Reflexive Pronouns

What are reflexive pronouns?

Reflexive pronouns usually refer back to the subject of the clause. They are similar to English myself or herself, but Swedish also uses them in expressions where English uses an ordinary object pronoun or no pronoun at all.

Han tvättar sig.He washes (himself).

Here, sig refers back to han.

Sig

For third-person subjects, Swedish uses sig as the reflexive object:

Hon skyndar sig.She hurries.

De tvättar sig.They wash themselves.

The same form is used regardless of gender or number.

For the first and second person, Swedish instead uses the ordinary object pronouns:

Jag tvättar mig.I wash myself.

Du tvättar dig.You wash yourself.

Vi tvättar oss.We wash ourselves.

Ni tvättar er.You wash yourselves.

Sin, sitt and sina

When something belongs to the subject, Swedish uses sin, sitt, or sina with third-person subjects. It's getting more common for native speaker to struggle with this distinction.

Use sin with en words, sitt with ett words, and sina with plural nouns.

Hon hämtar sin jacka.She fetches her jacket.

Han behöver sitt pass.He needs his passport.

De bär sina väskor.They carry their bags.

For the first and second person, the ordinary possessive pronouns are used instead.

Jag hämtar min jacka.I fetch my jacket.

Vi säljer vårt hus.We are selling our house.