Typical continuation
at føle sig	to feel	føle sig træt/godt tilpas
at sætte sig	to sit down; take a seat	often sætte sig ned
at skynde sig	to hurry	skynde sig hjem
at glæde sig til	to look forward to	a noun or event after til
at gifte sig	to get married	gifte sig med nogen
at opføre sig	to behave	often with an adverb such as pænt
at bekymre sig om	to worry about	the concern after om
at koncentrere sig om	to concentrate on	the activity after om
at tage sig af	to take care of	a person or task after af
at hygge sig	to have a good time; enjoy oneself	often used socially

Dictionaries usually list the infinitive (the basic “to” form) with sig, such as at skynde sig. In a real sentence, change sig to match the subject: Jeg skynder mig, but De skynder sig.

Position in statements, questions and commands

In a straightforward statement, the reflexive pronoun normally follows the verb:

• Jeg føler mig træt.
• De gifter sig i maj.

If another element begins the sentence, Danish puts the conjugated verb before the subject. The reflexive pronoun still comes after that subject:

• I dag føler jeg mig træt. — Today I feel tired.
• Efter arbejde sætter hun sig i sofaen. — After work she sits down on the sofa.

Questions follow the same subject–pronoun relationship:

• Føler du dig bedre? — Do you feel better?
• Glæder I jer til weekenden? — Are you looking forward to the weekend?

In a positive command, omit the subject and use the form that matches the person addressed:

Addressee	Command	Meaning
one person, du	Sæt dig ned!	Sit down!
more than one person, I	Sæt jer ned!	Sit down!
one person, du	Skynd dig!	Hurry up!
more than one person, I	Skynd jer!	Hurry up!

With modal verbs, infinitives and perfect forms

A modal verb is a verb such as kan (“can”), vil (“will/want to”), or skal (“must/is going to”) that accompanies another verb. Put the reflexive pronoun with the main action and match it to the subject:

• Jeg vil sætte mig ned. — I want to sit down.
• I skal skynde jer. — You need to hurry.
• Hun kan selv klæde sig på. — She can dress herself.

In a perfect form with har plus a past participle (a verb form such as sat), the pronoun normally follows the participle:

• Hun har sat sig ned. — She has sat down.
• Vi har hygget os. — We have had a good time.

The tense changes the verb, not the pronoun system: jeg føler mig (present), jeg følte mig (past), and jeg har følt mig (perfect) all use mig.

Negation

In an ordinary main clause, ikke generally follows the reflexive pronoun:

• Jeg føler mig ikke træt. — I do not feel tired.
• Han skynder sig ikke. — He is not hurrying.

In a subordinate clause (a clause that depends on another part of the sentence), ikke comes before the conjugated verb according to normal Danish word order:

• Jeg går hjem, fordi jeg ikke føler mig godt tilpas. — I am going home because I do not feel well.

Examples in Context

Danish	English	Note
Jeg vasker mig hver morgen.	I wash every morning.	Literal reflexive action; jeg–mig.
Du skal skynde dig, hvis du vil nå bussen.	You need to hurry if you want to catch the bus.	dig matches du.
Hun føler sig træt efter arbejdet.	She feels tired after work.	Danish requires sig after føler.
Mikkel barberer sig før morgenmad.	Mikkel shaves before breakfast.	sig refers back to Mikkel.
Barnet kan selv klæde sig på.	The child can get dressed by itself.	selv adds “without help.”
Vi glæder os til ferien.	We are looking forward to the holiday.	Fixed expression glæde sig til.
Kan I sætte jer her?	Can you sit here?	Plural I–jer in a question.
De gifter sig til sommer.	They are getting married this summer.	sig is also used with plural de.
Sæt dig ned, og slap af.	Sit down and relax.	Command to one person.
Eleverne koncentrerer sig om opgaven.	The students are concentrating on the task.	Fixed preposition om.
Hun tager sig af sin gamle far.	She takes care of her elderly father.	Fixed expression tage sig af.
Vi hyggede os virkelig i går.	We had a really nice time yesterday.	Past tense; the pronoun remains os.
Jeg ved, at han ikke bekymrer sig om det.	I know that he is not worried about it.	ikke precedes the verb in the subordinate clause.
Føler du dig bedre i dag?	Do you feel better today?	Common health-related question.

Common Mistakes

Leaving out the pronoun because English has none

• Wrong: Hun føler træt.
• Right: Hun føler sig træt.
• Why: English says “She feels tired,” but the Danish expression is føle sig plus a description. Learn the pronoun as part of the verb pattern.

