Reference · module 15
Yourself, and your day
Everything this module explains, on one page.
sich
Use the verbs that need a mich, dich or sich to work at all.
- Some German verbs carry a pronoun that points back at the subject: ich wasche mich, du wäschst dich, er wäscht sich. The dictionary lists them with sich in front.
- mich, dich, sich, uns, euch, sich. Only the third person has its own word, and that one word covers he, she, it, they and the polite Sie.
- The pronoun sits right after the verb: Ich freue mich. If the sentence starts with something else, it follows the subject: Heute freue ich mich.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich freue sich.
Ich freue mich.
The dictionary lists it as sich freuen, so sich looks like part of the word itself. It is not: it changes with the person — mich, dich, sich.
A day from start to end
Describe your morning routine in order.
- aufstehen, sich duschen, sich anziehen, frühstücken, losgehen. Three of the five are separable, and two of those are also reflexive.
- A separable verb splits and sends its prefix to the end: Ich stehe um sieben auf. The reflexive pronoun stays near the front: Ich ziehe mich an.
- um is for a clock time — um sieben Uhr. gegen means around — gegen acht. Both go before the number and never after it.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich stehe auf um sieben.
Ich stehe um sieben auf.
The prefix goes to the end — the very end, after the time as well. Not ich stehe auf um sieben: everything else in the sentence gets in front of it.
Verbs with a fixed preposition
Say what you are interested in and what you are waiting for.
- Many verbs come welded to a preposition, and the pair is not translatable piece by piece: sich interessieren für, warten auf, denken an, sprechen über.
- The preposition also fixes the case, and here it is almost always accusative: Ich warte auf den Bus, ich denke an dich.
- Learn the verb and its preposition as one word, the way you learn a noun with its article. Learning warten alone leaves you guessing every time.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich warte für den Bus.
Ich warte auf den Bus.
"Wait for" translates itself straight into warten für. German fixed a different preposition to that verb long ago: warten auf. Learn the pair as one word.
How you are feeling
Say how you feel and ask somebody else.
- Wie geht es dir? is the everyday question, and the answer uses the dative too: Mir geht es gut. Literally, it goes well to me.
- sich fühlen is the other way: Ich fühle mich müde. Reflexive, and followed by an adjective with no ending, because it comes after the verb.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich bin gut.
Mir geht es gut.
"I'm good" turns into ich bin gut, which says you are a good person. German has it happening to you instead: mir geht es gut.