German personal pronouns

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1.What are personal pronouns in German?
1.1.ich, du, er, sie, es, wir, ihr, sie in German
1.2.Declension of personal pronouns
1.2.1.How to decline the personal pronouns?
1.2.2.Nominative case of personal pronouns
1.2.3.Dative case of personal pronouns
1.2.4.Accusative case of personal pronouns
1.2.5.Genitive case of personal pronouns
2.Polite form (Höflichkeitsform) of personal pronouns in German
2.1.What is the polite form of personal pronouns in German?
2.2.Use of the german Höflichkeitsform
2.3.Declension of the polite form 'Sie'
3.Important indefinite pronouns in German ('es' and 'man')
4.Exercises
4.1.German personal pronouns exercise (nominative)
4.2.Exercise of personal pronouns (case sensitive)

What are personal pronouns in German?

Personal pronouns in German are replacements for already mentioned nouns. Personal pronouns are also used to address other people or to talk about ourselves.

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ich, du, er, sie, es, wir, ihr, sie in German

	Personal Pronoun	English Translation	Examples	Function
1st person singular	ich	I	Ich bin zwanzig Jahre alt. - I am twenty years old.	to talk about the own person
2nd person singular	du	you	Du siehst traurig aus. - You look sad.	to address one person
3rd person singular	er / sie / es	he / she /it	Ist das Auto neu? Es gefällt mir. - Is that car new? I like it.	to replace an already known noun ('das Auto')
1st person plural	wir	we	Wir lernen Deutsch. - We learn German.	to talk about several people including the own person
2nd person plural	ihr	you	Ihr habt spaẞ. - You have fun.	to address several people
3rd person plural	sie	they	Ich besuche oft meine Großeltern. Sie freuen sich jedes mal. - I often visit my grandparents. They are happy every time.	to replace an already known noun ('die Großelern')

Declension of personal pronouns

Personal pronouns have to be declined in:

number (singular, plural)
gender in third-person singular (masculine, feminine, neuter)
case (nominative, dative, accusative, genitive)

How to decline the personal pronouns?

	Nominative	Dative	Accusative	Genitive
1st person singular	ich	mir	mich	meiner
2nd person singular	du	dir	dich	deiner
3rd person singular	er / sie / es	ihm / ihr / ihm	ihn / sie / es	seiner / ihrere / seiner
1rst person plural	wir	uns	uns	unser
2nd person plural	ihr	euch	euch	euer
3rd person plural	sie	ihnen	sie	ihrer

Nominative case of personal pronouns

The nominative case is always used as subject of the sentence.

Examples:

Ich reise gern. - I like to travel.
Du bist mein Freund. You are my Friend.
Er/sie/es ist lustig. - He/she/it is funny.
Wir haben Hunger. we are hungry.
Wo kommt ihr her? - Where are you from?
Sie sind Wilkommen. They are welcome.

Dative case of personal pronouns

The dative is the indirect object of the sentence.

Examples:

Meine Kollegen helfen mir. - My colleagues help me.
Gefällt dir die Jacke? - Do you like the jacket?
Ich habe ihm/ihr zugesehen. - I watched him/her/it.
Er vertraut uns. - He trusts us.
Das Auto gehört euch. - That car is yours.
Ihnen ist warm. - They're warm.

When do we use the dative case?

There are some linked verbs and prepositions which request the dative case:

	Examples	English Translation
Verbs	gefallen kaufen vertrauen gehören antworten helfen ...	to like to buy to trust to belong to answer to help ...
Prepositions	bei dank seit aus nach von zu mit ...	at thanks to since out to/after from to with ...

Examples

English Translation

Verbs

gefallen

kaufen

vertrauen

gehören

antworten

helfen

...

to like

to buy

to trust

to belong

to answer

to help

...

Prepositions

bei

dank

seit

aus

nach

von

mit

...

thanks to

since

out

to/after

from

with

...

Accusative case of personal pronouns

The accusative is used as direct object of the sentence.

