Posted by When you hear of pronouns, the first thing that should come to your mind is that it is a replacement of something (a noun) that has once been mentioned in a conversation. Having this as first thought helps one to seek out the replaced nouns in order to flow with the conversation. This is important, particularly for German language learners because German nouns are gender and case specific. Find out more about the several German personal pronouns below…
| Content in this post |
|---|
| 1. Definition of pronouns 2. Subcategories of German pronouns 3. Nominativ Pronouns 4. Akkusativ Personal Pronouns 5. Dativ Personal Pronoun 6. Genitiv Personal Pronouns |
Pronouns are words that are used to replace nouns in a sentence. Personal pronoun is just one category of the German pronouns which include others such as possessive pronouns, reflexive pronouns, relative pronoun, demonstrative pronouns, interrogative pronouns, indefinite pronouns and prepositional pronouns. The choice of usage of a German pronoun is based on two factors;
- The gender of the noun
- The grammatical case of the noun
Subcategories of German Personal Pronouns
There are four sub-categories of personal pronouns;
- Nominativ/ subject pronouns
- Akkusativ/ direct object pronouns
- Dativ/ indirect object pronouns
- Genitiv/ possessive pronouns
Nominativ Personal Pronoun In German
These pronouns replace nouns of all genders in the nominative case. They are also called subject pronouns. The pronouns are;
| Nominativ pronoun | English translation | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ich | I | First person singular |
| du | you | Second person informal singular |
| er sie es | he she it | Third person singular |
| wir | we | First person plural |
| ihr | you (guys) | Second person informal plural |
| sie | they | Third person plural |
| Sie | You | Second person formal singular & plural |
**Note that “er/sie/es” and “sie” are the German pronouns for the four genders in the nominative. Where;
- er is the pronoun for all masculine nouns.
- sie (she) is the pronoun for all feminine nouns.
- es is the pronoun for all neuter nouns.
- sie (they) is the pronoun for all plural nouns.
| Gender | Nouns examples | Pronouns | English corresponding pronoun | Pronouns examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | der Tisch ist schwarz | er | he | Er ist schwarz |
| Feminine | die Flasche | sie | she | Sie steht auf dem Tisch |
| Neuter | das Haus | es | it | Es ist klein |
| Plural | die Kinder | sie | they | sie spielen |
Akkusativ Pronoun
Akkusativ Pronouns are those that replace all akkusative nouns. They are equally called direct object pronouns
| Akkusativ pronouns | English translation | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| mich | me | Maria ruft dich an. (Mary is calling you) |
| dich | you | Er erkennt dich. (He recognizes you) |
| ihn sie es | him her it | Ich möchte ihn/sie/es kaufen. (I would like to buy it) |
| uns | us | denkt ihr an uns? (are you thinking of us) |
| euch | you | Ich liebe euch (I love you) |
| sie Sie | them you | Wir können sie/Sie mitbringen. (We can bring them/you along) |
Even though er/sie and ihn/sie can be literally translated to he/she and him/they respectively, they can also be translated as „it“, when the noun they are replacing is inanimate in English. For instance, the pronoun for „Flasche“ is sie. So saying „sie steht auf dem Tisch“ would be translated as „it is standing on the table“ instead of „she is standing on the table“.
Dativ Pronoun
These are pronouns that replace nouns in the Dativ case. They are also called indirect object pronouns. Recall that Dativ always take the preposition “to” or “for” in English. Hence, their pronouns are also translated so as shown below.
| Dative pronouns | English translation | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| mir | me/ for me/ to me | Du kannst es mir kaufen. (you can buy it for me) |
| dir | you/ for you/ to you | Sie wird dir nicht helfen. (she will not help you) |
| ihm ihr ihm | him/ for him/ to him her/ for her/ to her it/ for it/ to it | Ich kaufe ihm/ihr eine Tasche. (I am buying a bag for him/her) |
| uns | us/ for us/ to us | Dieses Zimmer gehört uns. (This room belongs to us) |
| euch | you/ for you/ to you | Darf ich euch Blumen schicken? (May I send you flowers) |
| ihnen Ihnen | them/ for them/ to them you/ for you/ to you | Sara bäckt ihnen/Ihnen einen Kuchen. (Sara is baking a cake for them/you) |
Genitiv Personal Pronouns
The Genitiv Personal pronouns like all other forms of Genitiv show ownership. It is an alternative for possessive articles. While possessive articles are used with nouns, the personal pronouns are used alone.
In English, the Genitiv Personal pronouns are always accompanied with the preposition “of”. These pronouns are equally different in concept from the actual possessive pronouns.
| Genitiv pronouns | English translation |
|---|---|
| meiner | of mine |
| deiner | of yours |
| seiner ihrer seiner | of ihm of her of it |
| unser | of ours |
| euer | of yours |
| ihrer/ Ihrer | of theirs/ of you |
| Genitiv Possessive Pronouns | Possessive Articles |
|---|---|
| Ein Buch meiner (A Book of mine) | Mein Buch (my book) |
| Dieser Hund deiner (This dog of mine) | Deinen Hund (your dog) |