Personal pronouns replace nouns — people, animals, or things — to avoid constant repetition. Instead of saying Der Mann ist hier. Der Mann lernt Deutsch, you say Der Mann ist hier. Er lernt Deutsch.
In German, personal pronouns change form depending on two things: who or what they refer to, and their grammatical role in the sentence. This page covers all three cases you need at A1 — Nominative, Accusative and Dative.
Nominative — The Subject
These are the base forms — the pronouns you use when the person or thing is doing something in the sentence.
The Formal "You" — Singular and Plural
Sie (always capitalised) is used with strangers, bosses, teachers, and adults in professional settings. It takes the exact same verb endings as the third-person plural sie (they) — the capital letter is the only visual difference in writing.
Trinken Sie Kaffee, Herr Schmidt? — Are you having coffee, Mr Schmidt?
Accusative — The Direct Object
When a pronoun is the direct object of a verb, it changes into its accusative form. Only er → ihn changes dramatically. Most other forms look very similar to their nominative counterparts.
| Nominative | Accusative | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ich | mich | Hörst du mich? (Do you hear me?) |
| du | dich | Ich liebe dich. (I love you.) |
| er | ihn | Ich finde ihn nicht. (I can't find it.) |
| sie (she) | sie | Ich rufe sie an. (I am calling her.) |
| es | es | Ich fahre es. (I drive it.) |
| wir | uns | Der Lehrer sucht uns. (The teacher is looking for us.) |
| ihr | euch | Ich lade euch ein. (I invite you all.) |
| sie (they) | sie | Ich mag sie. (I like them.) |
| Sie (formal) | Sie | Ich frage Sie, Herr Müller. |
Dative — The Indirect Object
The dative case is used for the indirect object — the person receiving something or benefiting from the action. It also appears after specific dative verbs like helfen and danken, and after dative prepositions like mit, von, zu. Every single pronoun changes in the dative.
| Nominative | Dative | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ich | mir | Kannst du mir helfen? (Can you help me?) |
| du | dir | Wie geht es dir? (How are you?) |
| er | ihm | Ich danke ihm. (I thank him.) |
| sie (she) | ihr | Das Kleid passt ihr. (The dress fits her.) |
| es | ihm | Ich gebe ihm Wasser. (I give it water.) |
| wir | uns | Das gehört uns. (That belongs to us.) |
| ihr | euch | Ich bringe euch Kaffee. (I bring you all coffee.) |
| sie (they) | ihnen | Ich gratuliere ihnen. (I congratulate them.) |
| Sie (formal) | Ihnen | Wie geht es Ihnen, Frau Weber? |
Full Summary Table
All three cases side by side for quick reference.
| Nominative | Accusative | Dative | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| ich | mich | mir | I / me |
| du | dich | dir | you (informal sg.) |
| er | ihn | ihm | he / it (masc.) |
| sie | sie | ihr | she / it (fem.) |
| es | es | ihm | it (neuter) |
| wir | uns | uns | we / us |
| ihr | euch | euch | you all (informal pl.) |
| sie | sie | ihnen | they / them |
| Sie | Sie | Ihnen | you (formal) |
Three Things to Remember
Keep these in mind every time you use a pronoun.
- Identify the case first. Is the pronoun the subject (Nominative), a direct object (Accusative), or an indirect object after a dative verb or preposition (Dative)? The case determines the form.
- Watch the capitalisation. Always capitalise Sie and Ihnen for formal situations. Written in lowercase, sie means she or they — a completely different meaning.
- Gender applies to things, not just people. Replace der Wein (masculine) with er or ihn — not es just because wine is an object in English. The German grammatical gender always determines the pronoun.
Practice
Type the correct pronoun for each sentence, then press Check Answers.
Fill in the pronoun
Choose the correct form based on the case required.
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1 Wo ist der Stuhl? ist hier.
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2 Ich suche den Schlüssel. Ich finde nicht.
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3 Kannst du helfen?
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4 Das ist Hanna. kommt aus Wien.
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5 Der Lehrer sucht .
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6 Ich gratuliere . (them)