Any German sentence is incomplete without a subject, which means you’ll use German subject pronouns like ich (I), du (you), es (it), and more daily.
Find out how each of the nine German subject pronouns is used with handy reference tables and practical examples to make this critical part of language learning easier to apply in everyday conversation.
Table of Contents
What is a German subject pronoun?
Subject pronouns are one of the types of German pronouns. Their function is to replace nouns that act as the “doer” of the action in a sentence.
| German subject pronoun | English translation |
| ich | I |
| du | you, informal singular |
| er | he |
| sie | she |
| es | it |
| wir | we |
| ihr | you, informal plural |
| sie | they |
| Sie | you, formal singular/plural |
They work the same as in English. Instead of saying “Tom runs fast,” you can replace the noun doing the running (Tom) with the corresponding subject pronoun (He) to say “He runs fast.”
You’ll often swap a subject noun for a subject pronoun after you’ve already said the noun to avoid repetition in conversation.
- Tommy ist glücklich. Er mag sein Geschenk. = Tommy is happy. He likes his gift.
Each subject pronoun will require a different German conjugation of the main verb of your sentence. This simply means you’ll end up spelling the verb differently depending on which subject pronoun you use.
Conjugating verbs according to the subject pronoun
The main verb of any given expression in German must conjugate according to which subject pronoun is being used. To “conjugate” a verb, start by finding its “verb stem” by removing the ending of the verb, usually -e or -en. Next, simply add the appropriate ending for the subject pronoun being used.
- Ich lerne Deutsch. = I am learning German.
- Du solltest keine Steine essen. = You shouldn’t eat stones.
- Wir gehen tanzen. = We are going dancing.
The table below shows the ending for each subject pronoun in German, along with an example of how the verb spielen (to play) is conjugated according to each pronoun:
| German Subject Pronoun | Corresponding Verb Ending | Example with Spielen |
| Ich I | -e | spiele |
| du you, informal singular | -st/-est | spielst |
| Ihr you, informal plural | -t | spielt |
| er/sie/es he/she/it | -t | spielt |
| wir we | -en | spielen |
| sie they | -en | spielen |
| Sie you, formal singular/plural | -en | spielen |
When to use each German subject pronoun, with examples
Subject pronouns typically appear as either the first word of a statement or as the second word in a question in German sentence structure.
German subject pronouns can be classified by two or more of the following four characteristic groups:
- first person, second person, or third person (person)
- masculine, feminine, or neuter (gender)
- singular or plural (number)
- formal or informal (register)
Knowing which characteristics a given subject pronoun has will help guide your decision on which to choose and help to avoid misunderstandings or even coming across as rude.
Ich (I)
Ich is how Germans say “I.” This subject pronoun is in the first person because you are referring to yourself, and singular because you’re referring to one person. This is the correct way to refer to yourself regardless of your gender or how formal or informal the context of use is.
- Ich gehe gerne schwimmen. = I like to go swimming.
- Muss ich alleine gehen? = Am I going alone?
Typically, Germans will downplay the importance of using ich in formal writing unless you’re writing an opinion piece. Otherwise, a German will want to hear what “is,” rather than what you “think is.” In daily conversation and informal discussions, ich is as completely acceptable to use as it is in English.
Du (you, informal singular)
As one of a few ways to say “you” in German, du refers to a singular individual in the second person because you’re addressing another person. While you can use du regardless of gender, take special care to only use it in informal situations.
- Du liest das falsche Schild. = You are reading the wrong sign.
- Magst du dieses Café? = Do you like this cafe?
You’ll know that du is the right form of “you” to use when speaking to or writing about:
- a family member or friend
- someone younger than yourself
If you’re on the fence about whether it’s appropriate to use du to mean “you” when it comes to formality, just ask the other person: Darf ich Sie duzen? (May I address you informally?) Generally, you’ll want to reserve this question for non-professional acquaintances you’re especially familiar with.
Ihr (you, informal plural)
You know how informal English uses the term “y’all” to mean “you all,” even though many linguists debate whether or not it counts as a word? This isn’t an issue in German, where ihr is a completely accepted subject pronoun that means a plural “you.” It is a second-person subject pronoun that is only ever plural, referring to a group of other people rather than just one person.
Ihr can be used whether the group you’re referencing is all male, all female, or a combination. However, it is only used in informal settings when talking about a group of other people you know well, are related to, or who are younger than yourself.
- Ihr sollt jetzt tanzen! = You all should dance now!
- Wohnt ihr in Berlin? = Do you all live in Berlin?
Er (he)
The German word for “he” is er. This replaces the name of a single masculine person or object in the third person, which means you’re talking about the subject but are not addressing them directly.
Formality does not play a role with er, so you can use it for professional associates just like you can use it for your dear Opa (grandfather).
- Er hat keinen Mantel. = He does not have a coat.
- Baut er das richtig auf? = Is he building that correctly?
Some things, like chairs and tables, are assigned a masculine grammatical gender despite having no gendered physiology to speak of. When referring to grammatically masculine objects, it is correct to say er rather than calling the object an “it.”
