At CEFR level A1, Personalpronomen (personal pronouns) are words that replace nouns and change form according to grammatical case and the gender of the noun they stand for. After mastering this topic you will be able to substitute any noun with the correct pronoun in Nominativ, Akkusativ, and Dativ, and distinguish between informal du and formal Sie.
| Nominativ | Akkusativ | Dativ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sg. | ich | mich | mir |
| 2. Sg. | du | dich | dir |
| 3. Sg. m | er | ihn | ihm |
| 3. Sg. f | sie | sie | ihr |
| 3. Sg. n | es | es | ihm |
| 1. Pl. | wir | uns | uns |
| 2. Pl. | ihr | euch | euch |
| 3. Pl. | sie | sie | ihnen |
| formell | Sie | Sie | Ihnen |
Das Pronomen richtet sich nach dem Genus des Nomens, nicht nach dem natürlichen Geschlecht.
| Anrede | Wann? | Beispiel |
|---|---|---|
| du / ihr | Familie, Freunde, Kinder | Wie geht es dir? |
| Sie | Beruf, Fremde, formell | Wie geht es Ihnen? |
German personal pronouns are ich, du, er/sie/es, wir, ihr, sie, and the formal Sie. They replace nouns and change form depending on grammatical case (Nominativ, Akkusativ, Dativ) and person.
In Nominativ the subject forms are used (ich, du, er…). In Akkusativ they change to direct-object forms (mich, dich, ihn…). In Dativ they change to indirect-object forms (mir, dir, ihm…). The third-person forms must also match the grammatical gender of the noun they replace.
'Du' is the informal singular 'you', used with friends, family, children, and peers. 'Sie' (always capitalised) is the formal 'you' used in professional or polite situations. Both singular and plural formal address use 'Sie'.
When a sentence has both a pronoun and a noun object, the pronoun always comes first. When both objects are pronouns, the Akkusativ pronoun comes before the Dativ pronoun, for example: Julia schenkt es ihm.