pronouns in German Grammar
Relative pronouns (Relativpronomen) are small words that introduce relative clauses. They allow us to give more information about something in the first part of the sentence. Learn about relative pronouns in German grammar and practise using them in the nominative, accusative, dative and genitive with Lingolia’s online lesson and exercises.
Table of Relative Pronouns in German Grammar
The table provides an overview of masculine, feminine, neuter and plural relative pronouns in all four German cases.
masculine | feminine | neuter | plural | |
---|---|---|---|---|
nominative | der/welcher | die/welche | das/welches | die/welche |
accusative | den/welchen | die/welche | das/welches | die/welche |
dative | dem/welchem | der/welcher | dem/welchem | denen/welchen |
genitive | dessen | deren | dessen | deren |
- Example:
- Die Polizei sucht den Mann, der die Bank überfallen hat.
- Das ist der Mann, dessen Hut weggeflogen ist.
- Wer ist der Mann, dem wir begegnet sind?
- Der Mann, den wir gegrüßt haben, ist mein Lehrer.
-
What are Demonstrativpronomen in German?
Demonstrative pronouns (Demonstrativpronomen), also indicative pronouns, can replace previously mentioned nouns in a sentence. We use them to emphasise or distinguish something, similar to this/that or these/those in English Grammar. In German grammar, demonstrative pronouns are declined to reflect case, gender and number. A different form is often prefered in spoken German.
Dieser/Jener
Use dieser/diese/dieses and jener/jene/jenes to choose something specific out of a group.
- Example:
- Welches Auto möchten Sie kaufen, dieses oder jenes?
- Welches Kleid soll ich anziehen? – Dieses.
In spoken language, German speakers generally prefer to use der/die/das da or der/die/das dort instead of jener/jene/jenes,
- Example:
- Möchten Sie diese Schuhe anprobieren? – Nein, lieber die dort.
Der/Derjeniger/Derselber
Use der/die/das, as well as derjenige/diejenige(n) or derselbe/dieselbe/dasselbe to emphasise something.
- Example:
- Wer ist der Junge? – Das weiß ich nicht. Den kenne ich nicht.
- Derjenige, der das Rätsel zuerst löst, bekommt einen Preis.
- Hat sie einen neuen Freund? – Nein, es ist derselbe wie neulich.
The demonstrative pronouns der/die/das are declined in the same ways as relative pronouns. Pay attention to the dative plural.
- Example:
- Wie geht es Jan und Linda? – Keine Ahnung, von denen habe ich lange nichts gehört.
Demonstrative Adjectives and Nouns
We can also use demonstrative pronouns in front of nouns. In this case, they differentiate themselves from normal articles by emphasising something specific. Therefore, we also emphasise the demonstrative pronoun when speaking.
- Example:
- Mit der Kleidung kommst du nicht in den Club!
-
With a different outfit, you could get into this club; and maybe with this outfit you could get into another club, but not with this outfit in this club.
Declension Table: Demonstrative Pronouns
The table provides a simple overview of the declension of masculine, feminine, neuter and plural demonstrative pronouns in nominative, accusative, dative and genitive.
masculine feminine neuter plural nominative dieser/der
derjenige
derselbediese/die
diejenige
dieselbedieses/das
dasjenige
dasselbediese/die
diejenigen
dieselbenaccusative diesen/den
denjenigen
denselbendiese/die
diejenige
dieselbedieses/das
dasjenige
dasselbediese/die
diejenigen
dieselbendative diesem/dem
demjenigen
demselbendieser/der
derjenigen
derselbendiesem/dem
demjenigen
demselbendiesen/denen
denjenigen
denselbengenitive dieses
desjenigen
desselbendieser
derjenigen
derselbendieses
desjenigen
desselbendieser
derjenigen
derselbenWhat are the German reflexive pronouns?
Reflexive pronouns in German grammar are mich/mir, dich/dir, uns, euch and sich. We use them with reflexive and reciprocal verbs. Reflexive pronouns always refer to the subject and must be declined to match the case they are in.
