German Personal Pronouns and Possessive Articles

The German personal pronouns can be confusing when you’re first starting to learn the language. This is the complete table and some tips for personal pronouns and the possessive articles.

NominativAkkusativDativPossessivartikel
ichmichmirmein, meine …
dudichdirdein, deine …
er/sie/esihn/sie/esihm/ihr/ihmsein, seine …
ihr, ihre …
sein, seine …
wirunsunsunser, unsere …
ihreucheucheuer, eure …
sie/Siesie/Sieihnen/Ihnenihr, ihre … – Ihr, Ihre …

Some Tips to avoid frequent mistakes:

  • All 3 instances of “sie” (including the formal capitalized “Sie) as well as “es” don’t change for the accusative.
  • The third person singular endings are the same as the definite article endings: der/er, den/ihn, dem/ihm, die/sie etc.
  • “Uns” and “euch” are both accusative and dative forms.
  • 3rd person singular “sie” ► “ihr” in the dative whereas third person plural “sie/Sie” ► “ihnen/Ihnen”!
  • The possessive articles need be declined just like articles: mein Hund, meinen Hund, eure Katze, eurer Katze etc.

Examples:

Ich heiße Alexander Müller.Nominativ
Aber meine Freunde nennen mich Alex.Akkusativ
Sie helfen mir immer, wenn ich Hilfe brauche.Dativ
Sie gehen zum Beispiel oft mit meinem Hund spazieren.Possessivartikel
(dative case)

Download section

Here you can find downloadable bonus material such as PDF files for this topic.

For DMM members only. You can sign up for free or make a voluntary monthly donation.

Log-in or become a member now

Exercises

Test your knowledge with exercises on this topic!

For DMM members only. You can sign up for free or make a voluntary monthly donation.

Log-in or become a member now

Further reading: