GrammatikReflexiv

The reflexive pronoun себя́ (oneself) points the action of the verb back at the subject. Whoever is doing the action is also the one it happens to:

• Он ви́дит себя́ в зе́ркале. (He sees himself in the mirror.)
• Я зна́ю себя́. (I know myself.)

English uses a whole family of words for this: myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, themselves. Russian is far simpler: there is just one word, себя́, and it is the same for every person, gender and number. The form only changes by case.

One word for everybody

Whether the subject is I, you, he, she, we or they, the reflexive pronoun stays себя́. It simply mirrors whoever the subject happens to be:

Notice how English changes the ending every time (my-self, your-self, them-selves) while Russian keeps a single form. That makes себя́ one of the easiest pronouns to learn.

It has no Nominative

The Nominative is the case of the subject, the doer of the action. But себя́ can never be the subject because it refers back to the subject, so it needs to be mentioned first.

You will never say Себя́ ви́дит меня́: The reflexive pronoun always waits for a subject somewhere else in the sentence and then reflects it.

Declension of себя́

Because it is never the subject, себя́ has only five forms (no Nominative). It declines like the personal pronoun ты:

Genitive and Accusative are identical (себя́), and so are Dative and Prepositional (себе́). So there's only three forms total.

*For the Instrumental собо́й there exists a rarer alternative, собо́ю. This variant means exactly the same and is mostly used in literary.

The case is chosen by the verb or preposition, exactly as with any noun: боя́ться takes the Genitive (боя́ться за себя́), помо́чь takes the Dative (помо́чь себе́), горди́ться takes the Instrumental (горди́ться собо́й).

себя́ or a reflexive -ся verb?

Russian has a second way to send an action back onto the subject: the reflexive verb ending -ся. For everyday actions done to one's own body, the -ся verb is normally preferred, and it already contains the idea of "-self":

For these the -ся form is the natural choice and the себя́ version sounds heavy or emphasized. You reach for себя́ when you need an explicit object or a case other than the Accusative, most often the Dative of benefit:

• Он купи́л себе́ маши́ну. (He bought himself a car.) — there is no verb купи́ться
• Я взял с собо́й зонт. (I took an umbrella with me.)
• Она́ гото́вит себе́ за́втрак. (She is making herself breakfast.)

More in the reflexive verbs article.

себя́ vs свой: object or owner?

These two are easy to confuse because both are "reflexive" and both point back to the subject. The difference is what role they play:

• себя́ is an object — the subject acts on itself.
• свой is a possessive — the subject owns something.

A quick test: if English says "…self" use себя́; if English says "his / her / their own" use свой. More about свой in the possessive pronouns article.

сам vs себя́: emphasis or reflection?

The word сам also translates as "-self", which can be confusing. But сам stresses that the subject did something personally, independently, without help. It agrees with the noun in gender and number (сам, сама́, само́, са́ми):

• Он сам э́то сде́лал. (He did it himself / by himself.) — emphasis on the doer
• Она́ сама́ всё поняла́. (She understood everything herself.)
• Он ви́дит себя́. (He sees himself.) — себя́ is the object being seen

So сам answers "who did it? - the subject, in person", while себя́ answers "on whom did the action fall? - on the subject". Compare the pair: Он сам себя́ нака́зывает (He punishes himself), where both words appear side by side. More on сам in the determinative pronoun article.

More examples of сам:

• Она сама приготовила ужин. (She cooked dinner herself.)
• Дети сами пришли домой. (The children came home by themselves.)
• Сам директор позвонил. (The director himself called.)

And себя́:

• Я вижу себя в зеркале. (I see myself in the mirror.)
• Она купила себе платье. (She bought herself a dress.)
• Он рассказал о себе. (He talked about himself.)
• Береги себя. (Take care of yourself.)

Common set phrases

A handful of very frequent expressions are built on себя́. Learn them as whole units:

Notice that these phrases already contain the correct cases and can help you remember them.

Common mistakes

• Trying to make себя́ the subject. It has no Nominative and can never start the action.
  Себя́ мо́ет ру́ки (wrong) → Он мо́ет себе́ ру́ки (correct)
• Using его́ / её / их for the subject itself. When the object is the subject, you must use себя́.
  Он лю́бит его́ (= he loves some other man) → Он лю́бит себя́ (he loves himself)
• Wrong case after the verb. Let the verb decide, just as with a noun.
  Он купи́л себя́ маши́ну (wrong) → Он купи́л себе́ маши́ну (correct, Dative)
• Confusing себя́ with свой. Use себя́ for "-self" as an object, свой for "one's own".
  Он рассказа́л о себя́ (wrong form) → Он рассказа́л о себе́ (correct, Prepositional)

Summary

• себя́ sends the action back onto the subject, it is the Russian "-self".
• It is the same word for every person, gender and number; only the case changes.
• It has no Nominative, because it can never be the subject.
• Five forms: Gen/Acc себя́, Dat/Prep себе́, Instr собо́й.
• Everyday "wash / dress" actions usually use a reflexive -ся verb; use себя́ for an explicit object or another case.
• Do not mix it up with свой (possession) or сам (emphasis).