Table of Reflexive Pronouns in Accusative and Dative
Use the following table of reflexive pronouns in the accusative and dative cases to help you learn German reflexive pronouns.
ich du er/sie/es wir ihr sie/Sie accusative mich dich sich uns euch sich dative mir dir sich uns euch sich When to use reflexive pronouns in German
We use reflexive pronouns with two different types of verbs in German grammar:
- Reflexive verbs use the reflexive pronouns with the meaning “oneself”. We use the reflexive pronoun in the dative if there is also an accusative object. (see also Reflexive Verbs)
- Example:
- Ich dusche mich.
- Ich putze mir die Zähne.
- Reciprocal verbs use the reflexive pronouns with the meaning “each other”. Therefore, we can only use reciprocal verbs in the plural. These verbs include among others: sich kennen, sich sehen, sich lieben, sich streiten, sich einigen
- Example:
- Ich glaube, wir kennen uns. (= wir kennen einander)
- Tom und Albert streiten sich. (= der eine mit dem anderen)
Ich sehe mich.
(I see myself in the miriror – reflexive)Wir sehen uns.
(we see one another; you see me, I see you – reciprocal)What is an interrogative pronoun?
Interrogative pronouns (Interrogativpronomen) are a type of question words. The interrogative pronouns in German grammar are wer, was, wem, wen, and wessen.
German Question Words – wer/was/wem/wen/wessen
The interrogative pronouns wer, was, wem, wen and wessen allow us ask questions about unknown entities. Choosing which question word depends on the case and whether we are asking about a person or a thing:
- We use wer to ask after people in the nominative case (= who)
- Example:
- Wer hat das gesagt?
- We use wen to ask after people in the accusative case (= who)
- Example:
- Wen habt ihr angerufen?
- We use wem to ask after people in the dative case (= who/whom)
- Example:
- Wem hast du das Buch gegeben.
- We use wessen to ask after people in the genitive case (= whose)
- Example:
- Wessen Tasche ist das?
- We use was to ask after things in all of the cases (= what)
- Example:
- Was ist das?
- Was hast du gegessen?
Welcher vs. was für ein
Was für ein allows us to ask about type, similar to the English phrase what kind of …?
The interrogative pronoun welcher is similar to which? or which one? in English. It allows us to ask about a specific element in a group.
Both welcher and the article ein must be declined and agree with the noun they are referring to in terms of gender and number.
- Examples:
- —Manuela hat einen Hund.
- —Was für einen (Hund hat sie)?
- —Einen Chihuahua.
- —Welcher (Hund) gehört Manuela, der große oder der kleine?
- —Der kleine.
How to decline welcher and was für ein
The table below shows how we decline the question words welcher and was für ein.
Case Masculine Femenine Neuter Plural Nominative welcher
was für ein(er)*welche
was für einewelches
was für ein(s)*welche
was für welcheAccusative welchen
was für einenwelche
was für einewelches
was für ein(s)*welche
was für welcheDative welchem
was für einemwelcher
was für einerwelchem
was für einemwelchen
was für welchenGenitive welches
was für eineswelcher
was für einerwelches
was für eineswelcher
was für welcher*The letters in brackets are only used when the question word replaces a noun instead of modifying it.
- Example:
- Was für ein Auto fährst du?
- was für ein Auto = what kind of car
- Was für eins fährst du?
- was für eins = what kind
What are Demonstrativpronomen in German?
Demonstrative pronouns (Demonstrativpronomen), also indicative pronouns, can replace previously mentioned nouns in a sentence. We use them to emphasise or distinguish something, similar to this/that or these/those in English Grammar. In German grammar, demonstrative pronouns are declined to reflect case, gender and number. A different form is often prefered in spoken German.
Dieser/Jener
Use dieser/diese/dieses and jener/jene/jenes to choose something specific out of a group.
- Example:
- Welches Auto möchten Sie kaufen, dieses oder jenes?
- Welches Kleid soll ich anziehen? – Dieses.
In spoken language, German speakers generally prefer to use der/die/das da or der/die/das dort instead of jener/jene/jenes,
- Example:
- Möchten Sie diese Schuhe anprobieren? – Nein, lieber die dort.
