Povratni glagoli
Overview
A large group of Serbian verbs are always accompanied by the small word се - an invariant reflexive clitic that never changes for person, gender or number, unlike the personal pronouns from accusative-case-a2. Serbian's се is a separate, unstressed word that follows the same second-position (clitic) rule as бити's short forms.
Because се seeks the second position of the whole clause - not necessarily the position right after the verb - it can end up right next to the verb or several words away from it, depending on what else is in the sentence.
Types of reflexive verbs
True reflexives describe an action the subject does to itself: облачити се (to get dressed). Reciprocal reflexives describe two or more subjects acting on each other: видети се (to see each other). Inherently reflexive verbs simply never exist without се at all, and often have no literal reflexive meaning, e.g. смејати се (to laugh).
Играти се (for children to play) shows the last group in action: the bare verb играти (without се) means to play a sport or game (свирати is the separate verb for playing an instrument), while играти се specifically means to play the way children do.
Word order - where does се go?
When the subject (pronoun or noun) opens the clause, се takes second position, immediately after the subject and before the verb, as in Она се облачи. and Деца се играју. When the verb itself opens the clause (subject dropped), се simply follows the verb.
In perfekat, се joins the same clitic cluster as the auxiliary, and comes right after it, never before - except with the 3rd-person-singular auxiliary је, which is dropped outright whenever it would land next to се: Она се обукла., never Она се је обукла. (see past-tense-perfekat-a2 for the auxiliary itself).
Tables
| Person | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | oblačim se | oblačimo se |
| 2. | oblačiš se | oblačite se |
| 3. | oblači se | oblače se |
Examples
Compared with…
English rarely marks reflexivity at all: get dressed, be named, laugh, look forward to carry no reflexive marker whatsoever, and myself/yourself/himself… are reserved for genuine emphasis or true self-action (I cut myself), not for the everyday reflexive verbs Serbian uses се for. Expect to add се to verbs that don't feel reflexive in English at all.
Common mistakes
Tips & exceptions
- Think of се's position in terms of the whole clause, not the verb - it always wants second place in the sentence, wherever that lands relative to the verb.
- In perfekat, remember the fixed order: subject → auxiliary (сам/си/смо/сте/су) → се → participle - except in the 3rd person singular, where је is dropped entirely next to се: Она се обукла., not Она (је) се обукла.
- A handful of verbs are reflexive-only and simply don't exist without се (надати се, радовати се, смејати се) - learn them as one unit, not as a base verb plus an optional add-on. Звати се looks like this group but isn't: звати (to call someone) is a real verb on its own - always check whether се changes a verb's meaning rather than assuming it's just optional.
- сећати се (to remember) always keeps се; the rare bare form сетити (to remind) means something different and is far less common.
- A few verbs change meaning depending on се: compare звати (to call someone) with звати се (to be named) - always check whether се changes the verb's meaning, not just its grammar.
Summary
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