What are reflexive verbs in Russian?

In Russian, reflexive verbs are a set of verbs that end in -ся/-сь in every one of their forms. For example, look at three forms of the reflexive verb мыться (transcribed MYtsa, meaning “to wash (up)”):

• моюсь

  Transcription: MOyus

  Translation: I wash (myself)
• моешься

  Transcription: MOyeshsa

  Translation: you wash (yourself)
• моются

  Transcription: MOyutsa

  Translation: they wash (themselves)

Classically, reflexive verbs are things you do to yourself (as above). But in Russian, the class of verbs we call “reflexive” can have a lot of other different kinds of meanings. For example:

Do you want to learn more about how to conjugate reflexive verbs in Russian and use them in sentences? Keep reading!

To conjugate a reflexive verb, remove the reflexive ending -ся/-сь from the infinitive, conjugate it like a “normal” verb, then add a reflexive ending back onto the conjugated form.

As you can see above, the infinitive form of a reflexive verb is just the infinitive form of a “normal” verb with that reflexive ending added to the end. All “normal” infinitive verbs end in -ть, and all regular infinitive reflexive verbs end in -ть + -ся, which is why they're sometimes called “-ся verbs.”

Therefore, once you “chop off” the reflexive ending, you can follow the same conjugation rules you’d follow for a normal verb.

Then, after you are done conjugating it like a “normal” verb, you need to bring the reflexiveness back to the verb by adding either -ся (transcribed sya) or -сь (transcribed s).

When conjugating a reflexive verb, you’ll add -сь (transcribed s) if the last letter of the verb’s ending is a vowel, and -ся (transcribed sya) otherwise. This means that:

• In the present tense, you’ll usually use -ся (transcribed sya). Only the я (transcribed ya, meaning “I”) and вы (transcribed vy, meaning “you”) forms will always have the ending -сь (transcribed s).

• In the past tense, the feminine, neuter, and plural forms will always have the ending -сь (transcribed s), and only the masculine will end in -ся.

• In the future tense (imperfective form), the main verb is always in its infinitive form, and only the non-reflexive auxiliary verb быть (transcribed byt) is conjugated, so the reflexive ending will always be the infinitive -ся (transcribed sya).

Reflexive verbs can be used to describe several different types of actions in Russian. For example:

• They can have a reflexive meaning, representing actions you do to yourself:

  Она моется сейчас.

  Transcription: aNA MOitsa siCHAS.

  Translation: She is washing (herself) now.

• They can have a reciprocal meaning, representing actions you do to each other:

  Они встретились на вечеринке.

  Transcription: aNEE FSTRYEtilis na vichiREENki.

  Translation: They met (each other) at a party.

• They can have a passive meaning, representing actions that are done to the subject:

  Газеты продаются здесь.

  Transcription: gaZYEty pradaYUtsa zdyes.

  Translation: Newspapers are sold here.

• They can be verbs describing the experience or performance of an emotion or attitude:

  Я интересуюсь историей.

  Transcription: ya intiriSOOyus isTOriyey.

  Translation: I am interested in history.

• They can be impersonal verbs, representing a state or feeling experienced by a noun in the dative case:

  Ей хотелось спать.

  Transcription: yey khaTYElas spat.

  Translation: She wanted to sleep.

  For her, it was desirable to sleep.

However, there are three important things to remember about this list:

1. Most reflexive verbs aren’t used in all these different ways, but have only one or two of the uses described above.

2. Not all actions that fit these descriptions can be represented with reflexive verbs. For example:

   reflexive verb

   Они одеваются.

   Transcription: aNEE adiVAyutsa

   Translation: They dress themselves.

   non-reflexive verb

   Они пинали себя.

   Transcription: aNEE piNAli siBYA

   Translation: They kicked themselves.

   This meaning cannot be expressed with a reflexive verb.

3. Some reflexive verbs do not fall into any of the categories above, for example: являться (transcribed yivLYAtsa, meaning “to be”).

Though reflexive verbs do tend to have certain types of meanings, to be really certain of the meaning of a particular reflexive verb, you’ll need to look it up in a dictionary.

In most cases, Russian reflexive verbs are built out of non-reflexive verbs, which give them their “core” meaning. But the exact meaning relationship between a reflexive verb and its non-reflexive counterpart can vary. For instance:

Therefore, though you might be able to tell something about the “core” meaning of a reflexive verb just by comparing it to its “normal” counterpart, this won’t tell you everything you need to know about how to use it in context.

