Skip to content

sich

oneself

pronoun ZIKH Common

Usage Note

sich is the third-person reflexive pronoun used for 'himself, herself, itself, themselves' and the formal 'yourself'. Many German verbs are reflexive where English isn't, like sich freuen ('to be glad') or sich erinnern ('to remember'). It also expresses reciprocity, as in sie kennen sich ('they know each other').

Examples

"Sie freut sich auf den Urlaub."

Natural Translation

She is looking forward to the holiday.

Literal Translation

She gladdens herself onto the holiday.

Free starter pack

Building your German vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common German words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore German by topic