[fluentu-toc skip=4]<\/p>\n
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Essential Grammar for Your Daily Routine<\/h2>\nReflexive Verbs<\/h3>\n
Reflexive verbs are those that act on the subject itself. In English, this is demonstrated in the usage of the word “oneself.” For example: to look at oneself<\/strong>, to apply makeup on oneself, <\/strong>etc.<\/p>\n In German, the word “oneself” is equivalent to the word “sich.<\/em>” So in the pure or infinitive form, the verbs that are reflexive would always have sich<\/em>.<\/em>\u00a0If you look up the verb, the indication of sich<\/em>\u00a0in the infinitive is a clue that it’s reflexive.<\/p>\n Let’s have a closer look at reflexive verbs with a noteworthy example from our daily routine:\u00a0sich rasieren<\/em>\u00a0(to shave oneself).\u00a0The reflexive verb is composed of sich<\/em>\u00a0along with\u00a0rasieren<\/em>\u00a0(to shave).<\/p>\n When used in context,\u00a0sich<\/em>\u00a0changes to respective reflexive components such as mich<\/em>\u00a0(myself), dich<\/em>\u00a0(yourself, informal), sich<\/em>\u00a0(himself, herself, itself, themselves or yourself, formal), uns<\/em>\u00a0(ourselves) or\u00a0euch<\/em>\u00a0(yourselves).<\/p>\n The rasieren<\/em>\u00a0would get conjugated like a usual German verb. In effect, this is how it would look:<\/p>\n ich rasiere mich <\/em>(I shave myself)<\/p>\n du rasierst dich <\/em>(you shave yourself)<\/p>\n er\/sie\/es rasiert sich <\/em>(he\/she\/it shaves him\/her\/itself)<\/p>\n wir rasieren uns <\/em>(we shave ourselves)<\/p>\n ihr rasiert euch <\/em>(you all shave yourselves)<\/p>\n Sie\/sie rasieren sich <\/em>(you\/they shave yourself\/themselves)<\/p>\n A case\u00a0in general defines the relationship between the subject and object in a sentence.<\/p>\n If the object is a direct object (i.e. an action is being done to it) then it’s accusative.<\/strong> Common akkusativ<\/em> verbs<\/a>\u00a0(verbs that require the accusative case, a.k.a. verbs that take direct objects) in German are haben <\/em>(to have), trinken<\/em> (to drink)<\/em>, essen<\/em> (to eat) and\u00a0sehen<\/em> (to see).<\/p>\n When the verb makes the subject perform an indirect action, the sentence takes a dative case in German<\/a>.<\/strong> For example:<\/p>\n Ich gebe meinem Bruder einen Kuli<\/em>. (I give my brother a pen.)<\/p>\n Here, the subject is Ich<\/em> (I), the indirect object is meinem Bruder<\/em>\u00a0(my brother) because he’s receiving the pen, while\u00a0Kuli<\/em> (the pen) is the direct object. Without the indirect object, my sentence isn’t complete because there needs to be a dative noun that receives the accusative object Kuli<\/em>.<\/p>\n Common dativ<\/em> verbs in German that act this way<\/a> are\u00a0schicken<\/em> (to send) and\u00a0schenken<\/em> (to gift\/give as a gift).<\/p>\n There is a second group of dative verbs though. The objects of these verbs are always in the dative. This isn’t because the object is receiving anything; these verbs just take dative objects because of how they act.<\/p>\n Verbs that act this way include helfen<\/em> (to help) and danken<\/em> (to thank). For example:<\/p>\n Der Lehrer hilfst meiner Schwester<\/em>. (The teacher helps my sister.)<\/p>\n Now here’s where things get tricky. Reflexive verbs can work either as accusative or dative entities. This depends on whether there’s a body part indicated or not.<\/strong><\/p>\n When there’s a body part, it acts as the indirect object of the sentence, giving it a dative case. If there’s no body part, it gives the accusative effect of a direct action.<\/p>\n Sich waschen<\/em>\u00a0(to wash oneself) alone would be accusative. The conjugation would work as follows:<\/p>\n sich waschen<\/em> (to wash oneself)<\/p>\n ich wasche mich <\/em>(I wash myself)<\/p>\n du w\u00e4schst dich <\/em>(you wash yourself)<\/p>\n er\/sie\/es w\u00e4scht sich <\/em>(he\/she\/it washes him\/her\/itself)<\/p>\n wir waschen uns <\/em>(we wash ourselves)<\/p>\n ihr wascht euch <\/em>(you all wash yourselves)<\/p>\n Sie\/sie waschen sich <\/em>(you was yourself\/they wash themselves)<\/p>\n But if I were to say sich die H\u00e4nde waschen<\/em>\u00a0(to wash one’s hands), this would be dative, as the body part H\u00e4nde (hands)\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>acts as an indirect object.