German Personal Pronouns: The Nominative Case

In German, the nominative case is used for the subject of a sentence—the person or thing performing the action. While German pronouns change based on their role in a sentence (case), we will focus specifically on the basic subject forms today.

Standard Nominative Forms

• ich (I)
• du (you, singular informal)
• er (he) / sie (she) / es (it)
• wir (we)
• ihr (you all, plural informal)
• sie (they)
• Sie (you, formal singular & plural)

Example: Ich lerne Deutsch. (I am learning German.)

Pronouns in Everyday Speech

While the forms above are standard in writing, spoken German often "shrinks" or reduces these pronouns when they aren't stressed. This creates a faster, more fluid flow in conversation.

1. Contracted Forms

Pronouns often attach to other words or lose their initial sounds. The pronoun es is frequently shortened to 's, even in written poetry or literature.

• 'ch instead of ich: 'ch soll's 'm geben. (I'm supposed to give it to him.)
• -st'n instead of -st du ihn: Jetzt kannst'n sehen. (Now you can see him.)
• 's instead of es: Wie geht's? (How is it going?)

2. Omission (Dropping the Subject)

In formal German writing, you must include the subject pronoun. However, in rapid colloquial speech, speakers often drop ich, du, or es if the context makes the subject obvious.

• Weiß es nicht. (I don't know it. — omitting "Ich")
• Kannst morgen kommen? (Can you come tomorrow? — omitting "du")
• Scheint zu klappen. (It seems to be working. — omitting "Es")

3. Regional Variation

In some parts of the German-speaking world, particularly in Southern Germany and Austria, you will hear mir used in place of wir. Although this is technically "incorrect" in standard grammar, it is very common in local dialects.

• Mir gehen jetzt ins Kino. (We are going to the movies now. — Standard: Wir gehen...)