себе / се

Reflexive Objects

Level 2Sounds Like sebe; se za povratni obǰekat

When a subject acts directly on itself, Serbian uses a reflexive pronoun for the direct object. The short clitic се is the default, neutral choice for any transitive verb reflecting back onto the subject. The full form себе is required for contrast, emphasis, focus particles (like само), clause-initial position, standalone answers, or after prepositions.

How It Works

In Serbian, true reflexive verbs (прави повратни глаголи) describe an agent performing an action directly upon itself.

1. Default Neutral Direct Object: 'се'
For neutral reflexive actions where the transitive verb targets the agent (whether daily care like купати се, умивати се, чешљати се or general actions like чувати се, бранити се, повредити се), the unstressed enclitic се is the standard direct object (прави објекат):

  • Он се брије свако јутро. (He shaves every morning.)
  • Пази да се не повредиш. (Be careful not to hurt yourself.)

Because се is an unaccented clitic (short pronoun), it cannot stand as the very first word in a clause and must follow strict clitic ordering rules.

2. Stressed and Focused Form: 'себе'
The full form себе carries stress and behaves syntactically like a full noun phrase. It replaces се in several key environments:

  • Focus and Contrast: When contrasting oneself with others (Она криви себе, а не нас — 'She blames herself, not us'). Even routine actions take себе if contrastive: Он брије себе, а не муштерију ('He is shaving himself, not the customer').
  • Focus Particles: When modified by words like само ('only') or чак и ('even'): Криви само себе ('He blames only himself').
  • Clause-Initial Position: Because clitics cannot start a sentence, fronting the reflexive direct object requires the full form: Себе највише цени. (He/she values himself/herself most.)
  • Coordination: When linked with other direct objects by conjunctions: Чувај и себе и дете. ('Look after both yourself and the child.')
  • Elliptical and Standalone Answers: When answering a question without repeating the verb: Кога видиш? — Себе. ('Whom do you see? — Myself.')

3. Prepositional Complements: 'себе' vs. Preposition + Clitic Combinations
Note that direct objects in Serbian are strictly non-prepositional (and reflexive direct objects specifically appear in the accusative case). When governed by a preposition, a reflexive pronoun functions as a prepositional complement or indirect object (неправи објекат), not a direct object. In standard contemporary usage, prepositions regularize to the full form себе (e.g., у себе, за себе): Веруј у себе ('Believe in yourself'). However, standard Serbian also preserves traditional, idiomatic preposition + clitic combinations where stress retracts onto the preposition (such as на се, за се, преда се, уза се). Orthographically, these expressions are always written as two separate words.

4. True Reflexives vs. Inherent 'се' Verbs
Be careful not to confuse reflexive direct objects with inherently reflexive verbs (verbs that require се) such as смејати се ('to laugh') or бојати се ('to fear'). In those verbs, се is an inseparable lexical particle rather than an accusative object, and it can never alternate with себе.

Examples (5)

  1. Он се свако јутро брије и спрема за посао.

    He shaves and gets ready for work every morning.

    Word by Word: He self every morning shaves and prepares for work.

    The short clitic 'се' is used here as the neutral direct object because there is no contrast or special emphasis.

  2. Увек криви само себе, а не друге.

    He always blames only himself, not others.

    Word by Word: Always blames only himself, and not others.

    The full tonic form 'себе' is mandatory here due to the focus particle 'само' and the direct contrast with 'друге'.

  3. Кога видиш у огледалу? — Себе.

    Whom do you see in the mirror? — Myself.

    Word by Word: Whom you see in mirror? — Myself.

    In standalone elliptical answers without a verb, only the stressed full form 'себе' can be used.

  4. Себе видим као одговорну особу.

    I see myself as a responsible person.

    Word by Word: Myself I see as responsible person.

    Because the reflexive direct object is placed in sentence-initial position for topical focus, the full form 'себе' must be used.

  5. Мораш више да верујеш у себе.

    You have to believe in yourself more.

    Word by Word: You must more to believe in yourself.

    In standard modern Serbian, prepositions productively take the full tonic form 'себе' as a prepositional complement, rather than the clitic 'се'.

Common Mistakes

  • Changing the reflexive pronoun to match the grammatical person (e.g., using 'ме' or 'те' instead of 'се').

    Ја ме умивам свако јутро.
    Ја се умивам свако јутро.

    Unlike Romance or Germanic languages, standard Serbian uses the invariant form 'се' for all grammatical persons (ја се, ти се, ми се, etc.).

  • Placing the short clitic 'се' at the very beginning of a sentence.

    Се перем сваки дан.
    Перем се сваки дан.

    The short form 'се' is an enclitic and cannot stand in sentence-initial position. It must attach after the first accented unit.

  • Using stressed 'себе' when no contrast is meant.

    Different MeaningСвако јутро чешљам себе пре доручка.
    Свако јутро се чешљам пре доручка.

    'Чешљам себе' is correct, but it puts stress on yourself, as if you could have combed someone else. In an ordinary morning routine use the short 'се': 'Свако јутро се чешљам пре доручка'.

How It Connects

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себе / сеLevel 2Reflexive Objects

Learn This First

To learn reflexive objects using 'себе' and 'се', learners need to be familiar with how personal pronouns operate in their full and clitic forms, where clitics sit in a sentence, and the core concept of reflexivity (pointing back to the subject).

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себе