CEFR A2
What you will learn
- Recognise the pattern taught in “German personal pronouns A2: three cases” in a short example.
- Choose the appropriate form from “German personal pronouns A2: three cases” using explicit evidence.
- Apply and justify the rule from “German personal pronouns A2: three cases” in a new case.
Before you start
- Have studied “German dative A2: forms, functions and government”.
The idea
The person stays the same, but form changes with the case required by function, verb or preposition.
Nominative normally marks the subject; accusative marks many direct objects and the government of prepositions such as für or ohne; dative marks certain recipients, participants selected by verbs such as helfen, and the government of mit or bei. A human referent does not determine case by itself.
Learn each series vertically. ich changes to mich and mir; du to dich and dir; er to ihn and ihm; singular sie keeps sie in the accusative and uses ihr in the dative; es keeps es and uses ihm; wir has uns in both cases; ihr has euch in both; plural sie keeps sie and uses ihnen; formal Sie keeps Sie and uses Ihnen. Capitalisation is part of the formal forms.
When a pronoun replaces a noun phrase, it keeps its function and case: Ich sehe den Fahrer → Ich sehe ihn; Ich helfe dem Fahrer → Ich helfe ihm. Do not choose by isolated translation. With two objects, pronouns commonly precede noun phrases; if both are pronouns, accusative commonly precedes dative: Ich gebe es ihm. This order tendency does not change the forms.
Reflexive pronouns partly coincide, but form a different paradigm from the third person onwards with sich. Do not merge the two tables.
Pronouns in three cases
| Item | Form |
|---|---|
| 1 | ich · mich · mir |
| 2 | du · dich · dir |
| 3 | er · ihn · ihm |
| 4 | sie (singular) · sie · ihr |
| 5 | es · es · ihm |
| 6 | wir · uns · uns |
| 7 | ihr · euch · euch |
| 8 | sie (plural) · sie · ihnen |
| 9 | Sie · Sie · Ihnen |
How it sounds
- Die Lehrerin kennt uns.uns replaces a plural direct object: accusative.
- Kannst du ihr antworten?antworten governs dative; singular sie becomes ihr.
- Ich schicke es Ihnen morgen.es is neuter accusative and Ihnen is formal dative.
Check objective 1Another case
A proposed answer is “er” for this case: “Der Arzt untersucht Paul. Der Arzt untersucht er.”. Choose the only valid form.
A proposed answer is “ihm” for this case: “Der Arzt untersucht Paul. Der Arzt untersucht ihm.”. Choose the only valid form.
Answer available without interaction
Answer: ihn — Paul is the masculine direct object of untersuchen; er becomes accusative ihn.
Paul is the masculine direct object of untersuchen; er becomes accusative ihn.
Answer: ihn — Paul is the masculine direct object of untersuchen; er becomes accusative ihn.
Paul is the masculine direct object of untersuchen; er becomes accusative ihn.
Check objective 2Another case
A proposed answer is “sie” for this case: “Die Jacke gehört Lara. Die Jacke gehört sie.”. Choose the only valid form.
A proposed answer is “ihnen” for this case: “Die Jacke gehört Lara. Die Jacke gehört ihnen.”. Choose the only valid form.
Answer available without interaction
Answer: ihr — gehören governs dative and Lara corresponds to singular sie: ihr.
gehören governs dative and Lara corresponds to singular sie: ihr.
Answer: ihr — gehören governs dative and Lara corresponds to singular sie: ihr.
gehören governs dative and Lara corresponds to singular sie: ihr.
Check objective 3Another case
A proposed answer is “Sie” for this case: “Frau Reuter, ich sende Sie die Datei heute.”. Choose the only valid form.
A proposed answer is “ihnen” for this case: “Frau Reuter, ich sende ihnen die Datei heute.”. Choose the only valid form.
Answer available without interaction
Answer: Ihnen — The formal recipient is dative Ihnen, capitalised; die Datei is the thing sent.
The formal recipient is dative Ihnen, capitalised; die Datei is the thing sent.
Answer: Ihnen — The formal recipient is dative Ihnen, capitalised; die Datei is the thing sent.
The formal recipient is dative Ihnen, capitalised; die Datei is the thing sent.
When it doesn't hold
What breaks the rule, said out loud. Hiding it is what makes you feel cheated in the exam.
- es can be subject or object and never changes shape.Es regnet. – Ich sehe es.
- After a preposition the preposition decides, not the verb.Das ist für dich.
- For things you do not use a pronoun after the preposition but da- joined to it.Ich warte darauf.
What your own language pushes you to say
Wrong Das ist für ich.
Right Das ist für dich.
English uses one object form for everything, so the subject pronoun gets carried over after a preposition. German prepositions choose a case, and fuer always takes the accusative.
Challenge: apply every rule
Solve every case and justify each choice: 1) A proposed answer is “er” for this case: “Der Arzt untersucht Paul. Der Arzt untersucht er.”. Choose the only valid form. 2) A proposed answer is “sie” for this case: “Die Jacke gehört Lara. Die Jacke gehört sie.”. Choose the only valid form. 3) A proposed answer is “Sie” for this case: “Frau Reuter, ich sende Sie die Datei heute.”. Choose the only valid form.
Answer available without interaction
- Recognise the pattern taught in “German personal pronouns A2: three cases” in a short example.
- Choose the appropriate form from “German personal pronouns A2: three cases” using explicit evidence.
- Apply and justify the rule from “German personal pronouns A2: three cases” in a new case.
Answer: ihn · ihr · Ihnen
Paul is the masculine direct object of untersuchen; er becomes accusative ihn. gehören governs dative and Lara corresponds to singular sie: ihr. The formal recipient is dative Ihnen, capitalised; die Datei is the thing sent.
Continue along this corridor
Practise this: mich or mir, dich or dir: pronouns in the accusative and dativeGerman imperative A2: du, ihr and Sie formulas