what is it?
A personal pronoun stands in place of a noun or noun phrase that has already been identified. German personal pronouns change their form depending on the grammatical case they occupy in the sentence: nominative (the subject), accusative (the direct object), and dative (the indirect object or object of certain verbs and prepositions). The same pronoun root — for example ich / mich / mir — takes a different shape in each case. Third-person pronouns (er, es, sie) also reflect the grammatical gender of the noun they replace, not the biological sex of the referent.
when to use it
Nominative: use when the pronoun is the subject — the one performing the action or being described. Ich lerne Deutsch.
Accusative: use when the pronoun is the direct object — the one directly receiving the action. Er sieht mich.
Dative: use when the pronoun is the indirect object, or when a verb (e.g. helfen, danken, gehören) or a preposition (e.g. mit, bei, von) governs the dative. Er hilft mir.
Third-person gender agreement: choose er for masculine nouns, es for neuter nouns, and sie for feminine nouns — regardless of whether the noun is a person or a thing.
Formal vs. informal address: use du (singular) and ihr (plural) for people you know well. Use Sie (always capitalised) for formal or polite address, both singular and plural. Do not mix the two registers in the same utterance.
formation
The table below shows all personal pronouns across the three cases. The formal Sie shares its forms with the third-person plural but is always written with a capital S.
| person | nominative | accusative | dative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | ich | mich | mir |
| 2nd sg. (informal) | du | dich | dir |
| 3rd sg. masculine | er | ihn | ihm |
| 3rd sg. neuter | es | es | ihm |
| 3rd sg. feminine | sie | sie | ihr |
| 1st pl. | wir | uns | uns |
| 2nd pl. (informal) | ihr | euch | euch |
| 3rd pl. | sie | sie | ihnen |
| 2nd sg./pl. (formal) | Sie | Sie | Ihnen |
Notice that wir/uns and ihr/euch use the same form for both accusative and dative. The masculine accusative ihn is the only third-person singular form that differs between accusative and dative.
examples in context
common pitfalls
Using «es» for all inanimate nouns. Learners often default to «es» for any object, but the pronoun must match the noun's grammatical gender. ✗ Die Tasche? Es ist hier. ✓ Die Tasche? Sie ist hier. «Tasche» is feminine → sie.
Confusing accusative and dative forms. «helfen» takes the dative, not the accusative. ✗ Kannst du mich helfen? ✓ Kannst du mir helfen? When in doubt, check whether the verb or preposition governs accusative or dative.
Mixing «du/ihr» and «Sie» in the same utterance. Informal and formal address belong to different registers and must not be combined. ✗ Können Sie mir helfen, du bist so nett. Choose one register and stay consistent throughout the conversation.
Using «sie» too early for «das Mädchen». Because «Mädchen» is grammatically neuter, use es when the noun is close by. ✓ Das Mädchen sagt, dass es müde ist. The natural-gender pronoun sie is only appropriate when referring to the girl at a greater distance in the text.
Three sentences, graded here. Nothing is saved and no account is needed.
Der Tag ist schön. ___ ist warm und sonnig.
Fill in the blank with the correct personal pronoun.