Die Personalpronomen
Personal pronouns
Words like I, you and we that stand in for a noun, and the German pronouns in the Nominativ.
What is a personal pronoun?
- A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun.
- A personal pronoun replaces a person or thing that was already mentioned.
- Without pronouns: “Tim woke up at 8 a.m. Then Tim had breakfast. After that, Tim drove to work.”
- With pronouns: “Tim woke up at 8 a.m. Then he had breakfast. After that, he drove to work.”
- Pronouns reduce repetition and make sentences clearer.
Three persons, singular and plural
- 1st person: yourself (I, we).
- 2nd person: the person or people you are talking to directly (you, you all).
- 3rd person: the person or people being talked about (he, she, it, they).
German personal pronouns
| English | German | Example with lernen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | I | ich | Ich lerne Deutsch |
| 2nd singular | you | du | Du lernst Deutsch |
| 3rd singular | he / it / she | er / es / sie | Er / Es / Sie lernt Deutsch |
| 1st plural | we | wir | Wir lernen Deutsch |
| 2nd plural | you all | ihr | Ihr lernt Deutsch |
| 3rd plural | they | sie | Sie lernen Deutsch |
| Formal way | you / you all | Sie | Sie lernen Deutsch |
The formal Sie always has a capital S. Compare “sie lernen” (they learn) and “Sie lernen” (you learn, formal).
lernen · to learn
- ich lerne
- du lernst
- er / es / sie lernt
- wir lernen
- ihr lernt
- sie lernen
- Sie lernen
Pronouns in the Nominativ
- The pronoun stands for the person or thing doing the action. That is the subject, and in German the subject is in the Nominativ.
- To find the subject, ask: Who is doing the action?
- Ich schreibe … (I write …): ich is the subject.
- Er springt … (He jumps …): er is the subject.