German Pronouns

So far in this course, we’ve tackled some key parts of German grammar. We’ve covered nouns, verbs, and declension.

This means we can now create simple sentences with a subject, action, and object in the nominative and accusative cases.

nominative

Die Oma

+

subject

trinkt

+

action

accusative

den Wein.

.

object

---

The grandma drinks the wine.

In this lesson, let’s learn how to use pronouns in our sentences, focusing on the nominative and accusative cases.

nominative

Sie

+

pronoun

trinkt

+

action

accusative

ihn.

.

object

---

She drinks her wine.

There are several types of pronouns, but we’ll focus on three in this lesson.

• Personal Pronouns
• Possessive Pronouns
• Demonstrative Pronouns

Nominative Case

Take a look at this grammar table for personal pronouns in the nominative case:

Using the table above, replace each noun with the correct personal pronoun in the following example sentences.

Accusative Case

Now, let’s look at the same table of personal pronouns but with the addition of the accusative case:

Using the table above, try to guess which personal pronoun could replace the noun in the accusative case in these examples.

Well done! 🎉

We’ve covered personal pronouns, so now let’s move on to possessive pronouns.

Nominative Case

Here’s a grammar table for possessive pronouns in the nominative case:

Below is a table showing only the noun endings:

Using the table, try to guess the correct English translations for the following example sentences.

Meiner isst.

Mine eats.Yours eats.Ours eats.

Accusative Case

Now, let’s look at the table for possessive pronouns, in the accusative case:

Below is a table showing only the noun endings:

Notice that only masculine possessive pronouns change in the accusative case from the nominative (by adding -en to the end, instead of -r).

Using the table above, guess which possessive pronoun replaces the accusative noun in these sentences.

Good job! 🎉

Nominative Case

Next, here’s a grammar table for demonstrative pronouns in the nominative case:

Using the table, write the correct demonstrative pronoun for each example. Pay close attention to the gender of the nouns and whether they’re singular or plural.

Accusative Case

Now, let’s look at the same table of demonstrative pronouns but with the accusative case:

Again, only the masculine demonstrative pronoun changes in the accusative case (by replacing the -r with -n). Using the table, guess which demonstrative pronoun could replace the noun in the accusative case in these sentences.

Amazing 🎉!

We have now covered:

• Personal Pronouns
• Possessive Pronouns
• Demonstrative Pronouns

Let’s wrap up this lesson with a final exercise: read the sentence and choose the correct pronoun to complete it. Use the tables in this lesson to help you:

Well done! 🎉

You’re now ready for the next lesson: German Numbers.