<\/p>\n sich die H\u00e4nde waschen<\/em> (to wash one’s hands)<\/p>\n ich wasche mir die H\u00e4nde <\/em>(I wash my hands)<\/p>\n du w\u00e4schst dir die H\u00e4nde <\/em>(you wash your hands)<\/p>\n er\/sie\/es w\u00e4scht sich die H\u00e4nde <\/em>(he\/she\/it washes his\/her\/its hands)<\/p>\n wir waschen uns die H\u00e4nde <\/em>(we wash our hands)<\/p>\n ihr wascht euch die H\u00e4nde <\/em>(you all wash your hands)<\/p>\n Sie\/sie waschen sich die H\u00e4nde <\/em>(you wash your hands\/they wash their hands)<\/p>\n As you’ll notice between these two examples,\u00a0mich<\/em> (me)\u00a0changes to mir<\/em> in the dative case,\u00a0and\u00a0dich <\/em>(you)\u00a0changes to dir <\/em>in the dative case. The other reflexive pronouns are pretty much the same, except that the body part is the extra component in there.<\/p>\n A similar case of deciding between the accusative and dative cases occurs with verbs that include a piece of clothing.<\/p>\n When there’s a piece of clothing included for verbs like sich anziehen<\/em> (to dress), it becomes dative,\u00a0<\/em>as the piece of clothing acts as an indirect object. So “I wear a dress” becomes\u00a0“Ich ziehe mir ein Kleid an.”<\/em><\/p>\n But if the piece of clothing weren’t present, it would turn into an accusative case, such as I dress myself (Ich ziehe mich an<\/em>).\u00a0Similar verbs that follow this pattern are sich umziehen<\/em> (to change clothes) and\u00a0sich ausziehen<\/em> (to undress).<\/p>\n There are certain breakable verbs<\/a> that play a fundamental role in describing your daily routine. Many of these verbs allow you to express your daily chores without involving too many words.<\/p>\n For example: if you consider the verb fernsehen<\/em>\u00a0(to watch television), it encapsulates the entire action of watching television, without actually having a separate word for “television” in it. The verb breaks into fern<\/em>\u00a0and sehen<\/em>,\u00a0where fern<\/em>\u00a0acts like a prefix and is placed usually at the end of the sentence.<\/p>\n The verb sehen<\/em>\u00a0(to see) takes the second place in the sentence, conjugated according to the subject depending on whether it’s ich<\/em>\u00a0(I), du<\/em>\u00a0(you), etc. It would look something like this:<\/p>\n Ich sehe jeden Tag fern<\/em>. (I watch television every day.)<\/p>\n Du siehst jeden Tag fern.<\/em> (You watch television every day.)<\/p>\n Er\/sie\/es sieht jeden Tag fern<\/em>. (He\/she\/it watches television every day.)<\/p>\n And so on…<\/p>\n The most common prefixes in breakable verbs are: an- <\/em>(at, being, onward, on, toward, to), auf- <\/em>(on, open, out, up, un-), vor<\/em>– (before, forward, pre-, pro) and\u00a0aus<\/em>– (out, outward, extended, completely, missing). You could find most prefixes and their interpretations with examples here<\/a>.<\/p>\n There are quite a few words in the daily routine that could be a mix of reflexive and breakable verbs<\/strong>. For example, let’s look at\u00a0sich ausruhen<\/em> (to relax\/rest oneself).<\/p>\n ich ruhe mich aus <\/em>(I relax myself)<\/p>\n du ruhst dich aus <\/em>(you relax yourself)<\/p>\n er\/sie\/es ruht sich aus <\/em>(he\/she\/it relaxes him\/her\/itself)<\/p>\n wir ruhen uns aus <\/em>(we relax ourselves)<\/p>\n ihr ruht euch aus <\/em>(you all relax yourselves)<\/p>\n Sie\/sie ruhen sich aus <\/em>(you relax yourself\/they relax themselves)<\/p>\n We’ll now take a look at the top ten most commonly used verbs that a native German would use to describe his or her daily routine.<\/p>\n Ich stehe normalerweise um 6 Uhr auf<\/em>. (I usually\/normally wake up at 6:00.)<\/p>\n Whether you’re off to the mall, grocery shopping, a romantic dinner date or a visit to your sick aunt, and don’t want to give out too much detail, this is the perfect verb to use to indicate you’re going to be out of your nest!<\/p>\n Wir gehen heute Abend aus.<\/em> (We are going out this evening.)