I, you, he, she, it: personal pronouns

Subject pronouns are the little words that say who does something.

For the three ways of saying you, see du, ihr or Sie: which you?.

It: er, sie or es

Every German noun is masculine, feminine or neuter (see der, die, das: gender and articles). The pronoun follows the noun's grammar, not its meaning:

• der words become er: der Tisch (the table) is er.
• die words become sie: die Lampe (the lamp) is sie.
• das words become es: das Buch (the book) is es.

So a table is "he" and a lamp is "she" in German. It sounds strange at first, but it becomes automatic.

Das Mädchen (the girl) is grammatically neuter, so the written pronoun is es. In everyday speech many people say sie, especially when they use her name.

sie, sie or Sie?

The verb ending helps you tell them apart:

• sie kommt: she comes (verb ends in -t)
• sie kommen: they come (verb ends in -en)
• Sie kommen: you come (polite; capital S)

• Ich bin Lena, und das ist Max.I'm Lena, and this is Max.
• Er wohnt in Köln.He lives in Cologne.
• Wir lernen Deutsch.We are learning German.
• Wo ist der Schlüssel? Er ist hier.Where is the key? It's here.
• Die Lampe ist neu. Sie ist sehr schön.The lamp is new. It is very pretty.
• Das Auto ist alt, aber es fährt gut.The car is old, but it runs well.
• Sie spielt Gitarre.She plays the guitar.
• Anna und Tom sind hier. Sie spielen Karten.Anna and Tom are here. They're playing cards.

Learn each noun with its article, and the pronoun comes free: der goes with er, die with sie, das with es.

Common mistakes

• Der Tisch ist groß. Es ist neu. Tisch is a der word, so: Er ist neu.
• Writing Ich with a capital in the middle of a sentence. It is ich.
• Mixing up sie kommt (she) and sie kommen (they): look at the verb ending.
• Using du for a group: for several friends it is ihr.