German Pronouns in the Nominative Case
German Pronouns in the Nominative Case
Most of the personal German pronouns are used as subjects of their verbs . These represent the nominative case in German (as in English) . We will shortly learn three other cases in German : the accusative for direct objects , the dative for indirect objects , and the genitive for expressing possession . For now , remember that the singular personal pronouns in English (nominative case) are “I” , “you”, and “he/she/it” (1st, 2nd, and 3rd persons) and the nominative case is used as the subject of a verb . In German , these pronouns are rendered as ich , du, and er/sie/es . In these example sentences :
| I go shopping | Ich gehe einkaufen |
| He studies biology | Er studiert Biologie |
| It goes well with me
( = I am fine) |
Es geht mir gut |
| Where are you going?
(Notice subject verb reversal in question sentence ) |
Wohin gehst du? |
There are, of course, plural personal pronouns in the English nominative case : “we”, “you”, and “they”; and in German , these nominative case pronouns are wir , ihr , and sie . These appear in the following examples (subject underlined) :
| We go shopping | Wir gehen einkaufen |
| You all understand the question |
Ihr versteht die Frage |
| You (all) have the instructions |
Ihr habt die Anleitungen |
| They understand the work | Sie verstehen die Arbeit |
In both English and German , the 3rd person singular also has gender . As you will next learn , the 2nd person (person being addressed) in German has both familiar and polite (formal) forms . Further , it is worth repeating here — although introduced previously and to be covered in detail in future lessons — that the verb form changes when the subject changes . That is , in German the verb form must match the subject of a sentence . Here are some examples ; compare with the previous three example sentences above and note how the verb form changed to match the sentence subject (subject and verb underlined) :
| I understand the work. | Ich verstehe die Arbeit. |
| You go shopping. | Du gehst einkaufen. |
| I have all the answers. | Ich habe alle Antworten. |
| He has the instructions. | Er hat die Anleitungen. |
In the last example , the English verb form (‘have’) also changed based upon the subject of the sentence .
Conversation contains German pronouns : the businessmen
Mr. Schmidt meets Mr. Baumann . They are business people and they work ta the Headquarters .
- Herr Schmidt : Guten Tag, Frau Baumann ! Frau Baumann : Guten Tag, Herr Schmidt ! Herr Schmidt : Wie geht es Ihnen ? Frau Baumann : Sehr gut, danke. Und Ihnen ? Herr Schmidt: Auch gut . Frau Baumann : Schön . Haben Sie Herrn Standish schon getroffen ? Herr Schmidt : Aus England ? Nein . Ist er zu Besuch ? Frau Baumann : Ja . Das ist richtig! Auf Wiedersehen, Herr Schmidt ! Herr Schmidt : Auf Wiedersehen, Frau Baumann !
In this conversation , although the subject matter is basically casual , a more formal form of German is being used intoning respect between coworkers in an office setting . The polite form is expressed by the pronouns .