- Der Stuhl ist alt. = The chair is old. → Er ist alt. = He (the chair) is old.
- Der Tisch ist kaputt. = The table is broken. → Er ist kaputt. = He (the table) is broken.
Sie (she)
As a German subject pronoun, sie means “she.” It is a third-person, singular pronoun, because it refers to one other person without addressing them directly. You would use this for any woman or girl at any level of formality, as well as a few objects that are grammatically feminine in German.
- Sie arbeitet in einem Juweliergeschäft. = She works at a jewelry shop.
- Gärtnert sie im Sommer? = Does she garden in the summer?
Common items that are grammatically feminine in German include:
- Die Tasse ist voll. = The cup is full. → Sie ist voll. = She (the cup) is full.
- Die Tür öffnet sich sanft. = The door opens smoothly. → Sie öffnet sich sanft. = She (the door) opens smoothly.
- Die Uhr geht falsch. = The clock is wrong. → Sie geht falsch. = She (the clock) is wrong.
Es (it)
Though es means “it” in German, this subject pronoun should not be used for all objects as it is in English. Like er (he) and sie (she), es is a singular, third-person pronoun that refers to only one person without speaking to them directly. You can use es in both formal and informal contexts freely.
- Es wackelt zu stark. = It wobbles too much.
- Kostet es weniger als das andere? = Does it cost less than the other one?
Though some objects are assigned either masculine or feminine grammatical gender in the German language, there are still plenty of neuter objects that take es.
Be careful not to use es when you don’t know a person’s gender, as they are not objects and using es to refer to them would be as insulting as calling a person “it” in English.
Wir (we)
Wir means “we” in German and is a first-person, plural pronoun used when you’re talking about yourself along with a group of other people.
Both you and the other people in the group of wir can be masculine, feminine, or a mix. Since formality doesn’t make much sense when referring to yourself, you don’t have to worry about determining whether the situation is formal or informal.
- Wir müssen konzentriert bleiben, Brüder. = We must stay focused, brothers.
- Wollen wir später ins Kino gehen? = Do we want to see a movie later?
Using sie (they)
Don’t get it confused! The subject pronoun sie can also mean “they” in German. As a third-person, plural subject pronoun, sie is used for a group of people other than yourself without referring to those people directly.
- Sie sehen aus, als hätten sie sich verlaufen. = They look like they’re lost.
- Sehen sie glücklich aus? = Do they seem happy?
The easiest way you can tell the difference between sie (she) and sie (they) is how the main verb is conjugated in the expression. If the verb ends in -en, then sie means “they,” otherwise, if the verb ends in -t, then sie means “she.” This is handy to refer back to when listening to someone and decoding who they’re talking about.
- Sie essen. = They are eating.
- Sie isst. = She is eating.
Sie (you, formal singular/plural)
As our final way to say “you” with German subject pronouns, Sie is only used in formal German. This means you should use it during business, when communicating with people you’re not especially familiar with, or anyone older than yourself that isn’t a relative.
Sie is second-person, since you’re directly referring to someone other than yourself, and can be either singular or plural. Talking to one person or a group of people formally requires the use of Sie. The gender of these people does not factor into the decision of when to use Sie in writing or conversation.
- Sie sind nun mein Ansprechpartner. = You are now my contact person.
- Haben Sie mit der Personalabteilung gesprochen? = Have you spoken to human resources?
You can tell Sie (you, formal) apart from sie (she) and sie (they) by capitalization, conjugation, and context:
- Sie (you, formal) is always capitalized as opposed to sie (she) and sie (they), which are only capitalized at the start of a sentence.
- The main verb following Sie (you, formal) will always end in -en, which looks the same as the ending to sie (they), but contrasts the standard -t verb ending used for sie (she).
- Finally, if your expression talks to people directly, you know that Sie means “you,” as opposed to sie (they), which refers to other people without addressing them directly.
Other common subject pronouns in daily German
In addition to the core German subject pronouns listed above, Germans also have indefinite subject pronouns they use in daily conversation. These refer to a non-specific person or people.
| Indefinite German Subject Pronouns | English Translation |
| man | one |
| jemand | someone |
| keiner | nobody |
| alle | everyone |
| nichts | none |
Each of these indefinite subject pronouns will conjugate the same as er/sie/es (he/she/it), meaning the main verb will end in -t. Try these common indefinite German subject pronouns to sound more natural in casual conversation.
- Man macht das nicht. = One does not do that.
- Jemand hat angerufen. = Someone called.
- Keiner versteht das. = Nobody understands that.
Key takeaways for German subject pronouns
Though the German language has a few more subject pronouns than English, there’s a lot of overlap between their usage and sentence placement. Here are the three key takeaways for German subject pronouns:
- German subject pronouns replace the subject noun of a sentence that performs the main action.
- There are nine core subject pronouns in German, each with their own person, number, gender, and register.
- Main verbs conjugate depending on the subject pronoun of the sentence.
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