German pronouns
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| German grammar | |
|---|---|
| Nouns | |
| Verbs | |
| Articles | |
| Adjectives | |
| Pronouns | |
| Adverbial phrases | |
| Conjugation | |
| Sentence structure | |
German Pronouns of the first person refer to the speaker; those of the second person refer to an addressed person. The pronouns of the third person may be used to replace nominal phrases. These have the same gender, number and case as the original nominal phrase. This goes for other pronouns, too.
pronoun position(s) selbst relative clause
In German, a pronoun may have a position under certain circumstances. First and second person pronouns usually do not, except in poetical or informal contexts.
- "Das im Schrank" (the thing in the cupboard)
- "Das auf dem Tisch" (the thing on the table)
In today's German, pronouns are rarely used in the genitive case. Instead, a German user usually uses the corresponding possessive article (see German grammar#The genitive attribute).
- "Der Knochen des Hundes" - "Sein Knochen" or "Dessen Knochen" (the dog's bone, its bone)
In formal, archaic German, there are genitive objects, just like accusative and dative objects. Since the personal pronoun does not have a genitive form, the third person genitive plural of the possessive pronoun is applied in those cases. These forms are bracketed.
- OLD: "Ich erinnere mich ihrer" (MODERN: "Ich erinnere mich an sie.") (I remember her)
- OLD: "Ich erinnere mich seiner" (MODERN: "Ich erinnere mich an ihn.")
- OLD: "Ich entsinne mich ihrer" (Don't use this) (I recall her)
The emphasizers "selber" and "selbst" have a slightly different meaning than if used with nominal phrases. They normally emphasize the pronoun, but if they are applied to a reflexive pronoun, they emphasize its reflexive meaning.
Contents |
[edit] Personal pronouns
| Singular | Plural | Formal | |||||||
| Case | First Person | Second Person | Third Person | First Person | Second Person | Third Person | (Singular and Plural) | ||
| (English subject pronoun) | "I" | "you" | "he" | "she" | "it" | "we" | "you" | "they" | "you" |
| Nominative | ich | du | er | sie | es | wir | ihr | sie | Sie |
| Accusitive | mich | dich | ihn | sie | es | uns | euch | sie | Sie |
| Dative | mir | dir | ihm | ihr | ihm | uns | euch | ihnen | Ihnen |
| Genitive (possessive article) | (mein-) | (dein-) | (sein-) | (ihr-) | (sein-) | (unser-) | (euer-) | (ihr-) | (Ihr-) |
Verbs following the formal "Sie" are conjugated in the 3rd person plural ("they")
- "Ich rufe den Hund" - "Ich rufe ihn" (I call the dog - I call it)
The third person plural is used for formal speaking; it can address a single person (then capitalized in written German) as well as multiple persons.
- "Ich grüße Sie" (Nice to see you (formal). Literally: I greet them)
[edit] Pronouns derived from articles
To replace a nominal by a pronoun that is derived from an article, you use the declined form corresponding to the gender, case and number of the nominal phrase. Note that instead of the genitive case, you often use a possessive article with the corresponding noun.
Although the pronoun form and the article form are the same in most cases, there are sometimes differences.
| Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominative | der | das | die | die |
| Accusative | den | das | die | die |
| Dative | dem | dem | der | den |
| Genitive | des | des | der | der |
[edit] Reflexive pronouns
There are also reflexive pronouns for the dative case and the accusative case. In the first and second person, they are the same as the normal pronouns, but they only become visible in the third person singular and plural. The third person reflexive pronoun for both plural and singular is: "sich":
- "Er liebt sich" (He loves himself)
- "Sie verstecken sich" (They hide)
Reflexive pronouns can be used not only for personal pronouns:
- "Sie hat sich ein Bild gekauft" (She bought herself a picture)
- "Seiner ist schon kaputt" (His is already broken)
[edit] Relative clause
A pronoun may have a relative clause under certain circumstances that still are to be explained. (See relative clauses).
[edit] Demonstrative pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns are used to refer to something already defined.
diese (this, the former) jene (that, the latter) erstere (the former)
- Use ersterer to refer to masculine nouns; erstere otherwise
letztere (the latter)
- Use letzterer to refer to masculine nouns; letztere otherwise
derjenige (the one)
- Declined like [def. art] + [jenig-] + weak adj. ending
- Used to identify a noun to be further identified in a relative clause.
derselbe (the same)
- Declined like [def. art] + [selb-] + weak adj. ending
- Used to indicate an identity stronger than der gleiche would.
