German Grammar Explained /
Personal pronouns with case
Ich rufe dich morgen an.
Ehm, ok? Mich?
Ja, dich.
You said you are going to call me tomorrow, right?
Genau.
Ok, so mich refers to me? Dich to you?
Richtig. The personal pronouns (mich, dich) are adapted to the person, the number and the case. That is, we decline them. The verbs often determine the case.
Oh, ok. So in this case we have anrufen. And this verb needs the... accusative?
Exactly!
Can you show me how those pronouns change for the other persons?
I can not only show you that, but also how they would change for dative.
Oh, hehe. My mistake.
Nominativ | Akkusativ | Dativ |
|---|---|---|
ich | mich | mir |
du | dich | dir |
er/sie/es | ihn/sie/es | ihm/ihr/ihm |
wir | uns | uns |
ihr | euch | euch |
Sie/sie | Sie/sie | Ihnen/ihnen |
Ok, can you give me some verb examples?
Sure!
Ruf mich bitte an! (anrufen + Akkusativ)
Please call me!
Ich danke euch. (danken + Dativ)
I thank you.
Mögt ihr ihn? (mögen + Akkusativ)
Do you like him?
Das Auto gefällt ihnen.
They like the car.