German Language/Pronouns

Hallo. This lesson will cover basic German pronouns in what are called the subject (nominative), direct object (accusative), indirect object (dative) and the possessive (genitive) case. The genitive cases are rarely used and they should not be mixed up with the German possessive pronouns that are translated into English as "my/mine" etc.

The Nominative Pronouns

German	English
ich	I
du	you (informal singular)
er/sie/es	he, she, it
wir	we
ihr	you (informal plural)
sie	they
Sie	you (formal singular & plural)

German pronouns mostly have direct equivalents in English. Sie, when capitalized, is a formal means of addressing either one person or many.

The Accusative Pronouns

Note: for non-German speakers, the differences between nominative and accusative cases can be confusing. It is helpful to think of them as the "subject case" and the "direct object case".

German	English
mich	me
dich	you (informal)
ihn/sie/es	him, her, it
uns	us
euch	you (plural & informal)
sie	them
Sie	you (formal singular & plural)

The Dative Pronouns

German	English
mir	to me
dir	to you (informal)
ihm/ihr/ihm	to him, to her, to it
uns	to us
euch	to you (plural & informal)
ihnen	to them
Ihnen	to you (formal singular & plural)

The Genitive Pronouns

These forms should not be mixed up with the possessive adjectives that are translated into English as "my/mine" etc. These are rarely used in modern German, and if so, they are used as modifiers of a very limited amount of adjectives and verbs, such as Hast du dich seiner vergewissert? 'Have you got assurances of that?' (sich vergewissern, followed by a word in the genitive case, means 'to get assurances of').

German	English
meiner	my
deiner	your (informal singular)
seiner/ihrer/seiner	his/hers/its
unser	our
euer	your (informal plural)
ihrer	their
Ihrer	your (formal singular & plural)