Let’s look at some examples of reflexive verbs in each category, to get a better understanding of how to use each type of reflexive verb.

In Russian, the reflexive verbs that represent actions you do to yourself usually describe moving yourself or caring for yourself. These tend to be everyday sorts of actions like:

• купаться

  Transcription: kooPAtsa

  Translation: to bathe (oneself) / to swim
• бриться

  Transcription: BREEtsa

  Translation: to shave (oneself)
• одеваться

  Transcription: adiVAtsa

  Translation: to dress (oneself)
• умываться

  Transcription: oomyVAtsa

  Translation: to wash (oneself)

When we use these verbs in Russian, you don’t need to use a reflexive pronoun (e.g. “yourself”) because that is contained within the reflexive ending -ся.

When actions like the ones above are directed at someone else, you should use non-reflexive transitive verbs instead. For instance:

Just remember that not every reflexive action has a reflexive verb and not every reflexive verb is used to indicate that an action is self-directed!

In many cases, to describe a self-directed action, you will just use a regular transitive verb with the reflexive pronoun себя instead. For example:

Only use the reflexive verb to achieve this meaning if you’ve found in a dictionary that the reflexive verb has a self-directed meaning.

When a verb ending in -ся (transcribed sya) has a “reciprocal” meaning, that means that it represents an action that involves two subjects acting on each other. For example:

• знакомиться

  Transcription: znaKOmitsa

  Translation: to get acquainted / to meet each other
• встречаться

  Transcription: fstriCHAtsa

  Translation: to meet up / to meet up with each other
• переписываться

  Transcription: piriPEEsyvatsa

  Translation: to correspond / to write to each other
• договариваться

  Transcription: dagaVArivatsya

  Translation: to negotiate / to speak to each other

In a reciprocal sentence, you need to say who the two participants are. There are two main ways to do this, if you're using a reflexive verb:

1. The subject represents all the participants, either by being plural, or by linking the subjects with a conjunction like “and”:

   subjectreflexive verb

   Президент США и президент Франции встретились в Белом доме.

   Transcription: priziDYENT sesheA i priziDYENT FRANtsiyi FSTRYEtilis v BYElam DOme.

   Translation: The president of the United States and the president of France met at the White House.

   Они переписываются по скайпу.

   Transcription: aNEE piriPEEsyavyutsya pa SKAYpoo.

   Translation: They chat on Skype.

2. The subject represents one participant and the second participant is given by combining c (transcribed s, meaning “with”) + the instrumental case.

   c + instrumentalreflexive verb

   Лена с Иваном встретились в парке.

   Transcription: LYEna s IVAnam FSTRYEtilis v PARkye.

   Translation: Lena met with Ivan in the park.

   Мы с другом договорились учить русский вместе.

   Transcription: mi s DROOgam dagavaREElis ooCHEET roosKIY VMYEstye.

   Translation: My friend and I agreed to learn Russian together.

If a transitive verb doesn’t have a corresponding reflexive verb with a reciprocal meaning, you can just use друг друга (transcribed droog DROOga, meaning “each other”) as the object. We often use this sentence structure even with verbs that do have reflexives with a reciprocal meaning. Let’s compare:

Some reflexive verbs can describe a passive action. For example:

• обсуждаться

  Transcription: absoozhDAtsa

  Translation: to be discussed
• говориться

  Transcription: gavaREETsa

  Translation: to be said
• проводиться

  Transcription: pravaDEEtsa

  Translation: to be conducted
• объявляться

  Transcription: abyavLYAtsa

  Translation: to be announced

Like other passive verbs in Russian, the subject is the noun the action is done to. You can deal with the “doer” (agent) of the action in two main ways:

1. Drop the agent → If the agent is not important or you can figure out who did the action from context, we just leave it out.

   Кинофестиваль Оскар проводится в Голливуде, США.

   Transcription: kinafistiVAL OSkar praVOditsa v galiVOOdi, sesheA.

   Translation: The Oscar Film Festival is held in Hollywood, USA.

   We don’t need to say who held the festival.

2. Put the agent in the instrumental case → This is usually only necessary in formal or written Russian.

   reflexive verbinstrumental case

   Новые правила вводятся правительством с 1 (первого) января.

