German Pronouns

In German, pronouns are called "Pronomen " or "Fürwörter". A Pronoun is used as a substitute for a noun or a noun phrase. German pronouns decline according to the specific person (1st person, 2nd person or 3rd person), numerous (singular or plural), and case (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive).

Pronouns are subdivided into:

1. Personal pronouns (Personalpronomen)
2. Possessive pronouns (Possessivpronomen)
3. Demonstrative pronouns (Demonstrativpronomen)
4. Reflexive pronouns (Reflexivpronomen)
5. Relative pronouns (Relativpronomen)
6. Indefinite pronouns (Indefinitpronomen)
7. Interrogative pronouns (Interrogativpronomen)

1. German personal pronouns

1.2 The declension of personal pronouns

Plural of 2nd person polite form is same as singular. Use of personal pronouns in the genitive case very rare. They are only used with certain words or phrases that require genitive. Normally, they are replaced by dative personal pronouns.

2. German possessive pronouns

Possessive pronouns (Possessivpronomen) can serve two functions. Either they accompany the noun to show possession. (“This is my book.”) Or they replace a noun that was previously mentioned (“This is Jan's book. Mine is there.”). In the second example, the noun book was replaced by mine.

1. German possessive words that accompany the noun to show possession are also called Possessive articles.
2. German Possessive words that replace the noun to show possession are called Possessive pronouns.

Possessive articles and possessive pronouns are explained in detail after the following table.
German possessive pronouns are:

2.1 Possessive pronouns and possessive articles

There is a slight difference between possessive pronouns and possessive articles. In German, the declension of possessive pronouns and possessive articles is different.

Possessive article: When there's a noun after possessive word, it's a possessive article (Possessivartikel). In English, a more common name for possessive article (Possessivartikel) is possessive adjective. So, there's a slight naming convention's difference too. In English these are: 'my' 'your' 'his' 'her' 'its' 'our' and 'their'.
Wem gehört der Hund? (Who owns the dog?)
Das ist mein Hund. (This is my dog.)

Possessive pronoun: When there's no noun after possessive word, it's a possessive pronoun (Possessivpronomen). In English, possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, yours, and theirs.
Wem gehört der Hund? (Who owns the dog?)
Das ist meiner. (This is mine.)
Sebastian nimmt Hans Motorrad, denn seins ist kaputt. (Sebastian takes Hans motorcycle because his is broken.)

2.2 Other naming conventions for possessive pronouns and possisseive articles in German

Possessive articles are also called 'Attributive possessive pronouns' (Attributive Possessivpronomen).
Possessive pronouns are also called:
'Substantive possessive pronouns' (Substantivische Possessivpronomen) or
'Adjective possessive pronouns' (Adjektiv Possessivpronomen).

Following table shows declension of all possessive articles.

In possessive pronouns, the declension differs in the nominative case (masculine & neutral) and in accusative case (neutral) from the declension of the possessive articles.

The above table clearly shows that possessive pronouns always get the ending of the particular indefinite article.

Adding 's' or 'es' to neutral possessive pronouns in nominative and accusative

In spoken language, ending 's' is more common, while in written language 'es' is considered more formal. Both endings are correct.
Das ist meins. / Das ist meines. (This is mine.)
Das ist deins. / Das ist deines. (This is yours.)
Das ist ihrs. / Das ist ihres. (This is hers. / This is theirs.)
'unser' and 'euer' always take 'es' ending due to their pronunciations.
Das ist unseres. (This is ours.)
Das ist eures. (This is yours.)
Please pay attentions to spellings of 'eures'.

The following table shows declension of all possessive pronouns.

2.3 Overview of declensions of possessive pronouns and possessive articles

The following table shows declension patterns of possessive pronouns and possessive articles.

3. German demonstrative pronouns

A demonstrative pronoun (Demonstrativpronomen) is a word that is used to point to something specific within a sentence, like this, that, these and those. In German, demonstrative pronouns are:
der, das, die, (that),
dieser (this), jener (that),
derjenige (the one, that one), derselbe (the same).

