Reflexive verbs are similar to the English grammar related to myself, himself, ourselves…, however, in Czech, this is much more widely spread throughout all grammar.

Reflexive verbs are verbs related to the person who is directly influenced by the verb which is being mentioned. Let’s take oblékat se as an example. It is me myself who is getting dressed. If I dress my daughter and, therefore, the verb is not influencing my very own person, the verb loses its reflexive component and become a normal verb. Common examples of reflexive verbs are:

• sprchovat se, budit se, holit se, mýt se, česat se, ptát se, dívat se, smát se…
• dávat si, číst si, přát si, brát si, objednávat si, hrát si…

However, there are not definite rules on which verbs are and which are not reflexive. Even though it might seem logical that snídat (having breakfast) is reflexive, as a matter of fact, it is not. Snídat se is wrong as it would indicate that a person is biting themselves and is eating their own body parts (which you surely do not want to say). Other common problematic non-reflexive verbs are:

• snídat, obědvat, večeřet, sedět, ležět, stát, vstávat, chodit, odpočívat…

Reflexive Pronouns SE and SI

There are only two reflexive pronouns (SE and SI) which keep the same form in all grammatical persons.

• They are always used in the Second Position in the sentence.

Ten mladý muž

se

dívá na televizi.

Regarding the difference between these two, if the sentence includes a grammatical object (a noun more closely identifying the verb), the reflexive verb automatically shifts from se to si.

There are several irregular verbs which do not follow the typical behaviour and si can be used even without the object.

• Rád si čtu.
• Sanda si hraje.
• Nepamatuju si.

Mutual Relationship

Reflexive verbs also have the function to express a mutual relationship between two people. The English language usually uses the phrase “each other“.

Irrelevant Groups

It is completely in accordance with the rule that umývat nádobí is not reflexive as it is the dishes that are being washed, whereas, umývat se suggests the person is washing their own body. However, there are verb groups which do not follow this pattern, they make only a little or no sense and they have to be memorised.

• učit (teach) – učit se (learn)
• prát (do the laundry) – prát se (fight)
• hádat (guess) – hádat se (to quarrel)
• malovat (to paint) – malovat se (to do your makeup)
• objednávat se (to make an appointment) – objednávat si (to order)