The nine subject pronouns
A pronoun stands in for a noun: the man → he. In the Nominativ it is the subject of the sentence, the one doing the verb. German has nine of them.
Subject pronouns
| Person | German | English |
|---|---|---|
| 1st singular | ich | I |
| 2nd singular, informal | du | you (one person you know well) |
| 3rd singular, masculine | er | he / it |
| 3rd singular, feminine | sie | she / it |
| 3rd singular, neuter | es | it |
| 1st plural | wir | we |
| 2nd plural, informal | ihr | you (several people you know well) |
| 3rd plural | sie | they |
| polite, singular and plural | Sie | you (strangers, formal) |
ich is written small unless it starts the sentence. Three words look like sie; the verb tells them apart: sie kommt (she, -t), sie kommen (they, -en), Sie kommen (you, polite, -en).
The subject pronoun stays
Unlike Spanish or Italian, German keeps the subject pronoun. The verb ending alone does not say who is meant (wir gehen, sie gehen), so say it every time: Bin müde. → Ich bin müde.
Ich komme aus Irland.
I'm from Ireland.
Du hast recht.
You're right.
Wir gehen jetzt.
We're leaving now.
Seid ihr fertig?
Are you all ready?
Wo sind Anna und Ben? Sie sind im Kino.
Where are Anna and Ben? They're at the cinema.
Sprechen Sie Englisch?
Do you speak English?
formal, to a stranger
er, sie, es for things
English calls every object it. German picks the pronoun that matches the noun's gender, so a table is er, a lamp is sie and a book is es.
Article in, pronoun out
Der Tisch ist neu. Er ist aus Holz.
The table is new. It's made of wood.
der Tisch → er
Die Lampe ist kaputt. Sie war teuer.
The lamp is broken. It was expensive.
die Lampe → sie
Das Buch ist gut. Es ist von Kafka.
The book is good. It's by Kafka.
das Buch → es
The empty es
For weather and time, German uses es like English it. It replaces no noun; it only fills the subject slot, because a German sentence needs a subject.
Es regnet schon wieder.
It's raining again.
Es ist schon spät.
It's late already.