Examples:

Er hat mich getroffen. - He met me.
Deine Mutter ruft dich an. - Your mother calls you.
Hast du ihn/sie/es gesehen? - Did you see him/her/it?
Hans hat uns nicht gefragt. - Hans didn't ask us.
Es ist schön euch zu sehen! - It's nice to see you
Ich habe sie nicht verstanden? - I didn't understand them?

When do we use the accusative case?

There are some linked verbs and prepositions which request the accusative case:

	Examples	English Translation
Verbs	sehen fragen essen trinken verstehen kaufen ...	to see to ask to eat to drink to understand to buy ...
Prepositions	um durch für gegen ohne ...	around through for against without ...

Examples

English Translation

Verbs

sehen

fragen

essen

trinken

verstehen

kaufen

...

to see

to ask

to eat

to drink

to understand

to buy

...

Prepositions

durch

für

gegen

ohne

...

around

through

for

against

without

...

Genitive case of personal pronouns

Genitive forms of personal pronouns in German exist but are very rarely used.

Examples:

Wir erinnern uns seiner. - We remember him.
Gott, erbarme dich unser! - God, have mercy on us!

If you require more information about which case to use, check out the German cases.

Polite form (Höflichkeitsform) of personal pronouns in German

What is the polite form of personal pronouns in German?

The personal pronoun used as polite form is the word 'Sie'.

'Sie' is...

... the formal equivalent to the informal form 'du'.
... always capitalized.
... similar declined as the third-person plural form.
... identical in singular and plural.
... indicating respect.

Use of the german Höflichkeitsform

'Sie' is used to address older people, strangers or people of higher hierarchical rank e.g. in student-teacher or employee-employer relations.

Normally 'Sie' is used for people you would call by their surname while 'du' is used for people you would call by their first name.

It is not likely to use the polite form to address friends, family members or kids.

Declension of the polite form 'Sie'

Case	Personal Pronoun (singular and plural)	Example
Nominative	Sie	Sind Sie der neue Lehrer? - Are you the new teacher?
Dative	Ihnen	Ich schreibe Ihnen einen Brief. - I write you a letter.
Accusative	Sie	Ich lade Sie zum Abendessen ein. - I invite you to have dinner.
Genitive	Ihrer	Sie haben Ihrer gedacht. - They thought of you.

Important indefinite pronouns in German ('es' and 'man')

The pronoun 'es' can also be used as en indefinite pronoun for impersonal formulations.

Examples:

Es regnet. - It is raining.
Es ist Weihnachten. - It's Christmas.

The indefinite pronoun 'man' is refering to one or more unspecified people. like 'es' it is a third-person singular pronoun and exclusively used in the nominative form.

Examples:

Man darf am Bahnhof nicht rauchen. - One must not smoke at the train station.
Wenn es regnet, wird man nass. - If it rains, one gets wet.

Remember: The indefinite pronouns are third-person singular pronouns and therefore the connected verb does always stand in third-person singular form as well!

Exercises

German personal pronouns exercise (nominative)
Exercise of personal pronouns (case sensitive)

German personal pronouns exercise (nominative)

Exercise of personal pronouns (case sensitive)

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German personal pronouns

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Lesson outline

What are personal pronouns in German?

Have a question?

Iliana B.

Dr. Jade A.

Jaiye D.

Larissa L.

Mustapha Z.

Emanuela P.

Sophia K.

Ruxandra M.

Daniela M.

Gül D.

ich, du, er, sie, es, wir, ihr, sie in German

Declension of personal pronouns

How to decline the personal pronouns?

Nominative case of personal pronouns

Dative case of personal pronouns

Accusative case of personal pronouns

Genitive case of personal pronouns

Polite form (Höflichkeitsform) of personal pronouns in German

What is the polite form of personal pronouns in German?

Use of the german Höflichkeitsform

Declension of the polite form 'Sie'

Important indefinite pronouns in German ('es' and 'man')

Exercises

German personal pronouns exercise (nominative)

Exercise of personal pronouns (case sensitive)

Exercises

German personal pronouns exercise (nominative)

Exercise of personal pronouns (case sensitive)

What our students say

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