Pronouns, plurals, and the verb sein

Pronouns, plurals, and the verb sein

German Third-Person Pronouns

The German third-person pronouns also replace nouns and like English pronouns conform to gender of the noun they replace. But German gender is not always detetermined by the sex of an individual.

Masculine Nouns (der)

German Noun	English	Pronoun (German)	Pronoun (English)
der Mann	the man	er	he
ein Bruder	a brother	er	he
der Käse	cheese	er	it
dieser Monat	this month	er	it

Feminine Nouns (die)

German Noun	English	Pronoun (German)	Pronoun (English)
die Frau	the woman	sie	she
eine Schwester	a sister	sie	she
die Lampe	the lamp	sie	it
diese Blume	this flower	sie	it

Neuter Nouns (das)

German Noun	English	Pronoun (German)	Pronoun (English)
das Kind	the child	es	he/she/it
ein Mädchen	a girl	es	she
das Auto	the car	es	it
dieses Buch	this book	es	it

Plural nouns 

German plurals are formed in a variety of ways. A small number end in -s, for example 

Singular	Plural
das Auto	die Autos	cars
die Kamera	die Kameras	cameras
das Sofa	die Sofas	sofas

Most plurals, however, follow one of the patterns below:

All plural nouns use the definitive article die, no matter what their gender is in the singular.

There is no clear-cut way to always determine the plural of a noun; there are only inconsistent patterns and not always fixed rules. We should check in a dictionary for the correct plural of a noun.

Masculine

Many masculine nouns form their plural by an -e ending or by an umlaut over a, o, or u plus an e ending. For example:

Singular	Plural
der Tisch	die Tische	tables
der Schuh	die Schuhe	shoes
der Satz	die Sätze	sentences
der Stuhl	die Stühle	chairs

If a masculine noun ends in -en, -er or -el, there is no additional ending, but sometimes an umlaut is added. For example:

Singular	Plural
der Boden	die Böden	floors
der Wagen	die Wagen	cars
der Sportler	die Sportler	athletes
der Lehrer	die Lehrer	teachers
der Mantel	die Mäntel	coats
der Onkel	die Onkel	uncle

But many other masculine nouns have their own plural formation and do not conform to simple patterns. For example:

Singular	Plural
der Mann	die Männer	men
der Junge	die Jungen	boys
der Soldat	die Soldaten	soldiers

Feminine

Many feminine nouns form their plural by an -n or -en ending. For example:

Singular	Plural
die Blume	die Blumen	flowers
die Zeitung	die Zeitungen	newspapers
die Lampe	die Lampen	lamps
die Decke	die Decken	blankets

But many feminine nouns have a plural formation that is based upon what is commonly accepted or tradition. For example:

Singular	Plural
die Wand	die Wände	walls
die Mutter	die Mütter	mothers
die Tochter	die Töchter	daughters
die Wurst	die Würste	sausages

Neuter

Many neuter nouns form their plural by an -er ending, often adding an umlaut to a, o, u. But if the noun ends in -chen or -lein, no ending is required. For example:

Singular	Plural
das Haus	die Häuser	houses
das Land	die Länder	countries
das Kind	die Kinder	children
das Mädchen	die Mädchen	girls
das Röslein	due Röslein	little roses

Third-person plural pronoun

Just like the English pronoun they, the German third-person plural pronouns is used for all plurals, no matter the gender of the singular noun.

Plural noun		Pronoun replacement
die Frauen	women	sie	they
die Männer	men	sie	they
die Sofas	sofas	sie	they
die Bücher	books	sie	they
die Brüder	brothers	sie	they
die Zeitungen	newspapers	sie	they

Some plurals used in complete sentences:

Die Manner sind heir.	The men are here
Sie sind heir.	_ They are here._
Die Bucher sind alt.	The books are old.
Sie sind alt.	_ They are old._
Die Kinder sind jung.	The children are young.
Sie sind jung.	_ They are young._

First-person and second-person pronouns

They are ich I, du you, wir we, ihr you, and Sie you. Ich and wir are first-person pronouns, and du, ihr, and Sie are second-person pronouns.

du	Singular and informal. Use with children, family, and friends.	/duː/
ihr	Plural and informal. Use with children, family, and friends.	[iːɐ]
Sie	Singular or plural informal. Use with strangers and to show respect.	/ziː/

If we call someone by his or her first name (Karl, Martin, Luise), we should probably use du. Use ihr if we are speaking to more than one person. Use Sie when we address some one with a title (Frau Braun, Herr Schmidt, Doktor Schneider). # The verb ‘sein’ (to be) The changes the verb makes according to those pronouns are the conjugation of the verb sein.

	Meaning	Pronunciation (IPA)
ich bin	I am	[ɪç bɪn]
du bist	you are	[duː bɪst]
er ist	he is	[eːɐ̯ ɪst]
sie ist	she is	[ziː ɪst]
es ist	it is	[ɛs ɪst]
wir sind	we are	[viːɐ̯ zɪnt]
ihr seid	you (pl.) are	[iːɐ̯ zaɪt]
Sie sind	you (formal) are	[ziː zɪnt]
sie sind	they are	[ziː zɪnt]