Dutch reflexive verbs

A Dutch reflexive verb is one that takes a reflexive pronoun — me, je, zich, ons — pointing the action back at the subject. Ik was me means "I wash myself". The pronoun you choose depends entirely on the subject, and the one to memorise first is zich, the form Dutch uses for he, she, it, they and the formal u.

The reflexive pronoun table

Every reflexive verb uses the same set of pronouns. Learn this grid and you can make any reflexive verb work:

Subject	Reflexive pronoun	Example: zich wassen (to wash)
ik	me (stressed: mij)	Ik was me.
jij / je	je	Jij wast je.
u	u or zich	U wast zich.
hij / zij / het	zich	Hij wast zich.
wij / we	ons	Wij wassen ons.
jullie	je	Jullie wassen je.
zij (they)	zich	Zij wassen zich.

The key thing to notice is that zich only exists in the third person and with u. Everywhere else the reflexive pronoun is identical to the ordinary object pronoun (me, je, ons). This is why the third person is the one that trips learners up — there is no English equivalent to zich, and it does not change for singular or plural.

Always-reflexive verbs

Some Dutch verbs are always reflexive: the pronoun is not optional and there is no version without it. These are the ones to memorise as a fixed unit, pronoun included, because leaving out zich makes the sentence ungrammatical.

Verb	Meaning	Example
zich vergissen	to be mistaken	Ik vergis me vaak. — I'm often wrong.
zich herinneren	to remember	Herinner je je dat nog? — Do you still remember that?
zich voelen	to feel (a certain way)	Ik voel me niet lekker. — I don't feel well.
zich haasten	to hurry	Haast je! — Hurry up!
zich schamen	to be ashamed	Hij schaamt zich. — He is ashamed.
zich gedragen	to behave	Gedraag je! — Behave yourself!
zich bevinden	to be located	Het kantoor bevindt zich hier. — The office is located here.
zich realiseren	to realise	Ik realiseer me dat nu pas. — I only realise that now.

Optionally reflexive verbs

Many verbs are reflexive only when the action falls back on the subject. The same verb takes an ordinary object when it acts on something else. Compare wassen used reflexively and transitively:

Reflexive	With an object
Ik was me. — I wash myself.	Ik was de auto. — I wash the car.
Zij kleedt zich aan. — She gets dressed.	Zij kleedt de baby aan. — She dresses the baby.
Hij scheert zich. — He shaves.	De kapper scheert hem. — The barber shaves him.

Several of these — zich aankleden, zich omdraaien — are also separable verbs, so you juggle a reflexive pronoun and a splitting prefix at once: Zij kleedt zich aan.

Emphasis with -zelf

To stress that the subject did something to themselves and no one else, add -zelf to the pronoun: mezelf, jezelf, zichzelf, onszelf. This is closer to the English "-self" and often signals contrast.

Dutch	English
Ze heeft zichzelf in de spiegel gezien.	She saw herself in the mirror.
Je moet meer van jezelf houden.	You should love yourself more.
Ik heb het mezelf aangeleerd.	I taught it to myself.

With truly reflexive verbs like zich schamen you keep the plain form (zich, not zichzelf), because there is no contrast to draw — the verb is inherently reflexive.

Word order: where the pronoun sits

The reflexive pronoun behaves like an object pronoun and sits early in the middle field, right after the finite verb (or after the subject in an inverted or subordinate clause). It comes before most other elements.

Dutch	English
Ik voel me vandaag beter.	I feel better today.
Vandaag voel ik me beter.	Today I feel better. (inversion)
... omdat ik me beter voel.	... because I feel better. (subclause)
Ik heb me vergist.	I was mistaken. (perfect)

In the perfect tense the pronoun stays in the middle field while the participle goes to the end: Ik heb me vergist, Zij heeft zich gehaast. Reflexive verbs form the perfect with hebben. The middle-field ordering here is the same one described on the word order page, and the pronoun forms overlap with the object pronouns on the pronouns page.

Belgian usage. Reflexive constructions are the same in Belgium, with one social wrinkle: Flemish speech often uses u and the older gij in informal contexts. With gij the reflexive pronoun is u — Gij vergist u — where a northern speaker would say Jij vergist je. The standard written forms in the tables above are identical across the language area.

Common mistakes. English speakers make three errors. (1) Using zich for "I" or "you" — it only works in the third person and with u; say Ik was me, not Ik was zich. (2) Dropping the pronoun from an always-reflexive verb — Ik herinner dat is wrong; it must be Ik herinner me dat. (3) Over-using -zelf where plain zich is correct — Hij schaamt zich, not Hij schaamt zichzelf. See more traps on common mistakes learners make.