Basic Chart: der/das/die, ein-words, Pronouns
Click the link for a Google Doc version of the “Basic Chart” (also including the two-way prepositions) that will print on one page!
- The Google Doc version lists the possessive articles next to the forms of der/das/die and ein, which is actually clearer than the organization you will see below on this page, which shows them with the Nominative, Accusative and Dative pronouns, even though they function differently (the possessive articles take the same endings as ein and kein, whereas the Nominative, Accusative and Dative pronouns never take endings)
Der/das/die and Ein-word endings (including endings for the possessive articles mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer)
Mnemonic advice
- Note the ein-word endings are the same as the der/das/die endings, except in the masculine and neuter nominative and the neuter accusative, where the ein-words have no ending.
- Once you know the nominative forms of der/das/die, you essentially know the accusative forms, which are the same except for the masculine accusative, where der changes to den.
- For the Dative, the -m and -r endings are like the endings of English “him” and “her” as in “for him” and “for her.”
- For the Genitive, the -s and -r endings are like the endings of English “his” and “her.”
- To remember the accusative prepositions, use the acronym “O Fudge” (ohne, für, um, durch, gegen), or ask your instructor about chanting “Durch-für-gegen-ohne-um, Deutsch zu lernen ist nicht dumm.” For the dative prepositions, sing “Aus-außer-bei-mit, nach-seit, von-zu” to the tune of the “Blue Danube” waltz, or think of the touching love poem “Roses are red, violets are blue, aus-außer-bei-mit, nach-seit, von-zu.”
Pronouns and Possessive Articles
| Nominative | Accusative | Dative | Possessive Article |
| ich | mich | mir | mein |
| du | dich | dir | dein |
| er | ihn | ihm | sein |
| sie | sie | ihr | ihr |
| es | es | ihm | sein |
| wir | uns | uns | unser |
| ihr | euch | euch | euer |
| sie/Sie | sie/Sie | ihnen/Ihnen | ihr/Ihr |
Mnemonic advice
- The third person singular and plural pronouns roughly rhyme with the corresponding forms of der/das/die in the Nominative, Accusative and Dative: er <=> der, ihn <=> den, ihm <=> dem, sie <=> die, sie <=> die, ihr <=> der, es <=> das, es <=> das, ihm <=> dem, and in the 3rd person plural sie <=> die, sie <=> die, ihnen <=> den (sort of).
- For the “we” forms, note nominative wir sounds like English “we,” and accusative and dative uns sounds like English “us.”
- For the possessives, note mein, dein and sein rhyme. The feminine singular ihr looks and sounds roughly like its English counterpart “her.” The 3rd person plural form is also ihr. Note that, except in the Dative, the “she” pronouns are always the same as the “they” pronouns
Übungen [Mechanical practice to help you memorize these charts]
Click here to do all these exercises in sequence (use the “weiter” button to get from one to the next), or click on the links below to pick out individual ones.
- der/das/die
- ein-words
- pronouns and possessive articles This exercise includes the above mnemonic hints to help you learn these words; where there is such a hint, you can click on “Hilfe” to see it.
- accusative, dative and genitive prepositions This exercise just
asks you to choose the appropriate case for each preposition.