себе / се / себеси
Reflexive Pronouns
When an action goes back to the subject, use се before the verb, or себе after a preposition: Се гледа во огледалото. · Мисли само на себе.
How It Works
One pronoun for all persons. English changes between myself, yourself and themselves, but the Macedonian reflexive stays the same: Се гледам (I look at myself), Се гледаш (you look at yourself), Се гледаат (they look at themselves). The verb ending tells you who.
Short form се. It stands where short pronouns stand: before the verb, or after не, ќе and да: Не се гледа. · Ќе се облечам. Many everyday verbs with се are introduced in се + глагол: се мие.
Full form себе after prepositions. Се can never follow a preposition, so use себе:
- Мисли само на себе. — He thinks only about himself.
- Немам пари кај себе. — I have no money on me.
- Земи чадор со себе. — Take an umbrella with you.
It works for every person: Го купив ова за себе. (I bought this for myself.)
Себеси for emphasis. Себеси stresses that the action really comes back to the subject. As an object it is paired with се, the way other full pronouns are paired with short ones (see долги заменки: мене; тебе; него; неа): Се обвинува себеси. (She blames herself.) · Не се сака себеси. (He does not like himself.)
Себе or него? After a preposition, себе means the subject and него, неа or нив mean someone else: Марко зборува за себе (about himself) but Марко зборува за него (about another man).
Се is not сѐ. With the grave mark, сѐ means everything: Зборува за сѐ means He talks about everything (see ѐ; ѝ). The to-oneself short form си has its own entry: си за себе.
Examples (6)
- Се гледа во огледалото.
She is looking at herself in the mirror.
Word by Word: Self looks in mirror-the.
- Мисли само на себе.
He thinks only about himself.
Word by Word: Thinks only on self.
- Го купив овој подарок за себе.
I bought this gift for myself.
Word by Word: It I-bought this gift for self.
Себе works for every person, including I.
- Немам пари кај себе.
I don't have any money on me.
Word by Word: I-don't-have money at self.
- Не се обвинувај себеси.
Don't blame yourself.
Word by Word: Not self blame yourself.
Себеси adds weight, and се still comes before the verb.
- Марко зборува за себе, а не за брат си.
Marko is talking about himself, not about his brother.
Word by Word: Marko talks about self, and not about brother own.
Common Mistakes
Using се after a preposition.
Мисли само на се.Мисли само на себе.Се is a short form and cannot follow a preposition. Use the full form себе. Written with the grave mark, на сѐ would mean "about everything".
Using него when you mean the subject himself.
Марко зборува за него.Марко зборува за себе.You want to say that Marko talks about himself, but за него means about another man. Use себе when the person is the subject.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Reflexive pronouns build on се-verbs and full pronouns.
Related Patterns
- се + VerbVerbs with Се
Many everyday verbs use the short reflexive се.
Level 1 - сиThe Reflexive Си
Си is the to-oneself short form, the partner of се.
Level 3 - својOne's Own
Свој is the possessive that points back to the subject, like себе.
Level 3 - се / еден со другEach Other
With a plural subject, се can also mean each other.
Level 3 - сам / самиотAlone and the Very One
Сам means alone or by oneself, which is different from the reflexive себе.
Level 3
Words in This Pattern
Practice себе / се / себеси in Bubblegum
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