Reflexive verbs.
The German reflexive pronoun "sich" means oneself. As oneself, it changes its form according to the person. There is a fundamental difference, though: in English, very few verbs are reflexive - the English say "I wash", and not "I wash myself", like the German. In German, very many verbs are reflexive. Here is the conjugation of the verb "sich waschen" (to wash).
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1 | ich wasche mich | wir waschen uns | |
| 2 | du wäschst dich | ihr wascht euch | |
| 3 | er wäscht sich | sie waschen sich | |
Some verbs have "sich" in Dative. Then only in the 1st and 2nd person singular the form will be different:
er wäscht sich - he washes (himself)
ich wasche mich - I wash (myself)
er wäscht sich die Hände - he washes his hands
ich wasche mir die Hände - I wash my hands
Reflexive pronouns in the accusative (themselves) are: mich, dich, sich, uns, euch, sich
Reflexive pronouns in the dative (myself) are: mir, dir, sich, uns, euch, sich
Much more verbs have reflexive pronouns in Akkusativ.