📚 What are Personal Pronouns?
Definition
A personal pronoun is a word which stands in for a noun, usually for a person or thing:
It can also replace a noun group or a whole phrase:
👤 Personal Pronouns in German (Nominative)
These are the personal pronouns in German:
💡 Important Note
As you probably already know, German has different modes for addressing people. Use du/ihr for friends and children, and the polite Sie for people whom you do not know well and who are older than you.
| First person | ich | I | wir | we |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Second person (informal) | du | you | ihr | you |
| Second person (formal) | Sie | you | Sie | you |
| Third person (masc) | er | he | sie | they |
| Third person (fem) | sie | she | ||
| Third person (neut) | es | it |
⚠️ Points to Watch Out For
Verb Endings
The verb endings in German change in accordance with the subject. Here is a short summary of the endings for regular verbs:
Spelling for 'I' and 'you'
Capitalization Rules
Note that ich 'I' in German is spelled with a lower-case i when it is not at the beginning of a sentence. The formal 'you' Sie on the other hand always takes an initial capital letter.
🎯 Pronouns and Grammatical Gender
Key Difference from English
In German, third-person pronouns are used according to grammatical gender. This is different from English, where the use of the third-person pronouns is based on biological gender: 'he'/'she' for people, and 'it' for things or concepts.
Masculine Nouns →
Note that masculine nouns are replaced by er, regardless of whether they are people, animals or things:
Der Mann ist schön. → Er ist schön.
Der Hund ist schön. → Er ist schön.
Feminine Nouns →
Feminine nouns are replaced by sie:
Die Frau ist schön. → Sie ist schön.
Die Brille ist schön. → Sie ist schön.
Neuter Nouns →
Neuter nouns are replaced by es:
Das Kind ist schön. → Es ist schön.
Das Sofa ist schön. → Es ist schön.
🔄 Pronouns Change According to Case
In addition, German is more complicated than English in that the personal pronouns can change when the case changes.
In English, this also happens in some of the pronouns when they are used as objects in the sentence:
In German, almost all the pronouns change their form. They also have different forms depending on whether you are using them in the accusative or the dative.
🎯 Pronouns in the Accusative Case
When to Use Accusative Pronouns
If the pronoun is the direct object in a sentence, it is in the accusative form.
| ich | I | mich | me |
|---|---|---|---|
| du | you (informal) | dich | you |
| Sie | you (formal) | Sie | you |
| er | he | ihn | him, it |
| sie | she | sie | her, it |
| es | it | es | it |
| wir | we | uns | us |
| ihr | you (informal) | euch | you |
| Sie | you (formal) | Sie | you |
| sie | they | sie | them |
Examples with Direct Objects
Accusative Pronouns After Prepositions
Note that the same happens after certain prepositions such as durch 'through', für 'for', gegen 'against', ohne 'without' and um 'around', which all take the accusative case:
💚 Pronouns in the Dative Case
When to Use Dative Pronouns
You need a dative pronoun if the pronoun is the indirect object in a sentence.
Dative Pronouns After Prepositions and Verbs
A dative pronoun is also required after certain prepositions and verbs:
📝 Important Verbs & Prepositions
Verbs requiring dative: danken 'to thank', helfen 'to help', folgen 'to follow'
Prepositions taking dative: außer 'apart from', aus 'from, out of', bei 'at, near', gegenüber 'opposite', mit 'with', nach 'after, to', seit 'since, for', von 'from', zu 'to'
| ich | I | mir | me |
|---|---|---|---|
| du | you (informal) | dir | you |
| Sie | you (formal) | Ihnen | you |
| er | he | ihm | him, it |
| sie | she | ihr | her, it |
| es | it | ihm | it |
| wir | we | uns | us |
| ihr | you (informal) | euch | you |
| Sie | you (formal) | Ihnen | you |
| sie | they | ihnen | them |
💡 Note
uns and euch are the same in both the accusative and dative cases!
More Examples
💬 Common Phrases Using Dative Pronouns
There are a number of frequently used expressions which require the dative case and often a dative pronoun:
📖 Learning Tip
Don't feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of different pronouns in German. As a beginner you will mostly use the nominative form (ich, du, er, sie, es etc.) and some common phrases (Wie geht es dir? etc.). The more exposure you have to the language, the more you will get used to the different forms and the more confident you will feel about dealing with them.
📋 Complete Pronoun Overview
| I | ich | mich | mir |
|---|---|---|---|
| you (informal) | du | dich | dir |
| you (formal) | Sie | Sie | Ihnen |
| he/it (masc) | er | ihn | ihm |
| she/it (fem) | sie | sie | ihr |
| it (neut) | es | es | ihm |
| we | wir | uns | uns |
| you (informal pl) | ihr | euch | euch |
| you (formal pl) | Sie | Sie | Ihnen |
| they | sie | sie | ihnen |
← From Previous
← From Previous
Chapter 14: The Genitive Case taught you about showing possession with s-genitive and the genitive case after certain prepositions. Now with personal pronouns, you can replace genitive nouns too - "das Buch des Mannes" can become more conversational when you use pronouns in context.
→ Coming Next
Chapter 16: Possessive Adjectives - Learn how to say "my book", "your car", "his house" using possessive forms like mein, dein, sein, ihr. These work together with the pronouns you've learned to express ownership!