Demonstrative Pronouns in German

Overview

Demonstrative pronouns point to specific people or things, similar to "this," "that," "these," and "those" in English. In German, the most common demonstrative pronouns are forms of dieser (this) and jener (that). At the A1 level, you will primarily work with dieser, as jener is much less common in everyday speech.

What makes German demonstrative pronouns tricky is that they change form based on the gender, number, and case of the noun they refer to. "Dieser Mann" (this man), "diese Frau" (this woman), "dieses Kind" (this child) — the ending shifts each time. The good news is that the endings follow the same pattern as the definite articles (der, die, das), so once you know those, demonstratives become much easier.

Germans also frequently use the definite articles themselves (der, die, das) as demonstrative pronouns in spoken language, with added emphasis: "Der ist gut!" (That one is good!). This is very colloquial but extremely common.

How It Works

Declension of dieser (this)

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

Declension of jener (that)

Jener follows the exact same endings as dieser:

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

Key points:

• Dieser is far more common than jener in modern German. To say "that," Germans usually just point or use context.
• The endings mirror the definite article endings exactly.
• When used without a noun (as a standalone pronoun), the forms stay the same: "Dieser ist gut" (This one is good).

Examples in Context

German	English	Note
Dieses Buch ist gut.	This book is good.	Neuter nominative
Diese Frau kenne ich.	I know this woman.	Feminine accusative
Dieser Mann ist mein Chef.	This man is my boss.	Masculine nominative
Ich nehme diesen Kuchen.	I'll take this cake.	Masculine accusative
Mit diesem Auto fahren wir.	We're driving with this car.	Neuter dative
Diese Schuhe sind schön.	These shoes are nice.	Plural nominative
Dieser gefällt mir besser.	I like this one better.	Standalone pronoun
Welches Kleid? — Dieses hier.	Which dress? — This one here.	Pointing to something specific
In diesem Restaurant essen wir.	We eat in this restaurant.	Neuter dative with preposition
Diese Kinder sind sehr laut.	These children are very loud.	Plural nominative

Common Mistakes

Using the wrong gender ending

• Wrong: Dieser Frau ist nett.
• Right: Diese Frau ist nett.
• Why: "Frau" is feminine, so the demonstrative must take the feminine ending "-e" in the nominative.

Forgetting case changes

• Wrong: Ich sehe dieser Mann.
• Right: Ich sehe diesen Mann.
• Why: "Sehen" takes an accusative object. The masculine accusative form is "diesen," not "dieser."

Overusing jener in speech

• Wrong: Jenes Haus dort ist schön. (in casual conversation)
• Right: Das Haus dort ist schön. or Dieses Haus dort ist schön.
• Why: "Jener" sounds literary or old-fashioned in everyday speech. Germans typically use "dieser" or stressed definite articles instead.

Practice Tips

1. Point to objects around you and describe them: "Dieser Stuhl ist braun. Diese Lampe ist hell. Dieses Fenster ist groß." This trains gender agreement in a natural way.
2. When learning the endings, compare them side by side with definite article endings (der/die/das). You will notice they are nearly identical, which cuts the memorization effort in half.

Related Concepts

• Definite Articles (Nominative) — demonstrative pronouns follow the same declension pattern as definite articles