3.1 Demonstrative pronouns der, das, die

Demonstrative pronouns 'der', 'das' and 'die' are used to point out someone/something at a distance. Normally, they are translated as 'that' in English, but they can also represent 'this', if the distance to an object or person is small.
Das ist mein Auto. (That is my car.)
Die ist Frau Monika Müller. (That is Ms. Monika Müller.)
Der ist unser Professor. (That is our professor.)

3.2 Demonstrative pronouns dieser, jener

Declensions of dieser and jener follow a similar pattern. Dieser (this) and jener (that) get the endings of the definite articles in the declension.

Dieses Auto gehört mir. (This car is mine. / This car belongs to me.)
Dieser Mann wohnt in London aber jener nicht. (This man lives in London, but that one doesn't.)
Sie können mit diesem Kuli schreiben, jener ist kaputt. (You can write with this pen, that is broken.)
Warum fährst du dieses Auto und nicht jenes? (Why are you driving this car and not that one?)

3.3 Demonstrative pronouns derjenige, derselbe

Both of these pronouns, derjenige (that one) and derselbe (the same) consist of two parts, der and jenige/selbe. The first part 'der' follows the normal declension pattern of the definite article. The second part 'jenige/selbe' is declined like an adjective of the first declension.

Derjenige and derselbe can be used as pronouns and aricles.

As an article:
Sie hat mir dasselbe Buch gezeigt. (She showed me the same book.)

As a pronoun:
Das gleiche Buch habe ich zu Hause. (I have the same book at home.)
Dasselbe habe ich schon zu Hause. (I already have the same at home.)

Fahrgäste, die nach Berlin fahren wollen, können mit diesem Zug fahren. (Passengers who want to go to Berlin can take this train.)
Diejenigen, die nach Berlin fahren wollen, können mit diesem Zug fahren. (Those who want to go to Berlin can take this train.)

4. German reflexive pronouns

All reflexive pronouns (Reflexivpronomen) are in the objective case (accusative and dative) i.e. a reflexive pronoun act either as a direct object or an indirect object. Reflexive pronouns are never used in nominative case because they always refer to the subject. They have rare use in genitive.

Sie kennt sich sehr gut. (She knows herself very well.)
Du musst dich beeilen. Du bist schon zu spät. (You have to hurry up. You're already too late.)
Ich erinnere mich nicht. Kennen wir uns schon? (I do not remember. Do we know each other?)
Ich kaufe mir bald ein neues Auto. (I will soon buy a new car.)

The above table shows that reflexive pronouns in accusative and dative differ only in the 1st and 2nd person singular. For more clarity, please see the following table.

5. German relative pronouns

Relative clauses provide additional information about their respective nouns and relative pronouns (Relativpronomen) are used to introduce these relative clauses. In German, relative pronouns are:

• der, das, die (that / who / which)
• welcher, welches, welche (which)

Das Haus, das ich gestern verkauft habe, ist in Hansastrasse. (The house that I sold yesterday is in Hansa street.)
Der Mann, der unter dem Baum steht, ist unser Professor. (The man that is standing under the tree is our professor.)
Das Auto, von dem ich träume, ist leider sehr teuer. (The car I dream of is unfortunately very expensive.)
Da kommt der Professor, auf den wir schon so lange warten. (Here comes the professor we've been waiting for to long.)

The above table shows that declension of relative pronouns der, das, die is similar to definite articles. Only difference is extra "en" in genitive and dative plural endings.

'Welcher' has rare use as a relative pronoun. Use 'der', 'das', 'die' is considered more formal than 'welcher'. The following table shows the declension of 'welcher' as a relative pronoun. In the genitive case, declensions of 'der', 'das', 'die' are used instead of 'welcher'.

Use of relative pronouns in German:

There is a slight difference in the use of relative pronouns between English and German. English relative pronoun,
"that" is used for people or things,
"which" is used for things, and
"who" or "whom" for people.

In German relative pronouns "der", "das", "die" and their respective declined forms are used for people and things.
Important to note is that "Welcher" and its declined forms are also used for people and things.
Rarely, "wer" and "was" are also used as relative pronouns.
"Wer" and its declined forms for people,
"Was" and its declined forms for things.

Das Haus, das ich gestern verkauft habe, ist in Hansastrasse. (The house that I sold yesterday is in Hansa street.)
Das Haus, welches ich gestern verkauft habe, ist in Hansastrasse. (The house which I sold yesterday is in Hansa street.)

Der Mann, der unter dem Baum steht, ist unser Professor. (The man that is standing under the tree is our professor.)
Der Mann, welcher unter dem Baum steht, ist unser Professor. (The man that is standing under the tree is our professor.)
Der Mann, wer unter dem Baum steht, ist unser Professor. (The man who is standing under the tree is our professor.)

Das Auto, von dem ich träume, ist leider sehr teuer. (The car I dream of is unfortunately very expensive.)
Das Auto, von welchem ich träume, ist leider sehr teuer. (The car I dream of is unfortunately very expensive.)
Use of "was" in dative is not formal. However, in colloquial language "was" can be used in dative.
Das Auto, von was ich träume, ist leider sehr teuer. (The car I dream of is unfortunately very expensive.)

6. German indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns don't refer to a particular person, amount or thing.
Hast du warme Kleidung schon mitgenommen? (Have you already taken warm clothes with you?)
Ja, ich nehme welche mit. (Yes, I'll take some with me.)
Not any particular warm clothes but "welche" some or any.

Indefinite pronouns in German are:
all- (all)
alles (all, everything, the whole lot)
nichts (not, nothing)
beide (both)
ein-, kein-, welch- (one/any, none, some)
man (one)
jemand (someone)
niemand (no one)
jede- (each, every)
einig- (some)
mehrer- (many, multiple, several)
manch- (some)
irgend.. (irgend.. has variations of suffix)
etwas (some)

6.1 all-

German indefinite pronoun "all" has same meaning to its English counterpart. However, in German "all" shows declension.

Alle Studenten sind hier, nur Sebastian fehlt. (All students are here, only Sebastian is missing.)
Alle Fahrgäste müssen die Fahrkarten dabei haben. (All passengers must have the tickets with them.)
Ich brauche einen Döner mit allem. (I need a doner kebab with everything.)

⁽¹⁾ In genitive masculine singular and neuter singular, "-en" (allen) ending is used if the following noun has -s or -es ending.

Singular forms of "all-" represent the whole amount of an uncountable noun.
Aller Saft hat einen wunderbaren Geschmack.(All juice has a wonderful taste.)
Bald wird alle Traurigkeit weg. (Soon all sadness will be gone.)
Alles Wasser ist sauer. (All water is sour.)

Uninflected condition of "all":

There are three conditions in which "all" doesn't decline and remains in its initial form.

1. If "all" is followed by a definite article.
   All die guten Leute...
2. If "all" is followed by a possessive pronoun.
   All deine Autos...
3. If "all" is followed by a jener, dieser.
   All diese Leute...

6.2 alles

"Alles" shows a very strong generality. "Alles" can refer to general things, situations and actions.

Alles klar? (Are you all right? / Everything all right?)
This is short form of "ist alles klar bei dir/Ihnen?" and is used colloquially.

Alles läuft gut bis jetzt. (Everything is going well so far.)

6.3 nichts

"Nichts" is the negation of "alles". "Nichts" doesn't decline and always remains in its initial form i.e. "nichts".

Nichts passiert. (Nothing happened.)
This is used colloquially or in normal spoken German. It is short form of
"Nichts ist passiert." (Nothing has happened.)

