Pronouns in German Grammar

Introduction

Pronouns, Pronomen in German, replace nouns. In German grammar, pronouns are declined or inflected depending on what case they are in. Personal pronouns, possessive pronouns, reflexive pronouns, relative pronouns, and interrogative pronouns are all explained in the following pages.

Click on one of the links below to learn more about German pronouns with Lingolia. You can practise what you have learnt in the interactive exercises at the end of each page.

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns are ich, du, er, sie, es, wir, ihr, sie and their declined forms. We can use personal pronouns to replace a noun that’s already been mentioned, to speak about ourselves, or to address other people.

Example:
Ich habe eine Katze. Sie ist schwarz.

Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns indicate possession. We differentiate between dependent possessive pronouns and independent possessive pronouns.

Example:
Das ist mein Koffer. (dependent)
Das ist meiner. (independent)

Reflexive Pronouns

We use reflexive pronouns with reflexive verbs (sich verlaufen – to get lost) and reciprocal verbs (sich kennen – to know one another).

Example:
Ich habe mich verlaufen.
Wir kennen uns.

Relative Pronouns

We use relative pronouns (der, die, das, welche, …) to introduce relative clauses.

Example:
Die Polizei sucht den Mann, der die Bank überfallen hat.

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns are wer, was, wem, wen, wessen. In a question, they replace the noun that we’re asking about.

Example:
Wer hat das gesagt?

Demonstrative Pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are, for example: dieser, jener, derjenige. We use demonstrative pronouns to emphasise something.

Example:
Möchten Sie dieses Hemd oder jenes?

Indefinite Pronouns

Some examples of indefinite pronouns include etwas, nichts, man, jemand, jeder. We use them when we are making generalisations.

Example:
Kannst du etwas für mich tun?