Mastering Afrikaans Pronouns: Part 4 – Reflexive Pronouns

 

📘 Who this is for: CAPS, IEB, Cambridge students (FAL and SAL Grades 7–12) and adult Afrikaans learners.

In this lesson, you will learn how reflexive pronouns work in Afrikaans and when to use them. By the end of this lesson, you should be well on your way to using pronouns confidently in Afrikaans.

Die Wedekerende Voornaamwoord (the reflexive pronoun)

The reflexive pronoun is used when the subject of the sentence refers back to itself. In other words, the person who is the subject of the sentence is also the object of the sentence. 

 Reflexive pronouns look like object personal pronouns, but they usually get a “-self” at the end of the word.

 

Personal pronoun	Reflexive pronoun	Reflexive pronoun example 2
Ek	Myself	Ek sien myself.
Jy	Jouself	Jy sien jouself.
Hy	Homself	Hy sien homself.
Sy	Haarself	Sy sien haarself.
Ons	Onsself	Ons sien onsself.
Julle	Julleself	Julle sien julleself.
Hulle	Hulleself	Hulle sien hulleself.

When do reflexive pronouns not get a "self" at the end

 If a reflexive pronoun is used with a small handful of verbs, adding “-self” at the end becomes optional.

If the reflexive pronoun is used with “skaam” (shame) or “verbeel” (imagine), you can use the reflexive pronoun without the “-self” at the end.

My recommendation for most second-language speakers is to ignore this exception to avoid unnecessary complication.

Personal pronoun	Reflexive pronoun	Reflexive pronoun example 1
Ek	My	Ek skaam my/ myself.
Jy	Jou	Jy skaam jou/ jouslef.
Hy	Hom	Hy skaam hom/ homself.
Sy	Haar	Sy skaam haar/ haarself.
Ons	Onsself	Ons skaam ons/ onsself.
Julle	Julleself	Julle skaam julle/ julleself.
Hulle	Hulleself	Hulle skaam hulle/ hulleself.

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Refrecences.

Lutrin, B. (1999). Afrikaans handbook & study guide: An English student’s guide to Afrikaans. Sandton: Berlut Books.

de Jonge, A. (n.d.). Leer Afrikaans sonder om jou rieme styf te loop. Graffiti Boeke.

De Klerk, P. F., Esterhuizen, B. J., Hammann, H. J. R., & Neethling, E. L. (1986). Afrikaans my taal. Maskew Miller Longman.

Nel, M. (2019). Afrikaans+: Everything you need to obtain top marks. LAPA Uitgewers.

The majority of this course content is based on the author’s experience, practice, and self-study.

 

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