Pronoun Combinations & Cases
When German pronouns combine, their order and form follow clear patterns tied to grammatical cases: nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive. This guide walks through each case with example sentences to make the rules intuitive.
Nominative
The nominative case marks the sentence's subject—the person or thing performing the action. Pronouns in the nominative case include ich, du, er, sie, es, wir, ihr, and sie (plural).
| German Example | English Translation |
|---|---|
| ☀️ Ich trinke Kaffee. | I am drinking coffee. |
| 🌳 Du sitzt im Park. | You are sitting in the park. |
| 🧑🤝🧑 Er spielt Frisbee. | He is playing frisbee. |
| 🧑🤝🧑 Sie füttert die Tauben. | She is feeding the pigeons. |
| 🐶 Es läuft neben mir. | It is running next to me. |
| 👥 Wir machen ein Picknick. | We are having a picnic. |
| 🧑🌾 Ihr erntet Erdbeeren. | You (pl.) are picking strawberries. |
| 🧑🚒 Sie spielen Beachvolleyball. | They are playing beach volleyball. |
| 🧑🏫 Sie sind mein Lehrer. | You (formal) are my teacher. |
Accusative
The accusative case marks the direct object—the entity directly receiving the action. Common accusative pronouns are mich, dich, ihn, sie, es, uns, euch, and sie (plural).
| German Example | English Translation |
|---|---|
| 🥪 Ich kaufe dir ein Sandwich. | I am buying you a sandwich. |
| 🧃 Du siehst mich mit dem Saft. | You see me with the juice. |
| 🥏 Er wirft es zum Freund. | He throws it to the friend. |
| 🍎 Sie nimmt ihn vom Korb. | She takes it (him) from the basket. |
| 🧴 Ich habe es mit Sonnencreme geschützt. | I have protected it with sunscreen. |
| 🧺 Wir packen euch eine Decke ein. | We are packing a blanket for you (pl.). |
| 🥤 Ihr bringt mir eine Limonade. | You (pl.) bring me a lemonade. |
| 🥨 Sie geben uns Brezeln. | They give us pretzels. |
| 🎒 Sie haben Sie gesehen. | They saw you (formal). |
Dative
The dative case marks the indirect object—typically the recipient or beneficiary of an action. Dative pronouns include mir, dir, ihm, ihr, ihm, uns, euch, and ihnen.
| German Example | English Translation |
|---|---|
| 🍊 Kannst du mir eine Orange geben? | Can you give me an orange? |
| 🥡 Ich gebe dir eine Portion. | I give you a portion. |
| 🧍 Sie zeigt ihm den Weg. | She shows him the way. |
| 🧍 Er hilft ihr mit den Taschen. | He helps her with the bags. |
| 🐦 Wir füttern ihm Brotkrumen. | We feed him (the bird) breadcrumbs. |
| 🧑🌾 Sie bringen uns frische Eier. | They bring us fresh eggs. |
| 🧑🚴 Ich sende euch eine Nachricht. | I send you (pl.) a message. |
| 🧑🍳 Er kocht ihnen Suppe. | He cooks soup for them. |
| 🧑💼 Ich habe Ihnen einen Platz reserviert. | I have reserved a seat for you (formal). |
Genitive
The genitive case shows possession or close association. Personal pronouns rarely appear in the genitive; instead, forms like meiner, deiner, or possessive adjectives such as mein/dein are used.
| German Example | English Translation |
|---|---|
| 🧺 Das Ende des Picknicks war schön. | The end of the picnic was lovely. |
| 🌳 Die Farbe des Baumes leuchtet. | The color of the tree shines. |
| 🧑🤝🧑 Das Lachen der Freunde war ansteckend. | The laughter of the friends was contagious. |
| 🐶 Das Spiel des Hundes machte Spaß. | The dog's game was fun. |
| 🎈 Die Freude des Kindes war groß. | The child's joy was great. |
Pronoun Order
When both accusative and dative pronouns appear, the dative pronoun usually comes first: for example, ich gebe dir ihn becomes ich gebe ihn dir only to add emphasis. When one pronoun is a noun and the other a pronoun, the noun typically comes first.
Double Object Pronouns
Double object pronouns occur when both the indirect and direct objects are pronouns, as in er gibt mir es. German prefers placing the dative pronoun before the accusative pronoun: er gibt es mir sounds less natural.
Summary
German pronoun combinations hinge on cases: nominative for subjects, accusative for direct objects, dative for indirect objects, and genitive for possession. Pay attention to the typical order—dative pronouns before accusative—and practice with example sentences to internalize the patterns.
Last updated: Sun Sep 14, 2025