selbst / selber (-self, personally)

What it means

The emphasizer selbst / selber corresponds to English -self (myself, yourself, himself, ourselves, ...). It stresses that this very person, and nobody else, performs the action:

• Ich habe den Kuchen selbst gebacken. - I baked the cake myself (not someone else).

selbst and selber mean exactly the same thing here and are interchangeable. selber simply sounds more colloquial; selbst is the neutral, written-standard choice.

Forms - nothing to decline

This is the easy part: selbst and selber never change. They take no ending and do not agree with the subject in gender, number or case. The same word covers myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves, themselves:

• Er repariert sein Fahrrad selbst. - He repairs his bike himself.
• Die Kinder haben den Kuchen selber gebacken. - The children baked the cake themselves.

Position

The emphasizer usually stands after the word it stresses, or later in the middle field of the clause - typically near the verb or object:

• Wir haben die Wohnung selbst renoviert. - We renovated the flat ourselves.
• Das musst du selber entscheiden. - You have to decide that yourself.

The second meaning: selbst = "even"

When selbst stands directly in front of a noun or phrase, it means "even" (= sogar):

• *Selbst der Lehrer konnte die Frage nicht beantworten. - Even* the teacher could not answer the question.

Important: only selbst can do this. selber never means "even".

Don't confuse it with the reflexive pronoun

The emphasizer is not the reflexive pronoun. Reflexives (mich, dich, sich, uns, euch) are the object of the verb; the emphasizer just adds stress and can be dropped without breaking the sentence. They can even appear together:

• Er hat sich das Bein selbst verbunden. - He bandaged his leg himself. (sich = reflexive object, selbst = emphasis)

Most common mistake

Learners try to give it an ending (selbster, selbstes) - it never takes one - or they use selber to mean "even". For "even" you must use selbst (or sogar).

As an emphasizer, "selbst" and "selber" mean "-self" (myself, yourself, ...) and stress that this very person, and no one else, does the action. They never change their ending. Only "selbst" (not "selber") can also mean "even".

"selbst" and "selber" are interchangeable emphasizers meaning myself/yourself/himself etc.; "selber" just sounds more casual. Both are indeclinable. Note the second job of "selbst": placed before a word it can mean "even" (= sogar) - and only "selbst" can do this, not "selber".

Als betonende Partikel bedeuten "selbst" und "selber" "persönlich/eigenhändig" und heben hervor, dass genau diese Person und niemand anderes handelt. Sie bleiben immer unverändert. Nur "selbst" (nicht "selber") kann zusätzlich "sogar" bedeuten.