   Transcription: NOviye PRAvila VOdyatsa praVEEtilstvam s 1 (PYERvava) yanvaRYA.

   Translation: The new rules are introduced by the government starting January 1.

   Встреча организуется бизнесменами каждый год.

   Transcription: FSTRYEcha arganiZOOitsa biznesMYEnami KAzhdyi got.

   Translation: The meeting is organized by businessmen every year.

Usually reflexive verbs that have a passive meaning are imperfective. In fact, the only way to form an imperfective passive verb in Russian is to make it reflexive.

But remember, not all imperfective reflexive verbs are passive in meaning! Have a look at our post on the passive voice in Russian to learn more about how to make passive sentences with imperfective and perfective verbs.

Some reflexive verbs denote emotions and attitudes are reflexive. For example:

• волноваться

  Transcription: valnaVAtsa

  Translation: to worry
• интересоваться

  Transcription: intirisaVAtsa

  Translation: to be interested in
• радоваться

  Transcription: RAdavatsa

  Translation: to rejoice
• остановиться

  Transcription: astanaVEEtsa

  Translation: to stop, to stay

With these verbs (unlike the impersonal verbs below) the “experiencer” or “performer” of the emotion is a standard subject, in the nominative case. The noun that represents the source of the emotions is in a range of non-nominative cases, depending on the verb you use and whether a particular object preposition is necessary. For example:

• reflexive verbaccusative case

  Он может надеяться на своих друзей.

  Transcription: on MOzhyt naDYEitsa na svaEEKH drooZYEY.

  Translation: He can rely on his friends.
• reflexive verbprepositional case

  Родители часто волнуются о детях.

  Transcription: raDEEtili CHASta valNOOyutsa a DYEtyakh.

  Translation: Parents often worry about their children.
• reflexive verbgenitive case

  Я пугаюсь (от) громкого шума.

  Transcription: ya pooGAyus (at) GROMkava SHOOma.

  Translation: I am afraid of loud noises.
• reflexive verbdative case

  Я больше не удивляюсь последним новостям.

  Transcription: ya BOLshe ni oodivLYAyus paSLYEDnim navaSTYAM.

  Translation: I’m no longer surprised by the latest news.
• reflexive verbinstrumental case

  Студенты увлекаются спортом.

  Transcription: stooDYEnty oovliKAyutsa SPORtam.

  Translation: Students are fond of sports.

There are some Russian verbs that need to be reflexive when you use them in “impersonal” sentences. In Russian, an impersonal sentence is a special sentence structure that is typically used to describe circumstances where someone experiences some emotion or state.

Using an impersonal sentence instead of a regular (personal) sentence can be a way to soften a statement. For example, from saying someone is some way to saying someone feels some way. Here are some examples of verbs that need to be reflexive when used in impersonal sentences:

There are dozens of Russian verbs that are only ever reflexive.

• Some of them are impersonal by default:

  Неприятности случаются в самый неподходящий момент.

  Transcription: nipriYAtnasti slooCHAyutsa v SAmyi nipotkhaDYAshchiy maMYENT.

  Translation: Bad things happen at the most inopportune moment.
• Some are actions that can only ever be reciprocal:

  Мы всегда можем договориться о хорошей цене.

  Transcription: my fsigDA MOzhym dagavaREEtsa a khaROshey tsyNYE.

  Translation: We can always negotiate a good price.
• Some denote emotions or expressions:

  Она читает, что я пишу, и усмехается.

  Transcription: anA chiTAit shto ya piSHOO i oosmiKHAitsa.

  Translation: She reads what I write and smiles/scoffs.

Remember that a dictionary will serve as the best reference to learn about every new verb you encounter. If you want some more examples, download the lof Russian verbs that only have a reflexive form below!

When using reflexive verbs in Russian, keep in mind that…

• Reflexive verbs are conjugated just like any “normal” verb except that they always end in -ся (transcribed sya) or -сь (transcribed s).

• Reflexive verbs are not only for self-directed actions, they actually have a wide range of possible meanings. They can be for:

  • reflexive, self-directed actions

  • reciprocal actions

  • passive actions

  • verbs expressing emotion/attitude

  • impersonal verbs

  However, there is no certain way to tell what the meaning of any one reflexive verb will be besides checking a dictionary.

Feeling like a pro? Time to practice! Try out our Russian reflexive verb exercises below, or have a look at one of our study resources. Happy learning!