6.4 Reflexive Pronouns
In Norwegian there is a special category of pronouns called “reflexive object pronouns.” Most of these reflexive pronouns are the same as non-reflexive object pronouns, with the exception of the 3rd person reflexive pronoun, seg (himself, herself, itself, themselves). These reflexive pronouns are used when the action the subject carries out is directed at the subject itself.
They can function as the object of verbs, some* of which have special meanings when used with reflexive pronouns:
| å vaske seg (to wash oneself) | Hun vasker seg om morgenen. (She washes herself in the morning.) |
| å kjøpe seg (to buy for oneself) | Vi kjøpte oss en ny bil. (We bought ourselves a new car.) |
| å barbere seg (to shave oneself): | Jeg barberer meg hver morgen.| (I shave every morning.) |
| å like seg* (to enjoy oneself): | Liker du deg i Norge? (Do you like it in Norway?) |
| å glede seg til* (to look forward to) | Han gleder seg til sommeren. (He is looking forward to summer.) |
Or they can serve as the object of a preposition:
Jeg har ingen penger med meg. (I don’t have any money with me.)
Han har ingen penger med seg. (He doesn’t have any money with him.)
Reflexive Pronouns |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
Subject
|
Reflexive
|
Subject
|
Reflexive
|
| jeg (I) | meg (myself) | vi (we) | oss (ourselves) |
| du (you) | deg (yourself) | dere (you-plural) | dere (ourselves) |
| han (he) | seg (himself) | de (they) | seg (themselves) |
| hun (she) | seg (herself) | de (they) | seg (themselves) |
| den / det (it) | seg (itself) | de (they) | seg (themselves) |