oneself / each other
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oneself
Reflexive pronoun of the 3rd person (er/sie/es/sie) and the formal form of address (Sie) in the accusative. It is used when the subject and the direct object of an action are identical.
Er rasiert sich jeden Morgen.
He shaves himself every morning.
oneself
Reflexive pronoun of the 3rd person (er/sie/es/sie) and the formal form of address (Sie) in the dative. It is used when the subject is the indirect object of its own action.
Sie wünscht sich eine Reise nach Italien.
She wishes for herself a trip to Italy.
each other
Reciprocal pronoun that expresses a mutual relationship between two or more subjects and has the meaning 'einander' (each other).
Die beiden Konkurrenten respektieren sich sehr.
The two competitors respect each other a lot.
The pronoun 'sich' is in the accusative when it is the only object in the sentence. However, if there is another accusative object, 'sich' is in the dative because it then refers to the person for whom something is done.
Er wäscht sich. (Akkusativ)
He washes himself. (accusative)
In a main clause, 'sich' normally comes directly after the conjugated verb. If the subject is not in first position, 'sich' follows directly after the subject.
Sie freut sich auf den Urlaub.
She is looking forward to the vacation.
Some verbs must always be used with a reflexive pronoun like 'sich'. These include, for example, 'sich beeilen' (to hurry), 'sich bedanken' (to say thank you), 'sich erkälten' (to catch a cold), or 'sich freuen' (to be pleased / look forward to). Without 'sich', the sentence is ungrammatical.
Er muss sich beeilen, um den Zug nicht zu verpassen.
He has to hurry so he doesn't miss the train.
When 'sich' is in the dative, an accusative object often follows. This pattern is frequently used to express that someone does something for themselves, e.g. 'sich etwas ansehen' (to look at something for oneself), 'sich etwas kaufen' (to buy oneself something), or 'sich etwas wünschen' (to wish for something for oneself).
Er kauft sich ein neues Hemd.
He buys himself a new shirt.
When the subject is plural (e.g. 'sie' (they), 'die beiden' (the two), 'die Freunde' (the friends)), 'sich' can mean a mutual action ('einander' (each other)). The context makes clear that the people are performing the action with each other.
Die Teammitglieder helfen sich bei der Arbeit.
The team members help each other with the work.
