Demonstrative Pronouns in German

In Brief

German dieser, diese, dieses points to a particular person or thing and usually corresponds to English “this” or “these.” Its ending changes to match the noun’s gender, number, and case: dieser Mann, diese Frau, dieses Buch, diese Bücher. Jener, jene, jenes follows the same pattern and can mean “that/those,” but it is much less common in everyday speech.

Overview

A demonstrative is a pointing word: it singles out someone or something from the surrounding context. In English, the basic choices are “this,” “that,” “these,” and “those.” German uses forms of dieser and jener, but the German system asks you to show more information in the ending.

These words can come before a noun (a word for a person, place, thing, or idea), as in dieses Buch (“this book”). In that position, many grammars call them demonstrative determiners rather than pronouns. They can also stand alone and replace a noun: Welches Buch möchtest du? — Dieses. (“Which book would you like? — This one.”) This article covers both uses because the forms are the same and learners meet them together.

This is introduced at A1 because the nominative forms closely resemble the definite articles der, die, das. To use demonstratives confidently, however, you also need to notice case: the form that marks a noun phrase’s job in the sentence. Start with the nominative forms, then add the other cases as you learn them.

How It Works

The beginner pattern

For a first practical rule, match dies- to the noun just as you match der, die, das:

Noun type	Definite article	“this/these”	Example	English
Masculine singular	der	dieser	dieser Mann	this man
Feminine singular	die	diese	diese Frau	this woman
Neuter singular	das	dieses	dieses Buch	this book
Plural, all genders	die	diese	diese Bücher	these books

The ending carries the grammatical information. Do not use one unchanged equivalent of English “this” before every noun.

• Dieser Mann ist mein Chef. — This man is my boss.
• Diese Frau kenne ich. — I know this woman.
• Dieses Buch ist gut. — This book is good.
• Diese Schuhe sind bequem. — These shoes are comfortable.

The second sentence contains diese because Frau is feminine. Its position before the verb does not make it the subject: it is the direct object (the person directly affected by “know”). Feminine diese happens to look identical in the nominative and accusative.

Complete declension of dieser

Declension simply means changing an ending to show gender, number, and case. The four German cases are:

• nominative: usually the subject—the person or thing doing or being something;
• accusative: usually the direct object—the person or thing directly affected;
• dative: often the indirect object—the recipient or beneficiary—and the case required by certain prepositions;
• genitive: mainly possession or belonging.

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	dieser	diese	dieses	diese
Accusative	diesen	diese	dieses	diese
Dative	diesem	dieser	diesem	diesen
Genitive	dieses	dieser	dieses	dieser

Useful contrasts show why case matters:

• Dieser Hund schläft. — This dog is sleeping. (nominative subject)
• Ich sehe diesen Hund. — I see this dog. (accusative direct object)
• Ich gebe diesem Hund Wasser. — I give this dog water. (dative recipient)

In the dative plural, the noun normally also receives -n if it does not already end in -n or -s: mit diesen Kindern, bei diesen Leuten, but mit diesen Autos.

Jener follows exactly the same pattern

Replace the stem dies- with jen- and keep the same endings:

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	jener	jene	jenes	jene
Accusative	jenen	jene	jenes	jene
Dative	jenem	jener	jenem	jenen
Genitive	jenes	jener	jenes	jener

So jener Mann, jene Frau, jenes Haus, and jene Tage are structurally straightforward. The important difficulty is not formation but usage: jener is possible, yet it often sounds formal, literary, or deliberately contrastive. Everyday German frequently uses der/die/das da, dieser hier, or a noun plus da/dort instead.

Before a noun and standing alone

Before a noun, the demonstrative identifies it:

• Ich nehme dieses Glas. — I’ll take this glass.
• Kennst du jene Person? — Do you know that person?