Using sig with every subject

• Wrong: Jeg skynder sig.
• Right: Jeg skynder mig.
• Why: Sig is the dictionary form and the third-person form; it is not universal. With jeg, use mig.

Using an ordinary third-person object for the subject itself

• Wrong: Maria vasker hende when Maria washes herself.
• Right: Maria vasker sig.
• Why: Hende points to another female person. Sig points back to the third-person subject, Maria.

Choosing the singular form in a command to several people

• Wrong: Sæt dig ned! when speaking to a group.
• Right: Sæt jer ned!
• Why: An imperative has no written subject, but the reflexive pronoun still shows whether you are addressing du or I.

Using a reflexive pronoun for emphatic “myself”

• Wrong: Jeg gjorde det mig.
• Right: Jeg gjorde det selv.
• Why: English “myself” has two jobs. It can point back to the subject, but it can also mean “personally” or “without help.” Danish normally uses selv for that second meaning.

Using a reflexive form when the meaning is reciprocal

• Potentially wrong: De hjælper sig.
• Clear: De hjælper hinanden.
• Why: Sig points each action back to its own subject, while hinanden means “each other.” Use hinanden when two or more people act on one another.

Usage Notes

Danish reflexive patterns range from fully predictable to strongly lexical. With vaske sig or barbere sig, the “self” relationship is easy to see. With hygge sig, glæde sig til, and opføre sig, the whole combination carries a meaning that cannot be built by translating each word separately. Record the preposition too: glæde sig til, bekymre sig om, koncentrere sig om, and tage sig af.

English often allows either a transitive verb (a verb with an object) or an intransitive verb (a verb used without an object), where Danish chooses a reflexive expression. For example, natural translations of Hun satte sig and Hun føler sig syg are “She sat down” and “She feels ill.” Do not add “herself” mechanically to every English translation; it can sound unnatural even when the Danish pronoun is essential.

Conversely, Danish selv is useful when independence or emphasis matters: Han har selv lavet maden means “He made the food himself,” and Barnet kan selv klæde sig på means “The child can get dressed without help.” The second sentence contains both selv for emphasis and sig as part of klæde sig på.

Beyond the Basics

You do not need to master all of these distinctions at A2, but they explain several forms you will meet later.

Reflexive and reciprocal meaning

With a plural subject, a reflexive pronoun does not automatically mean “each other.” Compare:

• De vasker sig. — They wash themselves, each person washing themself.
• De vasker hinanden. — They wash each other.

Some verbs have a conventional shared meaning. De gifter sig naturally means “They are getting married,” but when you need to name a spouse, use med: Hun gifter sig med Jonas.

Reflexive possessives

Danish also has sin, sit, sine, which show that something belongs to the third-person subject. These are possessive words, not replacements for sig:

• Han vasker sin bil. — He washes his own car.
• Han vasker hans bil. — He washes another male person’s car.

The choice among sin, sit, sine follows the owned noun, while sig does not change for gender or number. This is a separate grammar system, but the shared “points back to the subject” idea makes the forms easier to recognize.

Verbs ending in -s are not automatically reflexive

A word such as mødes (“meet”) or synes (“think/find”) ends in -s, but it does not contain the separate pronoun sig. Do not try to replace that ending with mig, dig, or sig. Compare the independent words in Vi glæder os with the single verb form in Vi mødes klokken otte (“We meet at eight”).

Pronoun choice can change who receives the action

The third-person contrast remains useful in longer sentences:

• Sofie sagde, at hun vaskede sig. — Sofie said that she washed herself.
• Sofie sagde, at hun vaskede hende. — Sofie said that she washed another female person.

Real context must identify who hende refers to, but sig clearly links the action to the subject of its own clause, hun.

Practice Tips

1. Drill complete subject pairs. Say one verb through all six patterns: jeg skynder mig, du skynder dig, hun skynder sig, vi skynder os, I skynder jer, de skynder sig. This prevents the common habit of treating dictionary sig as an unchanging word.
2. Learn each lexical verb with its partners. Make cards for glæde sig til, bekymre sig om, and tage sig af, not just glæde, bekymre, and tage. Add one natural sentence showing what follows the preposition.
3. Contrast “self” with “each other” and emphasis. Build short sets such as De vasker sig, De vasker hinanden, and De gør det selv. The contrast trains sig, hinanden, and selv as three different tools.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Tense — provides the verb forms used in basic reflexive statements such as Jeg vasker mig and Hun føler sig træt.