Reflexive Verbs in Swedish

Overview

Reflexive verbs in Swedish are verbs used with a reflexive pronoun to indicate that the subject performs the action on themselves. At the CEFR A2 level, you will encounter reflexive verbs in everyday contexts like getting dressed, feeling emotions, and daily routines. Swedish uses reflexive constructions more broadly than English, so some verbs that are not reflexive in English are reflexive in Swedish.

The reflexive pronoun changes based on the subject: mig (myself), dig (yourself), sig (himself/herself/itself/themselves), oss (ourselves), er (yourselves). The third-person form sig is the same for singular and plural, which simplifies things considerably.

How It Works

Reflexive Pronouns

Subject	Reflexive Pronoun	Example
jag	mig	Jag tvättar mig. (I wash myself.)
du	dig	Du sätter dig. (You sit down.)
han/hon/den/det	sig	Hon klär sig. (She gets dressed.)
vi	oss	Vi skyndar oss. (We hurry.)
ni	er	Ni sätter er. (You sit down.)
de	sig	De gifter sig. (They get married.)

Common Reflexive Verbs

Swedish	English	Category
tvätta sig	wash (oneself)	Daily routine
klä sig	get dressed	Daily routine
raka sig	shave	Daily routine
sätta sig	sit down	Movement
lägga sig	lie down / go to bed	Movement
känna sig	feel (emotion)	Emotion
bestämma sig	decide	Mental
skynda sig	hurry	Action
gifta sig	get married	Life event
bry sig om	care about	Attitude
röra sig	move	Physical
förbereda sig	prepare	Action

Word Order

In main clauses, the reflexive pronoun comes right after the verb:

• Jag tvättar mig varje morgon.

In questions, the pronoun comes after the subject:

• Tvättar du dig varje morgon?

In subordinate clauses, the pronoun follows the subject:

• ...att jag tvättar mig varje morgon.

With negation in subordinate clauses (BIFF rule):

• ...att jag inte tvättar mig.

Reflexive vs. Non-Reflexive

Many verbs change meaning when used reflexively:

Non-Reflexive	Meaning	Reflexive	Meaning
tvätta (ngn)	wash (someone)	tvätta sig	wash oneself
sätta (ngt)	put/place (something)	sätta sig	sit down
lägga (ngt)	lay/place (something)	lägga sig	go to bed
bestämma (ngt)	determine (something)	bestämma sig	make up one's mind
klä (ngn)	dress (someone)	klä sig	get dressed

Examples in Context

Swedish	English	Note
Jag tvättar mig varje morgon.	I wash myself every morning.	Daily routine
Hon känner sig trött.	She feels tired.	Emotion
Sätt dig ner!	Sit down!	Imperative
De gifter sig i juni.	They're getting married in June.	Life event
Vi måste skynda oss.	We have to hurry.	With modal verb
Han rakar sig varje dag.	He shaves every day.	Daily routine
Barnen klär sig själva.	The children dress themselves.	Emphasis with själva
Jag bestämde mig igår.	I made up my mind yesterday.	Past tense
Lägg dig nu!	Go to bed now!	Imperative
Hon bryr sig inte om det.	She doesn't care about it.	With particle
Vi förberedde oss noga.	We prepared carefully.	Past tense
Känner du dig bättre nu?	Do you feel better now?	Question

Common Mistakes

Forgetting the reflexive pronoun

• Wrong: Jag känner trött.
• Right: Jag känner mig trött.
• Why: Känna sig (to feel) requires the reflexive pronoun. Without it, känna means "to know (a person)" or "to sense."

Using wrong reflexive pronoun for third person

• Wrong: Hon tvättar henne. (meaning herself)
• Right: Hon tvättar sig.
• Why: For third person reflexive (action on oneself), always use sig. Using henne would mean she is washing another woman.

Misplacing the pronoun in imperatives

• Wrong: Dig sätt ner!
• Right: Sätt dig ner!
• Why: In imperatives, the reflexive pronoun comes after the verb, and it changes to dig (not sig) when addressing someone with "du."

Forgetting reflexive in "feel" expressions

• Wrong: Jag mår bra when trying to use känna sig
• Right: Jag känner mig bra. (though Jag mår bra is also correct with a different verb)
• Why: Känna sig always needs the reflexive pronoun. However, må (another way to say "feel/be doing") is not reflexive.

Usage Notes

Reflexive verbs are used across all registers in Swedish. In spoken language, the reflexive pronouns are often reduced: mig is pronounced "mej," dig is pronounced "dej," and sig is pronounced "sej."

Some reflexive verbs are obligatorily reflexive (they only exist in the reflexive form), while others have both reflexive and non-reflexive uses with different meanings. Pay attention to which category each verb falls into.

Swedish uses reflexive constructions for some concepts that English expresses differently: gifta sig (get married, literally "marry oneself"), bestämma sig (decide, literally "determine oneself"), skynda sig (hurry, literally "rush oneself").

Practice Tips

• Describe your morning routine using reflexive verbs: Jag vaknar. Jag tvättar mig. Jag rakar mig. Jag klär mig. This connects the grammar to a natural daily context.
• Practice all pronouns in sequence with one verb: Jag tvättar mig. Du tvättar dig. Hon tvättar sig. Vi tvättar oss. Ni tvättar er. De tvättar sig.
• Pay special attention to the reflexive vs. non-reflexive distinction: Hon tvättar sig (she washes herself) vs. Hon tvättar barnet (she washes the child).

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Present Tense (Verb Groups) --- you need to conjugate the verb correctly before adding the reflexive pronoun