Machen Sie bitte keine Sorge. Nichts passiert. (Please don't worry. Nothing happened.)
Der Außenminister weiß nichts und spricht zu viel. (The Foreign Minister knows nothing and speaks too much.)
Ich brauche alles oder nichts. Sind Sie einverstanden? (I need all or nothing. Do you agree?)

6.4 beide

"Beide" means both (persons or things). "Beide" is often used with an article. The declension of "beide" is similar to adjectives.

Meine beiden Hunde sind schwarz. (My both dogs are black.)
Die beiden Hunde sind schwarz. (Both dogs are black.)
Beide Hunde sind schwarz. (Both dogs are black.)

6.5 ein-, kein-, welch-

Indefinite pronouns "ein-", "kein-" and "welch-" are used for already mentioned or known, indefinite nouns.

Bitte gibst du mir ein paar papiere? (Please give me some papers)
Ich gebe dir gleich welche. (I'll give you some right away.)
Nein, du hast schon viele. Ich gebe dir keine. (No, you already have many. I'm not giving you any.)

In the plural form, the indefinite pronoun "ein-" becomes "welch-".

"kein" as a pronoun:

When "kein" is used without a succeeding noun, it is categorized as a pronoun or non-attributive.

"kein" as an article:

When "kein" is used with a succeeding noun, it is categorized as an article or attributive.

6.6 man

The English indefinite pronoun 'one' can be translated as "man" in German. The pronoun "man" (one) should not be confused with the noun "Mann" (man).
"Man" is an impersonal indefinite pronoun. It is used for non-specific person/persons. Unlike the German noun "Mann", the pronoun "man" has general gender, i.e. it can replace masculine, feminine and neuter nouns, both in singular as well as in plural forms. However, the attached verb is always used in the 3rd person singular.

Man sollte hier langsam fahren. Es gibt viele Schulen auf dieser Straße. (One should drive slowly here. There are many schools on this street.)

Like the English pronoun 'one', "man" can also refer/represent all three grammatical persons. The above sentence "Man sollte hier langsam fahren", can also refer to 1st person,
Man sollte hier langsam fahren. (We should drive slowly here.)
Or if you don't want to address somebody directly,
Man sollte hier langsam fahren. (You should drive slowly here.)

The indefinite pronoun "man" is only used the nominative. In the accusative and dative cases, "man" changes into "einen" and "einem" respectively. It has no use in the genitive case.

Was soll man machen, wenn einen alles nervt? (What should you do if everything annoys you?)
Wenn man schlechte Gesundheit hat, kann einem es viele Probleme machen. (Having bad health can cause one a lot of problems. / If you have poor health, it can cause you many problems.)

The pronoun "man" is extensively used in everyday language, where the subject is not important or in daily life general statements. Like:
Man soll nie lügen. (One should never lie.)
Man soll immer pünktlich sein. (One should always be punctual.)
Man muss Geduld haben. / Man muss geduldig sein. (One has to be patient.)

If the main clause in a sentence is using "man" as a subject, the subordinate clause must also use "man" as a pronoun. The use of personal pronouns (er/es/sie) instead of the indefinite pronoun "man" in such sentences is wrong. For example, the following sentence is not correct.
Wenn man Klausur schreiben will, muss er gut vorbereiten. (If you want to write an exam, you have to prepare well.)
The correct pronoun in the dependent clause would also be "man".
Wenn man Klausur schreiben will, muss man gut vorbereiten.

6.7 jemand

"Jemand" (somebody, someone, anybody, anyone) is used to refer to a non-specific person. It is not gender-specific and can replace all three types of German nouns (masculine, feminine and neuter). "Jemand" can only be used in singular form and always uses conjugation form of third-person singular.

Spricht hier jemand Englisch? (Does anyone here speak English?)
Ist jemand da? (Is someone there?)
Die ganze Halle ist leer. Wann wird jemand kommen? (The whole hall is empty. When will someone come?)
Jemand muss ihm helfen. (Someone has to help him.)

