Reflexive Pronoun 'se'

01

True Reflexives

Here the subject does the action to itself.

• Kako se zoveš?

  What are you called? (literally: how do you call yourself)

• Zovem se Alex.

  My name is Alex.

• Okupat ću se prije spavanja.

  I will bathe before sleeping.

02

Verbs That Always Take 'se'

Many verbs simply come with se as part of the verb, and the reflexive sense fades. Learn them as a unit.

• Osjećam se loše.

  I feel bad.

• Veselim se.

  I am looking forward to it.

• Nadam se da ćete se oporaviti.

  I hope you will recover.

• Žurim se.

  I am in a hurry.

03

'se' as a Clitic

se is an unstressed clitic; it cannot begin a sentence and joins the other clitics in second position.

• Vidimo se uskoro.

  See you soon.

• Kako se to dogodilo?

  How did it happen?

04

Reciprocal: 'each other'

With a plural subject, se can mean "each other".

• Vidimo se sutra.

  We'll see each other tomorrow.

• Volimo se.

  We love each other.

05

Stressed Forms: sebe, sebi

For emphasis, or after a preposition, the reflexive has the stressed forms sebe (oneself) and sebi (to / for oneself).

• Kupio je sebi auto.

  He bought himself a car.

• sebi not se - after the verb has its own object (auto), the stressed form is what carries "for himself"

06

Feelings and Changes of State

A whole group of verbs about feelings, moods and changes of state carries se.

• Kako se osjećaš?

  How do you feel?

• Počinjem se brinuti.

  I am starting to worry.

• Kad god učim, jako se umorim.

  Whenever I study, I get very tired.

• Veselim se. Jedva čekam.

  I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait.

07

Position with Other Clitics

When se meets an auxiliary or a short pronoun, they all pile into the same second slot, in a fixed order: li first, then the auxiliary, then a dative pronoun, then se.

• Sviđa mi se tvoja kosa.

  I like your hair.

• mi to me, then se - two clitics, one slot

• Hoćete li se vratiti sutra?

  Will you come back tomorrow?

• li first, then se, both hanging off hoćete

• Ako se ne požuriš, propustit ćeš let.

  If you don't hurry, you'll miss the flight.

• inside a subordinate clause the conjunction counts as the first word, so se follows ako immediately

08

Impersonal 'se'

se also builds impersonal statements, like English "one" or a passive.

• Kako se kaže "Hvala"?

  How does one say "thank you"?