Pronoun Cases in German Grammar

Introduction

Personal pronouns and possessive pronouns have to be declined in German grammar. On this page, you will find an overview of the declension of pronouns in all four German cases. Click on one of the links below for an in-depth explanation with exercises for each of the four German cases.

Declension Table: Personal Pronouns In German Grammar

case	pronouns
nominative	ich	du	er	sie	es	wir	ihr	sie	Sie
accusative	mich	dich	ihn	sie	es	uns	euch	sie	Sie
dative	mir	dir	ihm	ihr	ihm	uns	euch	ihnen	Ihnen

Declension Table: Possessive Pronoun Endings in German Grammar

	dependent possessive pronoun (I’m reading my book.)				independent possessive pronoun (You’re reading yours.)
	nominative	accusative	dative	genitive	nominative	accusative	dative
masculine	–	-en	-em	-es	-er	-en	-em
feminine	-e	-e	-er	-er	-e	-e	-er
neuter	–	–	-em	-es	-(e)s	-(e)s	-em
plural	-e	-e	-en	-er	-e	-e	-en

Nominative Case

The nominative is the basic form of pronouns. The subject of a sentence is in the nominative. To find the subject, we ask “Who/What is performing the action?”

Accusative Case

We use the accusative after certain verbs and prepositions. To find the accusative, we can ask the question “Whom/What is the direct recipient of the action?” The accusative object is also known as the direct object.

Dative Case

We use the dative after certain verbs and prepositions. To find the dative, we can ask “To whom/What is indirect action eing directed?” The dative object is also called the indirect object.

Genitive Case

We use the genitive to indicate possession, as well as after certain prepositions, verbs, and adjectives. To find the genitive, we ask “Whose?”