In some cases, "jemand" can also be used in place of the indefinite pronoun "man", but only when "man" is used in the singular form. Please see the following examples to understand the difference in the use of "jemand" and "man" in the subordinate clauses.

Wenn man Klausur schreiben will, muss man gut vorbereiten.
Wenn jemand Klausur schreiben will, muss er gut vorbereiten.

A subordinate clause must use the pronoun "man" if the main clause is using "man" as a subject. In the case of "jemand" as a subject of the main clause, respective third-person singular pronoun (er/es/sie) will be used in the subordinate clause.

"Jemand" can be combined with the suffix "irgend-" to form "irgendjemand". "Irgendjemand" shows more indefiniteness than just "jemand".

"Jemand" is inflected like articles, but normally it is used in un-inflected form, especially in spoken German. Both ways are correct.

Jan kann nicht antworten. Er telefoniert mit jemand. (Jan cannot answer. He is on the phone with someone.)
Jan kann nicht antworten. Er telefoniert mit jemandem. (Jan cannot answer. He is on the phone with someone.)

Jan spricht mit Ana über jemanden. (Jan talks to Ana about someone.)
Jan spricht mit Ana über jemand. (Jan talks to Ana about someone.)

6.8 niemand

"Niemand" (nobody, no one, none) is negation of "jemand".

Spricht hier jemand Englisch? (Does anyone here speak English?)
Niemand spricht hier Englisch. (Nobody speaks English here.)

Niemand ist da. (There is no one.)
Niemand weiß, wo Sebastian wohnt. (Nobody knows where Sebastian lives.)

Like "jemand", "niemand" can also be used in both, initial and inflected forms.

6.9 jede-

"Jede-" (each, every, everyone, anyone, anybody) is used in singular but normally it describes all members of a group/society.

Jeder kann hier studieren. (Everyone can study here.)
Jeder deutsche Staatsbürger kann hier studieren. (Every German citizen can study here.)
In der Schweiz kann jeder die Waffen besitzen. (In Switzerland, everyone can own weapons.)
Jede Frau kann diesem Klub beitreten. (Any woman can join this club.)
Jedes Mädchen kann an diesem Kurs teilnehmen. (Every girl can take this course.)

"Jede-" is declined similar to the definite article (der, das, die) and thus receives exactly the same endings as the German definite article.

Sometimes in genitive masculine and neuter forms "-en" ending (jeden) is used instead of "-es" (jedes). This ending is only applied when the following noun forms its genitive with the suffix "-s" or "-es".

6.10 einig-

"Einig-" (some, a few, several) indicates indefinite number/numbers. When used in singular form, "einig-" normally refer to things and gets the ending "-es" (einiges). In plural form, "einig-" can refers to people and things and gets the endings of plural definite article (die) i.e.

The below table shows complete declension of "einig-". However, normally just "-es" ending is used in singular forms.

"Einig-" has more usage as an article or attributive than as a pronoun.
"Einig-" as an article / attributive:
Ich habe einige Fragen. (I have some questions.)
Nach einigen Tagen kaufe ich ein neues Auto. (After a few days, I'll buy a new car.)
Einige Leute sind sehr nett. (Some people are very nice.)

"Einig-" as a pronoun / non-attributive (without a preceding noun):
Haben Sie irgendwelche Fragen? (Do you have any questions?)
Ja, ich habe einige. (Yes, I have some.)

Nach wie vielen Tagen kaufst du neues Auto? (After how many days do you buy a new car?)
Nach einigen. (After a few.)

Sind alle Leute hier nett? (Are all people here nice?)
Nein, nur einige. (No, just a few.)

6.11 mehrer-

"Mehrer-" (many, multiple, several) is used to refer a bigger, non-specific number of people or things. "Mehrer-" has no usage in singular form and can only be used in plural.

Like einige, "mehrere" also has more use as an article or non-attributive.

Die neue Straße ist gut gebaut, aber mehrere denken dagegen. (New street is well built, but several think against it.)
In unserer Stadt mehrere haben für SPD gestimmt. (Several in our city voted for SPD.)

