← All chapters

B1-46 · Talk about stress and support with mir and dir

Mental health

Choose between accusative and dative reflexive pronouns, such as mich and mir, to talk about stress, anxiety and therapy.

About 5 minutes to read · 12 quiz questions

A woman talks calmly with a therapist in a bright, quiet room with plants and two armchairs.

01

Mir and dir

Some reflexive verbs have a second object in the accusative, such as Sorgen or Zeit. Then the reflexive pronoun is in the dative: Ich mache mir Sorgen. Only ich and du have their own dative forms, mir and dir.

Mir and dir
Personaccusativedative
Imichmir
you (informal)dichdir
he / she / itsichsich
weunsuns
you (plural)eucheuch
they / you (formal)sichsich

Ich mache mir oft Sorgen.

I often worry.

Ich nehme mir jeden Abend Zeit für mich.

I take time for myself every evening.

Machst du dir Sorgen um deine Prüfung?

Are you worried about your exam?

Ich wünsche mir mehr Ruhe im Alltag.

I wish for more peace and quiet in everyday life.

Sich Sorgen machen means to worry, sich Zeit nehmen to take time for yourself and sich etwas wünschen to wish for something. Der Stress is stress and die Ruhe peace and quiet.

02

Accusative or dative?

Ask whether the sentence has another accusative object. Without one, the reflexive pronoun is accusative: Ich entspanne mich. With one, it is dative: Ich gönne mir eine Pause.

Beim Yoga entspanne ich mich.

I relax when I do yoga.

Ich gönne mir eine Pause.

I treat myself to a break.

Ich fühle mich oft gestresst.

I often feel stressed.

Ich stelle mir ein ruhiges Wochenende vor.

I imagine a quiet weekend.

Sich gönnen means to treat yourself to something. Sich vorstellen with a dative means to imagine: Ich stelle mir etwas vor. Gestresst means stressed.

03

Getting help

Talking about anxiety or stress is easier with a few fixed expressions. Many of them use a dative reflexive pronoun, because they also have an accusative object: sich Hilfe holen, sich Ziele setzen, sich etwas merken.

Hast du dir schon überlegt, eine Therapie zu machen?

Have you thought about starting therapy?

Merk dir die Übung für schwierige Momente.

Remember the exercise for difficult moments.

Viele Menschen holen sich Hilfe, wenn die Angst zu groß wird.

Many people get help when the anxiety becomes too strong.

In der Therapie lerne ich, mir kleine Ziele zu setzen.

In therapy I am learning to set myself small goals.

Die Angst means anxiety or fear, die Therapie therapy and die Therapeutin the therapist. Sich etwas überlegen means to think something over.

Ready to try it?

Check what you remember with 12 short questions.