Der/Derjeniger/Derselber
Use der/die/das, as well as derjenige/diejenige(n) or derselbe/dieselbe/dasselbe to emphasise something.
- Example:
- Wer ist der Junge? – Das weiß ich nicht. Den kenne ich nicht.
- Derjenige, der das Rätsel zuerst löst, bekommt einen Preis.
- Hat sie einen neuen Freund? – Nein, es ist derselbe wie neulich.
The demonstrative pronouns der/die/das are declined in the same ways as relative pronouns. Pay attention to the dative plural.
- Example:
- Wie geht es Jan und Linda? – Keine Ahnung, von denen habe ich lange nichts gehört.
Demonstrative Adjectives and Nouns
We can also use demonstrative pronouns in front of nouns. In this case, they differentiate themselves from normal articles by emphasising something specific. Therefore, we also emphasise the demonstrative pronoun when speaking.
- Example:
- Mit der Kleidung kommst du nicht in den Club!
-
With a different outfit, you could get into this club; and maybe with this outfit you could get into another club, but not with this outfit in this club.
Declension Table: Demonstrative Pronouns
The table provides a simple overview of the declension of masculine, feminine, neuter and plural demonstrative pronouns in nominative, accusative, dative and genitive.
masculine feminine neuter plural nominative dieser/der
derjenige
derselbediese/die
diejenige
dieselbedieses/das
dasjenige
dasselbediese/die
diejenigen
dieselbenaccusative diesen/den
denjenigen
denselbendiese/die
diejenige
dieselbedieses/das
dasjenige
dasselbediese/die
diejenigen
dieselbendative diesem/dem
demjenigen
demselbendieser/der
derjenigen
derselbendiesem/dem
demjenigen
demselbendiesen/denen
denjenigen
denselbengenitive dieses
desjenigen
desselbendieser
derjenigen
derselbendieses
desjenigen
desselbendieser
derjenigen
derselbenWhat are Indefinitpronomen?
Indefinite pronouns (Indefinitpronomen) express something general or unspecific, rather than something concrete, similar to something/anything/nothing in English grammar. When an indefinite pronoun is used, the subject or object of a sentence is not specifically defined.
- Example:
- Kannst du etwas für mich tun? (general)
(compared with: Kannst du mein Auto waschen?)
Some of the indefinite pronouns in German grammar are etwas, nichts, man, jemand, jeder. Learn about indefinite pronouns with Lingolia. Master how and when to use indefinite pronouns in spoken and written German then test yourself in the exercises.
Etwas/Nichts
The pronouns etwas and nichts are not declined – they do not change their form.
- Example:
- Hast du etwas gehört?
- Nein, ich habe nichts gehört.
Jemand/Jeder
The pronouns jemand, jeder are declined.
- Example:
- Ich sollte jemanden anrufen, aber ich weiß nicht mehr, wen.
- Das kann doch jedem mal passieren.
The pronoun jeder must also agree with the noun that it replaces.
- Example:
- masculine – jeder
feminine – jede
neuter – jedes
Man
The pronoun man is the equivalent of the English generic pronoun one or impersonal you. It becomes einem in the dative, and einen in the accusative. The possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives of man are the same as those of masculine 3rd person singular (er).
- Example:
- So etwas macht man nicht! (nominative)
- Ihre Stimme geht einem unter die Haut. (dative)
- Der Stress macht einen krank. (accusative)
- Man kann kaum sein eigenes Wort hören. (possessive adjective)
Irgendjemand/Irgendetwas
To strengthen indefinite pronouns, we can insert irgend- before some pronouns, for example: irgendjemand/irgendwer, irgendetwas/irgendwas
- Example:
- Irgendjemand/Irgendwer wird uns schon helfen.
- Irgendetwas/Irgendwas hat er doch gesagt, oder?
Declension Table: Jemand/Jeder/Man
The table provides an overview of the declension of jemand/jeder/man in nominative, accusative and dative.
jemand jeder man masculine feminine neuter nominative jemand jeder jede jedes man accusative jemanden jeden jede jedes einen dative jemandem jedem jeder jedem einem