German pronouns
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "German_pronouns".

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.

Personal pronouns

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 you)

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.

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)

Relative clause

A pronoun contains, or rather, has a relative clause, if there is ever a further meaning to express behind the pronoun, that is to say, some more clarification necessary. The relative pronouns are as follows:

The relative pronoun is NEVER omitted in German. That is to say, in English, the phrase

The person coming around the corner is a thief.

completely neglects the use of a relative pronoun. To say such a thing in German, one would say

Die Person, die um die Ecke kommt, ist ein Dieb.

The use of die within the middle set of words, the relative clause, is the equivalent of saying "who" within a relative clause in English, so as to say "The person, who is coming around the corner, is a thief." (See relative clauses).

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.

External links

For a list of words relating to German pronouns, see the German pronouns category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary