What is a Personal Pronoun?
We can use personal pronouns to replace names we‘ve already mentioned, talk about ourselves, and talk to other people.
Personal pronouns must be declined and show the person, gender, number, and case.
The Different Forms
| Pronoun | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. Person Singular | ich | |
| 2. Person Singular | du | |
| 3. Person Singular | masculine | er |
| feminine | sie | |
| neuter | es | |
| 1. Person Plural | wir | |
| 2. Person Plural | ihr | |
| 3. Person Plural | sie | |
| Polite Version | Sie | |
- „du“ = informal
(friends, family, informal situations)
- „Sie“ = formal
(bosses, strangers, formal situations)
Declension
Personal pronouns must be declined.
Example:
- „Das ist Max. Er spielt gerne Fußball.“
- „Ich mag ihn.“
- „Ich schenke ihm einen Ball.“
| Person | Gender | Nominative | Accusative | Dative | Genitive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | 1. Person | ich | mich | mir | meiner | |
| 2. Person | du | dich | dir | deiner | ||
| 3. Person | maskulin | er | ihn | ihm | seiner | |
| feminin | sie | sie | ihr | ihrer | ||
| neutral | es | es | ihm | seiner | ||
| Plural | 1. Person | wir | uns | uns | unser | |
| 2. Person | ihr | euch | euch | euer | ||
| 3. Person | sie | sie | ihnen | ihrer | ||
| Formal | Sie | Sie | Ihnen | Ihrer | ||
Use: Personal Pronouns
Personal Pronouns – 1st Person (ich, wir)
In the 1st person we talk about ourselves.
- „Ich gehe nach Hause.“ – „Mir ist kalt.“
- „Wir machen immer unsere Hausaufgaben.“ – „Uns ist das wichtig.“
Personal Pronouns – 2nd person (du, ihr, Sie)
If we talk to somebody, we talk in the 2nd person. „du“ and „ihr“ are the informal version, „Sie“ is the formal version. It corresponds grammatically to the 3rd person plural but it´s capitalised.
- „Du wirst heute dein Zimmer aufräumen.“ – „Ich werde dir helfen.“
- „Habt ihr eure Deutsch-Hausaufgaben schon gemacht?“ – „Was war besonders schwer für euch?.“
- „Können Sie mir bitte helfen?“ – „Ja, natürlich kann ich Ihnen helfen.“
Personal Pronouns – 3rd Person (er, sie, es)
In the 3rd person we talk about other things or persons. They were mentioned already or it is obvious who or what we talk about.
- „Marcel ist in Luisa verliebt?“ – „Er geht heute mit ihr ins Kino.“
If the noun that is replaced by the pronoun isn´t obvious (i.e. two nouns with the same gender) you should use the noun itself. The pronoun could provoke misunderstandings.
- „Frau Meier hat eine Katze.“ – „Ich mag sie sehr.“
(Who? The cat or Mrs. Meier?)
Summary
- We can use personal pronouns to replace names we‘ve already mentioned, talk about ourselves, and talk to other people.
- We want to avoid repetion.
- They are placeholders for nouns, so they have to be declined and get a case.
Further Information
- Personal pronouns have to be declined. That means you have to know when to use: Nominative, Accusative, Dative and Genitive Case.
- There are other types of pronouns: Possessive Pronouns, Reflexive Pronouns, Relative Pronouns, Demonstrative Pronouns and Indefinite Pronouns.
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