I, you, he … and the verb sein
Personalpronomen und sein
ich, du, er, sie, es … and the most important verb: sein (to be).
German has a word for each person. The verb changes its ending for each person. sein (to be) is irregular, so learn it by heart first.
Personal pronouns
| Person | Deutsch | English |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person singular | ich | I |
| 2nd person singular | du | you (a friend, a child, family) |
| 3rd person singular | er · sie · es | he · she · it |
| 1st person plural | wir | we |
| 2nd person plural | ihr | you (several friends) |
| 3rd person plural | sie | they |
| polite form | Sie | you (formal: one person or more) |
sein (to be), present tense
| Person | sein | English |
|---|---|---|
| ich | bin | I am |
| du | bist | you are |
| er/sie/es | ist | he/she/it is |
| wir | sind | we are |
| ihr | seid | you are |
| sie/Sie | sind | they are · you are (formal) |
- du is for friends, family and children. Sie is for strangers, shop staff, officials and your boss. Sie always starts with a capital letter.
- sie has three meanings: she (sie ist), they (sie sind) and, with a capital S, polite you (Sie sind). The verb tells you which one.
- es is for neuter nouns: das Kalb → es. Things can be er or sie too: der Garten → er, die Kiste → sie.
✦ Sie is like aap in Hindi or neenga in Tamil; du is like tum or nee.
Examples from the stories
Das ist Punyakoti.This is Punyakoti.
Punyakoti, die Kuh · Kapitel 1Punyakoti ist eine Kuh.Punyakoti is a cow.
Punyakoti, die Kuh · Kapitel 1„Du bist wirklich da! Du lügst nicht.““You are really here! You don't lie.”
Punyakoti, die Kuh · Kapitel 2Sie sind sehr arm.They are very poor.
Idgah · Kapitel 1„Danke, junger Mann! Sie sind sehr nett.““Thank you, young man! You're very kind.”
Der Zug hat Verspätung · Kapitel 1
See also
Practise it with stories
Every example comes from a DeutschKatha story. On DeutschKatha you can hear each sentence and see which case every word is in.