Die neue Straße ist gut gebaut, aber mehrere Leute denken dagegen. (New street is well built, but several people think against it.)
Die Prüfung hat mehrere Stunden gedauert. (The test took several hours.)

6.12 manch-

"Manch-" (some) refers to a group of persons or things of a same kind. It has similar declension pattern to einige.

6.13 irgend..

The suffix "irgend" is used to increase the non-specificity of indefinite pronouns.

Irgendjemand (anyone, anybody)
Irgendwas (something)
Irgendetwas (anything)
Irgendein (any)
Irgendwer (somebody)
Irgendwelche (some, any)

"Irgend" can also be placed before adjectives.
Irgendwie (anyhow, somehow)
Irgendwann (sometime, eventually)
Irgendwo (anywhere)
Irgendwohin (anywhere)

6.14 etwas

"Etwas" (any, some, slightly) doesn't decline and is only used in nominative and accusative. It refers to non-specific things and can't be used for persons. The negation of "etwas" is nichts. In colloquial language, "etwas" is often used as just "was".

Ich sage etwas und du hörst gar nicht. (I am saying something and you don't hear at all.)
Echt! Hast du irgendetwas gesagt? (Really! Did you say anything?)
Ich habe nichts gesagt. (I did not say anything.)

7. German interrogative pronouns

Interrogative pronouns introduce interrogative sentences. Interrogative pronouns in German are:

wer (who)
wen (whom)
wem (whom)
wessen (whose)
was (what)
welch- (which)
was für ein- (what a)

7.1 wer

"Wer" (who) is used to ask about person/persons in the nominative case.
Wer sind Sie? (Who are you?)
Wer bist du? (Who are you?)

7.2 wen

"Wen" (whom) is used to ask about person/persons in the accusative case.
Wen hast du eingeladen? (Whom did you invite?)
Wen fragst du? (Whom are you asking?)

7.3 wem

"Wem" (whom) is used to ask about person/persons in the dative case.
Wem hast du geholfen? (Whom you helped?)
Nach wem wurde Amerika benannt? (After whom America is named?)

7.4 wessen

"Wem" (whose) is used to ask about person/persons in the genitive case.
Wessen Bücher sind diese? (Whose books are these?)
Wessen Hilfe brauchst du? (Whose help do you need?)

7.5 was

"Was" (what) is used to ask about thing/things in all German cases.
Was ist das? (What's this?)
Was ist in deiner Hand? (What's in your hand)
Was spielt die wichtigste Rolle in der Drehmomentberechnung? (What is the more important role in the torque calculation?)

7.6 welch-

"Welch-" (which) can be used to ask questions about person/persons and thing/things. It refers to a smaller number/numbers out of a bigger number/quantity. We have already seen the declension of "welch-" as a relative pronoun and its plural declined forms as an indefinite pronoun.

The declension of "welch-" as an interrogative pronoun is the same as an indefinite pronoun or as a relative pronoun. However, we have no genitive form of "welch-" in relative pronoun's declension and no singular forms in indefinite pronoun's declension.

As an interrogative pronoun, "welch-" can have genitive forms. Below is the complete declension table of "welch-".

Attributive:

Welcher Hund gehört dir? (Which dog is yours?)
Welcher Markt ist der beste? (Which market is the best?)

Non-attributive

Welcher gehört dir? (Which is yours?)
Im Zentrum gibt es zwei Märkte, welcher ist der beste? (There are two markets in the center, which is the best?)

7.7 was für ein

The interrogative pronoun "was für ein" is used to ask the type and art. "Was für ein" consists of two parts, "was für" and "ein". "Was für" remains same and doesn't decline. However, the second part "ein" declines. "Ein" declines separately as an attributive and non-attributive.

Was für ein Typ ist er? (What type of fellow is he?)
Ist der dein Hund? Was für einer ist er? (Is that your dog? What type of (dog) is that?)

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