Standing alone, it replaces a noun already known from context. The form still agrees with the omitted noun:

• Welcher Pullover gefällt dir? — Dieser. — Which sweater do you like? — This one. (Pullover is masculine.)
• Welche Tasche kaufst du? — Diese. — Which bag are you buying? — This one. (Tasche is feminine.)
• Welches Handy funktioniert? — Dieses. — Which phone works? — This one. (Handy is neuter.)
• Welche Schuhe sind deine? — Diese. — Which shoes are yours? — These. (plural)

English “one” has no separate equivalent here. The German ending lets the demonstrative carry the omitted noun’s grammatical information.

Adjectives after dieser and jener

When an adjective comes between the demonstrative and noun, it normally takes the same endings used after the definite article. At beginner level, learn these as complete phrases:

• dieser nette Mann — this nice man
• diese neue Wohnung — this new apartment
• dieses kalte Wasser — this cold water
• diese alten Fotos — these old photos
• mit diesem roten Stift — with this red pen

The demonstrative already marks gender, number, and case clearly, so the adjective generally uses a weaker ending.

Examples in Context

German	English	Note
Dieses Buch ist gut.	This book is good.	Neuter nominative before a noun
Diese Frau kenne ich.	I know this woman.	Feminine accusative; the object comes first
Dieser Mann ist mein Chef.	This man is my boss.	Masculine nominative
Diese Äpfel sind frisch.	These apples are fresh.	Plural nominative
Ich kaufe diesen Mantel.	I’m buying this coat.	Masculine accusative
Wir fahren mit diesem Bus.	We’re taking this bus.	Dative after mit
Sie spricht mit dieser Ärztin.	She is speaking with this doctor.	Feminine dative
In diesen Häusern wohnen viele Familien.	Many families live in these houses.	Dative plural; Häuser adds -n
Welchen Kuchen möchtest du? — Diesen.	Which cake would you like? — This one.	Stand-alone masculine accusative
Welche Jacke gehört dir? — Diese hier.	Which jacket is yours? — This one here.	hier makes the pointing contrast explicit
Jenes Gebäude war früher ein Hotel.	That building used to be a hotel.	Correct but relatively formal use of jenes
An jenem Tag hat es geschneit.	It snowed on that day.	an with dative in a time expression
Diese Idee gefällt mir besser als jene.	I like this idea better than that one.	Explicit dies–jen- contrast
Dies ist nur der Anfang.	This is only the beginning.	Fixed stand-alone neuter dies in formal style

Common Mistakes

Using one form for every noun

• Wrong: dieser Frau, when you mean “this woman” as the subject
• Right: diese Frau
• Why: The ending must match the noun. Frau is feminine, so its nominative and accusative form is diese.

Forgetting the masculine accusative ending

• Wrong: Ich sehe dieser Mann.
• Right: Ich sehe diesen Mann.
• Why: The man is the direct object of sehen, so the masculine demonstrative is accusative diesen, not nominative dieser.

Translating English this and that too mechanically

• Unnatural in ordinary conversation: Möchtest du dieses Hemd oder jenes Hemd?
• More natural in many situations: Möchtest du dieses Hemd hier oder das da?
• Why: German has a grammatical dieser–jener contrast, but everyday speech does not consistently use it as a direct mirror of English “this–that.” Speakers often add hier, da, or dort.

Treating a stand-alone demonstrative as unchangeable

• Wrong: Welchen Stuhl möchtest du? — Dieses.
• Right: Welchen Stuhl möchtest du? — Diesen.
• Why: The omitted noun is masculine and accusative. A demonstrative keeps the ending that the full phrase would have: diesen Stuhl → diesen.

Giving the following adjective a strong ending

• Wrong: dieses kaltes Wasser
• Right: dieses kalte Wasser
• Why: Dieses already clearly marks neuter nominative or accusative. The adjective therefore takes the weak ending -e.

Forgetting the noun ending in the dative plural

• Wrong: mit diesen Kind
• Right: mit diesen Kindern
• Why: The demonstrative is dative plural, and most plural nouns also add -n in that case.

Usage Notes

Dieser does not always imply physical closeness

English often teaches “this” as near and “that” as farther away. German dieser can point to something nearby, but it also selects something from a set or refers to something already under discussion. In diesem Kapitel means “in this chapter”; no physical pointing is involved.

If location matters, German commonly makes it explicit:

• dieses Buch hier — this book here
• das Buch da — that book there
• der Mann dort — the man over there

Jener is correct but less conversational

You will encounter jener in written narratives, formal descriptions, and deliberate contrasts such as diese Lösung, nicht jene (“this solution, not that one”). In spontaneous conversation, a stressed form of der, die, das, often with da or dort, is more frequent.

Do not conclude that jener is obsolete or wrong. Learn to recognise every form, but do not force it into each sentence where English uses “that.” Context and register—how formal or informal the situation is—matter.

Demonstrative der, die, das

German frequently uses a strongly stressed der, die, das as a pronoun:

• Der ist nett. — He/That one is nice.
• Die kenne ich. — I know her/that one.
• Das gefällt mir. — I like that.

These forms can sound more pointed than the ordinary personal pronouns er, sie, es. When referring to people, tone matters: pointing at someone with der or die can sound dismissive. Dieser may also sound emphatic depending on context. Names and personal pronouns are often more polite when no contrast is needed.

Beyond the Basics: Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following details at A1, but they explain forms you will meet later.

Dies as a stand-alone neuter form

The uninflected-looking dies appears as a stand-alone neuter demonstrative, especially in formal or written language: Dies ist ein wichtiger Schritt (“This is an important step”). In ordinary conversation, das is usually more natural: Das ist ein wichtiger Schritt. Before a noun, use the regular inflected form: dieser Schritt, not dies Schritt.

Referring back in formal writing

Written German can use dieser and jener to distinguish two previously mentioned people or things. Traditionally, dieser points to the more recently mentioned item and jener to the earlier one. This pattern is formal and can be hard to process, so clear nouns are often better than relying on the pronouns alone.

A contrast may also be compressed by omitting repeated nouns:

• Die erste Methode ist schneller als jene des alten Systems. — The first method is faster than that of the old system.

Here jene stands for a feminine noun such as Methode. Such constructions are more typical of careful writing than beginner conversation.

Genitive forms

Forms such as dieses, dieser, jenes, and jener can occur in the genitive: die Folgen dieses Fehlers (“the consequences of this mistake”), am Ende jener Woche (“at the end of that week”). In these examples the words come before nouns and decline like other demonstrative determiners.

Do not confuse these with dessen and deren, which often mean “whose” or “of that person/thing” and belong to the broader system of demonstrative and relative pronouns. That distinction is best learned together with relative clauses and the genitive.

Demonstratives and word order

A demonstrative noun phrase can move to the first position for contrast, but German main-clause word order still places the conjugated verb second:

• Diesen Film habe ich schon gesehen. — This film, I have already seen.
• Mit dieser Frage beschäftigen wir uns morgen. — We will deal with this question tomorrow.

The first phrase is not automatically the subject. Its ending shows its role: diesen Film is accusative, and mit dieser Frage is dative after mit.

Practice Tips

1. Learn four nominative chunks first. Point to objects or pictures and say dieser Mann, diese Tasche, dieses Handy, and diese Schuhe. Always learn a noun with its article so that you know which demonstrative form it needs.
2. Transform one phrase through the cases. Use a masculine noun because its changes are easy to hear: dieser Hund → ich sehe diesen Hund → ich helfe diesem Hund. Then repeat with feminine, neuter, and plural nouns.
3. Practise real choices. Put two objects side by side and ask Welches möchtest du? Answer with dieses hier, diesen hier, or diese hier as appropriate. This connects the ending to meaning rather than to an isolated chart.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Definite Articles (Nominative) — der, die, das provide the basic gender pattern behind dieser, diese, dieses.