In short

Ukrainian has two reflexive words that always point back to the subject of their clause. себе́ is the reflexive personal pronoun (“oneself”) — one form for every subject, and it has no nominative. свій is the reflexive possessive (“one’s own”) — it agrees like мій/твій and, crucially, tells the listener that the owner is the subject. That last point is the whole trick: свій vs його́/її́ is how Ukrainian removes an ambiguity that English “his/her” leaves open.

The rule

себе́ — the reflexive pronoun. It stands for the same person as the subject, whoever that is. Because the subject is already named, себе́ never appears in the nominative and is never itself the subject. The same word covers English myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves:

• Я ба́чу себе́. — I see myself.
• Ти ба́чиш себе́. — You see yourself.
• Вони́ ба́чать себе́. — They see themselves.

It also serves as the reflexive object of prepositions: про се́бе (about oneself), до се́бе (to one’s place), з собо́ю (with oneself), над собо́ю (over oneself).

свій — the reflexive possessive. It means “belonging to the subject” and agrees in gender, number and case with the thing possessed, exactly like мій and твій. Use свій when the owner is the subject of the same clause; use його́ / її́ / їх when the owner is a third person who is not the subject. Compare:

• Він узя́в свій телефо́н. — He took his own phone. (the phone is his)
• Він узя́в його́ телефо́н. — He took his phone. (someone else’s)

With я, ти, ми, ви as subject, свій and мій/твій/наш/ваш usually both work, but свій is the more natural choice (“Я люблю́ свою́ краї́ну”). The distinction becomes obligatory for meaning in the third person, where only свій signals “the subject’s own”.

Forms & patterns

себе́ declines like ти but has no nominative, no gender and no number:

свій declines like the possessives мій/твій. Stress stays on the ending throughout:

In the accusative, the animate form (свого́, свої́х) matches a living being, the inanimate form (свій, свої́) an object — the same rule as for nouns and other adjectives.

Examples

Common mistakes

• Він забу́в його́ ключі́ (meaning his own) -> Він забу́в свої́ ключі́ — when the owner is the subject, use свій, not його.
• Вона́ продала́ її́ маши́ну (meaning her own) -> Вона́ продала́ свою́ маши́ну — the subject’s own possession always takes свій.
• Свій брат приї́хав учо́ра -> Мій брат приї́хав учо́ра — свій must point back to a possessor named earlier in the clause; standing inside the subject itself it has no antecedent, so use мій/твій.
• Себе́ купи́в квито́к -> Я купи́в собі́ квито́к — себе́ has no nominative and can never be the subject.
• Він пиша́ється ним (meaning himself) -> Він пиша́ється собо́ю — a reflexive object pointing back to the subject is собо́ю, not ним.
• Я задово́лений мно́ю -> Я задово́лений собо́ю — for “with myself” use the reflexive собо́ю.

Tips

• себе́ is one word for every subject: unlike English myself/yourself/himself, it never changes for person, gender or number.
• себе́ has no nominative, so it is never the subject — it shows up only in the oblique cases, often after a preposition (про се́бе, до се́бе, з собо́ю).
• Owner = subject of the clause? Use свій. Owner = a different third person? Use його́/її́/їх. This is exactly what disambiguates Ukrainian where English “his/her” cannot.
• With я/ти/ми/ви subjects, свій and мій/твій/наш/ваш are usually interchangeable, but свій sounds more idiomatic: “Я люблю́ свою́ роди́ну”.
• свій agrees with the thing possessed in gender, number and case, just like мій/твій — learn one paradigm and you know all three.
• Keep the reflexive collocations handy: сам по собі́ (in itself), взя́ти себе́ в ру́ки (pull oneself together), почува́тися як у се́бе вдо́ма (to feel at home).