<\/p>\n This verb can be used to say specifically that you’re taking a relaxing stroll in the park. This is a common daily routine activity among Germans, given many are physically active people who love nature.<\/p>\n Wir gehen\u00a0t\u00e4glich nach dem Mittagessen\u00a0spazieren<\/em>. (Every day we go for a walk after lunch.)<\/p>\n As you’ll notice, the complete activity has been fit into this handy verb. Without actually using the word “grocery” anywhere, it’s possible to explicitly convey the action of going to the supermarket and buying all that you need for your grub and your home!<\/p>\n Peter kauft jeden Samstag bei Lidl ein<\/em>. (Peter goes grocery shopping every Saturday at Lidl<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Here you can notice how the verb can be used in a dative and accusative manner by including and excluding the body part, which is the teeth in this case.<\/p>\n Usage (dative,\u00a0includes body part):<\/strong>\u00a0Ich putze mir die Z\u00e4hne nach dem Fr\u00fchst\u00fcck<\/em>. (I brush my teeth after breakfast.)<\/p>\n Usage (accusative,\u00a0without body part):<\/strong>\u00a0Ich putze mich nach der Arbeit<\/em>. (I clean myself after work.)<\/p>\n Ich dusche mich<\/em> nicht t\u00e4glich im Winter<\/em>. (I don’t bathe every day in winter)<\/p>\n This verb can also be used in a non-reflexive manner. I could also say “Ich dusche nicht t\u00e4glich nicht im Winter<\/em>,” giving “mich<\/em>” a miss, and it would still not be wrong.<\/p>\n Usage (dative,\u00a0<\/em>includes body part):<\/strong>\u00a0Ich rasiere mir die Beine\u00a0f\u00fcr eine romantische Verabredung<\/em>. (I shave my legs for a romantic date.)<\/p>\n Usage (accusative,\u00a0without body part):<\/strong>\u00a0Ich rasiere mich f\u00fcr eine romantische Verabredung<\/em>. (I shave myself for a romantic date.)<\/p>\n This is a classic case where all the three aspects come together\u2014the reflexive nature along with it being breakable and by bringing in a piece of clothing (which is the jacket in this case), that acts as the indirect object, making it dative.<\/p>\n When the piece of clothing doesn’t come into the picture, it becomes an accusative sentence, making the action direct.<\/p>\n Usage (dative,\u00a0includes piece of clothing):<\/strong>\u00a0Du ziehst dir eine Jacke an<\/em>. (You wear a jacket.)<\/p>\n Usage (accusative,\u00a0without piece of clothing):<\/strong>\u00a0Du ziehst dich\u00a0sehr schick\u00a0an<\/em>. (You dress yourself very fashionably.)<\/p>\n Usage (dative,\u00a0<\/em>includes body part):<\/strong>\u00a0Ich schminke mir die Augen vor der Party<\/em>. (I apply makeup to my eyes before the party.)<\/p>\n Usage (accusative,\u00a0without body part):<\/strong>\u00a0Ich schminke mich<\/em> vor der Party<\/em>. (I put makeup on before the party.)<\/p>\n Ich ruhe mich am Ende des Tages aus<\/em>. (I relax at the end of the day.)<\/p>\n To see how this daily routine vocabulary is used in practice, you could try using a language learning platform such as FluentU.<\/p>\n FluentU<\/strong> takes authentic videos\u2014like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks\u2014and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.<\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app<\/a> or Android app.<\/a><\/p>\r\nExample: Sich rasieren <\/em>(to shave oneself)
\n<\/em><\/h4>\nThe Accusative and Dative Cases<\/h3>\n
The Accusative Case vs. the Dative Case: In Practice<\/h4>\n
Verbs with Clothing<\/h4>\n
Separable Verbs<\/h3>\n
Example: Sich ausruhen <\/em>(to relax\/rest oneself)
\n<\/em><\/h4>\nDaily Routine Verbs<\/h2>\n
Aufstehen<\/em> (To Wake Up)<\/h3>\n
Ausgehen<\/em> (To Go Out)<\/h3>\n
Spazierengehen<\/i>\u00a0(To Go for a Stroll\/Walk)<\/h3>\n
Einkaufen<\/em> (To Go Grocery Shopping)<\/h3>\n
Sich die Z\u00e4hne putzen<\/em> (To Brush One’s Teeth)<\/h3>\n
Sich duschen <\/em>(To Bathe Oneself)<\/h3>\n
Sich rasieren <\/em>(To Shave Oneself)<\/h3>\n
Sich anziehen<\/em> (To Dress Oneself\/To Wear Something onto Oneself)<\/h3>\n
Sich schminken<\/em> (To Apply Makeup on Oneself)<\/h3>\n
Sich ausruhen<\/em> (To Relax Oneself)<\/h3>\n
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