Comparison of Pronouns to other Parts of Speech

Comparison of Pronouns to other
Parts of Speech

Despite the difficulty many people have in learning German declensions, case-endings in
German correspond to each other to a considerable degree. Specifically, the pronouns bear
an obvious resemblance to their parent direct articles. Learning the corresponding 3rdperson declensions side-by-side allows some people to comprehend the declension pattern
more easily.

As discussed above, possessive pronouns replace the genitive case for pronouns. In this
table, they will be placed where the genitive case is, so that their similiarities to other parts
of speech that actually are in the genitive case can become clear.

German is very rigorous in its use of gender, and will use the pronoun corresponding to the
gender of the referential noun, regardless of whether the noun being referenced is a person
(unlike English, which uses "it" for everything not a person or other entities (animals, ships)
in certain contexts). Der Liberalismus will be referred to as "er", or "he", whereas "das
Mädchen" would be "es", or "it". Many English speakers have trouble with this, especially
in spoken language. Mastery is nonetheless possible with a proper understanding of German
declension and a considerable amount of practice.

Comparison of Pronouns to other Parts of Speech Side-by-side Declension of Definite Articles, der-word Endings, 3rd-Person Pronouns (and possessives), Strong Adjective Endings, and Interrogative Pronouns, to illustrate their similarities Gender and Case Definite Article der-word Endings Pronoun (posses- sive) Strong Adjective Endings Interrogative Pro- nouns, sometimes also used as rela- tive pronouns Masculine Nominative der -er er -er wer (who?) Accusative de
n -e
n ih
n -e
n we
n (whom?)
Dative de
m -e
m ih
m -e
m we
m (to/for whom?)
Genitive des + s -es (sein-) (corresponding "s") -en (M,N strong ad- jective endings in
genitive case do not
fit pattern)
(wessen) (whose?
- form similar to
masculine, genitive
relative pronoun).
N.B.(1)
Neuter
Nominative das -es es -es was (what?)
Accusative das -es es -es was (what?)
Dative de
m -e
m ih
m -e
m
Genitive des + s -es (sein-) (corresponding "s") -en (M,N strong ad- jective endings in
genitive case do not
fit pattern)
Feminine
Nominative die -e sie -e
Accusative die -e sie -e
Dative der -er ihr -er
Genitive der -er (ihr-) -er
Plural
Nominative die -e sie -e
Accusative die -e sie -e
Dative den + n -e
n ihnen N.B.(2) -en
Genitive der -er (ihr-) -er

N.B.(1) The use of "wessen" is considered old-fashioned, though most Germans would find
it endearing to hear a non-native speaker use the word. One is encouraged to use the
"gehören + dativ (wem?)" construction, which means "to belong to s.o. (whom?)".

N.B.(2) The dative plural. Except for words whose plural form adds an "-s" (mainly loanwords), and words whose plural form already ends in "-n"/"-en", all nouns add an "-n/-en"
in the dative plural. Like the s's added to masculine and neuter nouns in the genitive, this
is a remnant from when German inflected all of its nouns, which other languages based
on declension, such as Russian and Latin, retain. Sometimes one will notice an "-e" after
masculine and neuter nouns in the dative case, such as the dedication on the Reichstag
building - "Dem deutschen Volke", "for the German People".

This nominal declension is reflected in the dative plural pronoun (to/for them), "ihnen",
instead of "ihn" (masculine, accusitive).

For example,

Helga: Können Sie bitte meinen Brüdern helfen?

Olga: Natürlich, aber ich kann ihnen leider nur nach zwei Tagen helfen.

Helga: Unsere Leben gehen trotzdem weiter.

Make a point of studying and getting used to the dative plural.