5 Section 1-5
1-5: Pronouns in the Nominative Case
You have already learned the pronouns ich, du, and Sie. Here are the rest of the nominative case pronouns.
The nominative case refers to subject pronouns—those pronouns that refer to the person or thing doing the action of the sentence. They usually come at the beginning of a sentence (but not always!!!). In future chapters, you will learn other cases, but for now, know that “nominative” refers to the subject of the sentence.
|
Singular |
Plural |
|
ich—I |
wir—we |
|
du—you (familiar) |
ihr—you (plural, familiar); y’all |
|
er—he sie—she es—it |
sie—they Sie—you (formal) |
Notes on capitalization:
The word “ich” is never capitalized, as it is in English, unless it is at the beginning of a sentence.
- Du und ich kommen aus Nordamerika.
- Ich wohne in Aachen.
Listen to Franzi Harmsen’s song Nein to hear examples of the pronouns ich and du as well as a few numbers you learned in Section 1-3.
The formal way of saying “you,” Sie, is ALWAYS capitalized, no matter where it is in the sentence because it shows respect.
Watch Learn German’s video to see a detailed explanation of German pronouns in the nominative case.
What is a pronoun? A pronoun is a word that is substituted in for a noun.
We often substitute nouns for pronouns in everyday speech.
A: Is the pencil new? B: Yes, it is new.
In the above example, we substituted in “it” for “the pencil.” In German, however, we must look at the grammatical gender of the word to pick the correct pronoun.
A: Ist der Bleistift neu? B: Ja, er ist neu.
- der Tisch→er (rhymes with „der“)
- die Tafel→sie (rhymes with „die“)
- das Fenster→es (shares an “s” at the end of both words)
The easiest way to do this is to look at the definite article (der/die/das). It will tell you which pronoun to use. It may seem strange to refer to der Kuli, a pen, for example, as “he,” but in German, it sounds normal.
Video. Replacing Nouns with Pronouns. Watch the video to see me reteaching this.
Ex. B: Ja oder nein? Using the items and adjectives below, ask your partner several questions. Your partner must substitute with a pronoun to answer. (If you can’t remember the definite article for each noun, look back to section 1-3.)
Beispiel: Uhr, schwarz
A: Ist die Uhr schwarz?
B: Nein, sie ist nicht schwarz. Sie ist grau.
A: Ist der Professor groß?
B: Ja, er ist groß.
- Tisch, braun
- Heft, rot
- Wand, weiß
- Poster, groß
- Buch, langweilig
- Kuli, alt
- Landkarte, bunt
- Computer, neu
- Student, interessant
EXTRA PRACTICE: The following activities will give you more practice and instant feedback using personal pronouns.