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Lesson 17: Personal pronouns in different cases

Vocabulary: Shopping

Completing this lesson will add to your overall progress:

VocabularyA1+3%A2+1%
GrammarA1+3%A2+3%

How to work with this lesson

  1. Read the rule — get the logic (5 minutes)
  2. Translate the exercises in writing — check against the key
  3. Say it out loud — slowly, consciously, analyzing every pronoun
  4. Speed up — drill the matrix until it flies out on autopilot

You already know how articles decline in Akkusativ and Dativ. Now time for the pronouns — mich, mir, dich, dir and the whole crew. Without these you can't even say "he helped me" or "I see you".

Part 1: Why pronouns change case at all

You don't say "I see he". You say "I see him". "He" becomes "him" — the case changed.

English used to do this systematically. Old English had four cases like German. Modern English kept it only for pronouns: I/me/my, he/him/his, who/whom. That's all that's left. German kept the full system.

So in German "er" in Akkusativ becomes "ihn", and in Dativ — "ihm". Every pronoun has three forms: who (Nom), whom (Akk), to whom (Dat).

Heads up for English speakers: English LOST the distinction between accusative "him" and dative "to him" — they merged into one word, "him". German never merged them. Ich sehe ihn (I see him — accusative) vs Ich helfe ihm (I help him — dative). Two different forms. Get used to it.

Part 2: The full table — learn it and forget the headaches

Nominative (who?)Accusative (whom?)Dative (to whom?)English remnant
IichmichmirI / me / (to) me
you (sg.)dudichdir(thou / thee / thee)
heerihnihmhe / him / (to) him
shesiesieihrshe / her / (to) her
itesesihmit / it / (to) it
wewirunsunswe / us / (to) us
you (pl.)ihreucheuch(ye / you / you)
theysiesieihnenthey / them / (to) them
You (formal)SieSieIhnen—

Three things to hammer into your head:

  1. uns and euch — same form in Akkusativ and Dativ. Two for the price of one.
  2. sie (she) doesn't change in Akkusativ — still sie. But in Dativ — ihr.
  3. Ihnen (formal "you" dative) — always written with a capital. Always.

Part 3: The main hack — "ich-mich-mir, du-dich-dir"

ich-mich-mir, du-dich-dir — say it as a chant. Three times. Out loud. Right now.

It rhymes. It sticks. The first two persons you'll have memorized in a minute.

Next — er/ihn/ihm. No rhyme, but a pattern: ih-N (Akkusativ) and ih-M (Dativ). The letter N = Akkusativ (den, einen, ihn). The letter M = Dativ (dem, einem, ihm). You learned that back in Lesson 10.

Part 4: Trap — ihn or ihm?

Trap! Beginners mix up ihn and ihm constantly. Ich sehe ihn (A) — see whom? him. Ich helfe ihm (D) — help to whom? to him. Remember: ihN = Akkusativ, ihM = Dativ. N like "deN", M like "deM".

Trap! sie (she) in Dativ = ihr. sie (they) in Dativ = ihnen. Context decides. Ich gebe ihr das Geld (to her). Ich gebe ihnen das Geld (to them).

Trap! Verbs choose their case. helfen (to help) takes Dative — Ich helfe dir. In English you'd never say "I help to you", but in German that's exactly the structure. Same with danken (thank), antworten (answer), passen (fit). Memorize the verb with its case.

Next up: Lesson 18 — Akkusativ and Dativ: the final lesson. You'll bundle every case into one system and drill them in real-life situations. After that — the "Ritter" test, and you're officially a Knight of the German language.

Lesson 17: Personal pronouns in different cases · Deutsch · Glottos Matrix