8 Personal Pronouns German: How And When To Use Them (With Examples

These are the personal pronouns German, which are important because they pretty much appear in every sentence in one way or another. Stay until the end to hear Brunhild barely sing a personal pronoun song which is just about perfect to remember these forever. 🙂

In this blog post, Spring German teacher Brunhild will teach you everything you need to know about these personal pronouns in German!

What are the personal pronouns German?

Personal pronouns in German are used to refer to the people or the things in your German sentences. They are basically essential to form German sentences.

They show the subject of the verb and they can change form based on the German grammatical cases (nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive).

The 8 personal pronouns that you’ll most likely use in your German conversations in nominative are:

1. Ich (I)

Well?

What does “Ich” mean?

We think you got it.

Ich (I) means “I”.

Ich will (I want) means I want, but pay attention, please! Most verbs following “Ich” actually end on “e” (e), like…

The reason why the verb in “Ich will” doesn’t end on e is because it’s an irregular verb and wollen “wanting” is a special kind of verb, a so called modal verb, of which there are six, and they have different endings.

As for now, it’s enough for you to remember that the vast majority of verbs appearing with “Ich” end on e(e).

FLORA
Ich liebe meine Pflanzen. Ich sehe sie den ganzen Tag an. Und ich spreche mit ihnen.
(I love my plants. I look at them all day. And I talk to them.)

By the way!

We have noticed that many foreign people have trouble with the ch sound in ich (I). It is not “[x]”, like “ich” and it is not not sch, like isch, but ch, like Ich. I think it’s easier to pronounce it correctly when you smile. Chhh!

It makes sense to learn the ch sound properly, because it also appears in many other German words, like:

KIM
Das kann doch echt nicht sein.
(This can’t be true.)

EVA
Stimmt was nicht?
(Something wrong?)

KIM
Die Milch ist schlecht. Unglaublich, dass du sie nicht in Kühlschrank gestellt hast. Deine Vergesslichkeit ist wirklich unmöglich!
(The milk is spoilt. I can’t believe that you didn’t put it in the fridge. You forgetfulness is really impossible.)

EVA
Wieso ich? Ich war nicht die letzte, die von der Milch getrunken hat.
(Why me? I wasn’t the last one to drink the milk.)

KIM
Wer’s glaubt wird seelig!
(A likely story!)

We have to admit that I use this chunk all the time, because it shows the other person in the most sarcastic way that their flubdub is wasted on my ears because I am too smart for that shhh…tuff.

Ironic and sarcastic chunks like this make you sound like a real insider right away, so make sure to download our free essential German chunking kit to which the link is in the description! Don’t worry, it’s not just mean chunks. You can always check more chunks on the Spring German YouTube channel.

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✔️ Tips on how to speak German WITHOUT thinking about grammar

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2. Du (You)

Du is You, which means that we end the verbs on –st (-st) – st!

KIM
Hi Pflanzenlady. Hilfst du mir?
(Hi plantlady. Would you help me?)

FLORA
Was suchst du denn?
(What are you looking for?)

KIM
Hast du e eine widerstandsfähige Pflanze?
(Do you have a resilient plant?)

FLORA
Kümmerst du dich nicht um sie?
(Don’t you take care of it?)

KIM
Du weisst ja wie es ist. Man vergisst, sie zu giessen.
(You know how it is. One forgets to water them.)

FLORA
Du brauchst einen Kaktus.
(You need a cactus!)

KIM
Du hast Recht!
(You’re right!)

3. Er (He)

MARIE
Er schaut schon wieder hier rüber.
(He’s looking over here again.)

KIM
Er begreift es einfach nicht!
(He just won’t get it!)

Er means “He”. The verbs here end on -T. I love when things rhyme.

4.Sie (She)

Sie (she) means “She”. And just like with he, verbs end on -T. We’re on a rhyming spree!

EVA
Oh! Wer ist das?
(Oh! Who is this?)

KIM
Marie heißt sie. Sie geht in meine Klasse. Sie hat immer Snacks für mich dabei.
(Marie is her name. She goes to my class. She always has snacks for me.)

EVA
Sie hört sich nett an.
(She sounds nice.)

KIM
Sie ist in Ordnung.
(She is alright.)

EVA
Lade sie doch mal zum Abendessen ein.
(Invite her for dinner sometime.)

5. Es (It)

Es means it. And just like with Er und Sie (he and she), they also end on a t (t)

EVA
Es ist so kalt heute. Es schneit sogar!
(It’s so cold today. It even snows!)

KIM
Es geht noch. Aber ja, es ist minus ein Grad.
(It’s still ok. But yes, it’s minus 1 degree (celsius).)

When WE learned to conjugate the english verbs, we had a little rhyme to remember.

He, she, it- S muss mit. (He, she, it, S must join). So maybe it helps you to remember that in German, it’s He, she it, T muss mit (he, she, it, -t must join). He, she it, T muss mit.

Super easy. He, she it- they all end on a t.

6. Wir (We)

Wir means We, and as seen in the lesson, we use the infinitive form of the verbs when we do something:

Let’s check a conversation where we use … we 🙂

MARIE
Nette Wohnung habt ihr!
(You have a nice apartment!)

EVA
Danke. Wir finden sie etwas klein.
(Thanks. We find it a bit small)

KIM
Ja, wir suchen eine grössere Wohnung. Damit wir uns nicht so viel auf die Nerven gehen.
(Yes, we’re looking for a bigger apartment. So we won’t get on each others nerves as much.)

MARIE
Die Küche ist auch nett.
(The kitchen is also nice

EVA
Ja, wir kochen gerne zusammen.
(Yes, we like cooking together

KIM
Naja….
(Well…)

7. Ihr (you plural)

Ihr means “you plural” and just like with er, sie and es (He, she and it), the verbs end on a -T. Most of the time anyway.

FLORA is speaking to her Flowers.
Ihr gedeiht so wundervoll. Wollt ihr noch Wasser?
(You flourish so wonderfully. Would you like some more water?)

8. Sie

Sie means plural they in this case, and just like with Wir (we) – we, the verbs that follow are being used as infinitives.

KIM
Yo, Pflanzenlady! Ich glaube, meine Blumen brauchen Hilfe. Sie wollen nichtmehr leben.
(Yo, plantlady! I think, my flowers need help. They don’t want to live anymore.)

FLORA
Sie sehen nicht gut aus. Sie vertrocknen. Sie sterben.
(They don’t look good. They’re drying up. They’re dying.)

Sorry for the ABC-song. Catchy, right? Sorry for the Ohrwurm (earworm), but that’s how you remember!

(By the way, there are personal pronouns in Spanish, too, maybe it’s worth to compare the two languages like this!)