Dutch reflexive pronouns (wederkerend voornaamwoord)

The Dutch reflexive pronouns are used to indicate that the subject and object in a sentence are the same person. There are two forms of reflexive pronouns in Dutch, stressed and unstressed. However, the stressed form with 'zelf' is not used very often.

Stressed reflexive pronoun	Unstressed reflexive pronoun	Translation
Mezelf	Me	Myself
Jezelf	Je	Yourself
Uzelf	Zich	Yourself
Zichzelf	Zich	Himself
Zichzelf	Zich	Herself
Zichzelf	Zich	Itself
Onszelf	Ons	Ourselves
Jezelf	Je	Yourselves
Zichzelf	Zich	Themselves

In the table you will find examples of the reflexive pronouns and their translations.

Reflexive pronoun	Example	Translation
Mezelf, me	Ik heb mezelf gewassen. Ik heb me verslapen.	I have washed myself. I overslept.
Jezelf, je	Je hebt jezelf buitengesloten. Je hebt je omgekleed.	You have locked yourself out. You have changed your clothes.
Uzelf, zich	Hebt u uzelf bezeerd? Heeft u zich gewassen?	Have you hurt yourself? Have you washed yourself?
Zichzelf (hij), zich (hij)	Hij heeft zichzelf geschoren vanochtend. Hij versliep zich.	He has shaved this morning. He overslept.
Zichzelf (zij), zich (zij)	Kim heeft zichzelf opgemaakt. Zij heeft zich misdragen gister.	Kim did her make-up. She misbehaved yesterday.
Zichzelf (het), zich (het)	Het lost zichzelf meestal op. Als het zich nog een keer voordoet, ondernemen we actie.	It usually works out in the end. If it occurs again, we take action.
Onszelf, ons	We hebben onszelf vermaakt. Wij hebben ons verloofd.	We have entertained ourselves. We got engaged.
Jezelf (jullie), je (jullie)	Jullie hebben jezelf uitgenodigd op het feest. Jullie hadden je goed schuilgehouden.	You have invited yourselves to the party. You have kept yourselves well hidden.
Zichzelf (zij), zich (zij)	Zij verwondden zichzelf aan een glasscherf. Kim en Loes verheugen zich op het feest.	They wounded themselves because of a glass shard. Kim and Loes are looking forward to the party.

Lesson outline

Hide

1.How to use the Dutch reciprocal pronoun?
2.Exercises
2.1.Exercise Dutch reflexive pronouns (stressed)
2.2.Exercise Dutch reflexive pronouns (unstressed)

2) How to use the Dutch reciprocal pronoun?

To express the reciprocity of action, 'each other' is translated by:

‘elkaar’ in Dutch
‘mekaar’ (familiar).

For example:

We hebben elkaar 15 jaar geleden ontmoet. = We met 15 years ago. (each other)
Ze misten elkaar = They missed each other.
We geloofden in elkaar = We believed in each other.

Train your skills with the exercises below.

Have a question?

Take online language lessons with a professional teacher

Native & verified teachers
Free trial lesson
Learning materials included

Dutch reflexive pronouns (wederkerend voornaamwoord)

Lesson outline

2) How to use the Dutch reciprocal pronoun?

Have a question?

Guido B.

Monique M.

María Mercedes D.

Nienke L.

Arjen J.

Lauren D.

Josanne V.

Nicole H.

Paul K.

Anco P.

Exercises

Exercise Dutch reflexive pronouns (stressed)

Exercise Dutch reflexive pronouns (unstressed)

Exercises

Exercise Dutch reflexive pronouns (stressed)

Exercise Dutch reflexive pronouns (unstressed)

Our learning materials

Website language

Take language lessons

coLanguage