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Reflexive or Not?

Reflexive verbs have a substantial presence in the German language. There are quite a few verbs that are not reflexive in English, but always reflexive in German, for example, sich beeilen ("to hurry"). It is important to know which verbs require a reflexive pronoun in German, but also that certain verbs may sometimes be reflexive and sometimes not, which then affects their meaning. 

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For example, sich umziehen means "to change clothes," while umziehen means "to move":

 

Dann würde ich sagen, gehe ich mich mal umziehen.

Then, I'd say, I'll go and change.

Hast du Klamotten für mich?

Do you have some clothes for me?

Caption 13, Ultimate Frisbee - Oli erklärt das Spiel

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In wenigen Wochen werden Kato, Scratch und Lina ganz in den Zoo Neuwied umziehen.

In a few weeks, Kato, Scratch and Lina will move full-time into the Neuwied zoo.

Caption 38, Wie süß - Drei Löwen im Wohnzimmer

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Similarly, sich hinlegen means "to lie down" in the sense of going to bed, but hinlegen simply means "to set down" or "to put down." 

 

Ich muss mich beeilen, damit ich mich bald hinlegen kann.

I have to hurry so that I can go to bed soon.

Caption 68, Berufsleben - das Vorstellungsgespräch

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Hm, ich weiß genau, dass ich die Schwimmer hier irgendwo hingelegt hab'.

Hm, I know for sure that I put the floats down here somewhere.

 

Vorstellen means "to present," whereas sich vorstellen can mean either "to introduce oneself" (with the accusative pronoun) or "to imagine" (with the dative pronoun). 

 

Hallo, heute werde ich dir die Schultern, die Arme und die Hände vorstellen.

Hello, today I'll present the shoulders, the arms and the hands.

Captions 1-2, Der menschliche Körper - die Arme

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Ich könnte mir gar kein Leben ohne Kinder vorstellen.

I couldn't at all imagine a life without children.

Caption 15, Cettina interviewt - Mütter

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Könnten Sie sich uns kurz vorstellen und beschreiben, was Sie hier machen?

Could you quickly introduce yourself to us and describe what you do here?

Caption 6, Feuerwehr Heidelberg - Löschfahrzeug

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