How it works
A German clause normally identifies who or what performs the action. A personal pronoun can replace an understood person or noun phrase. The choice among ich, du, er, sie, es, wir, ihr, sie, and formal Sie depends on person, number, grammatical gender where relevant, and formality.
ich · du · er/sie/es · wir · ihr · sie/Sie
| Pronoun | Referent |
|---|---|
| ich | speaker: ‘I’ |
| du | one informal addressee: ‘you’ |
| er | male person or masculine noun |
| sie | female person, feminine noun, or ‘they’ |
| es | neuter noun |
| wir | speaker together with others: ‘we’ |
| ihr | several informal addressees: ‘you’ |
| Sie | formal addressee: ‘you’ |
See it in a sentence
Ich lerne Deutsch.
I am learning German.
"Ich" means "I" and tells us who is learning.
Sie wohnt in Berlin.
She lives in Berlin.
"Sie" means "she" and tells us who lives in Berlin.
Put it into practice
Try it yourself
5 questions, with feedback after every answer. No account needed.
