Indefinite Pronouns For Intermediate learners
What is an Indefinite Pronoun?
An indefinite pronoun is a pronoun that replaces a noun and refers to it in a general way. It is used in order to talk about something or someone without specification. For instance, in the sentence: "someone is coming", "someone" is the indefinite pronoun. It does not tell us about the identity or gender of the mentioned person. Some indefinite pronouns can change forms based on gender, number, and case.
The German Indefinite Pronouns
Common German indefinite pronouns include:
Jemand und Niemand (Someone & No one)
Jeder (Everyone/Each one)
Alle (Everyone/all)
Einige & Etliche (Some & Quite a few)
Irgendjemand (Anyone/Someone)
Einer (One/Some)
Man (One/You)
Kein (None/Any)
Jemand und Niemand (Someone & No one)
The table below shows the indefinite pronouns for "someone" and "no one" in German:
Jemand (someone) | Niemand (no one) | |
|---|---|---|
Nom | jemand | niemand |
Acc | jemanden | niemanden |
Dat | jemandem | niemandem |
Jemand hat an der Tür geklopft.
Someone knocked at the door.
Nominative
Ich habe jemanden im Garten gesehen.
I saw someone in the garden.
Accusative
Kannst du jemandem diese Nachricht geben?
Can you give this message to someone?
Dative
Niemand weiß die Antwort.
No one knows the answer.
Nominative
Sie hat niemanden eingeladen.
She invited no one.
Accusative
Ich vertraue niemandem in dieser Sache.
I trust no one in this matter.
Dative
Spoken vs. Written
In spoken German, you can usually drop the endings of jemand and niemand in the accusative and dative and still be understood. However, you should alwaysuse the full version in the written form.
Ich habe niemand gesehen.
(Spoken) I have seen no one.
Ich habe niemanden gesehen.
(Written) I have seen no one.
Jeder (Everyone/Each one)
The table below shows the indefinite pronouns for "everyone/each one" in German:
Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|---|
Nom | jeder | jedes | jede |
Acc | jeden | jedes | jede |
Dat | jedem | jedem | jeder |
Jeder bekommt eine Chance.
Everyone/Each one gets a chance.
Nominative
Er hat jede besucht.
He visited every one.
Accusative
Sie gibt jedem eine Süßigkeit.
She gives a sweet to everyone.
Dative
Alle (Everyone/all)
The table below shows the indefinite pronouns for "everyone" or "all" in German:
Alle (everyone/all) | |
|---|---|
Nom | alle |
Acc | alle |
Dat | allen |
These pronouns are always used for plural quantities.
Alle sind schon da.
Everyone is already here.
Nominative
Ich kenne alle.
I know everyone.
Accusative
Ich helfe allen.
I help everyone.
Dative
Einige & Etliche (Some & Quite a few)
The table below shows the indefinite pronouns for "some" or "quite a few" in German:
Einige (some) | Etliche (quite a few) | |
|---|---|---|
Nom | einige | etliche |
Acc | einige | etliche |
Dat | einigen | etlichen |
These pronouns are always used for plural quantities.
"Wo sind die Gäste?" "Einige sind schon da."
"Where are the guests?" "Some are already here."
Nominative
Ich kenne einige.
I know some.
Accusative
Ich helfe einigen.
I'm helping some.
Dative
"Sind alle Probleme gelöst?" "Nein, etliche sind noch offen."
"Are all the problems solved?" "No, quite a few are still open."
Nominative
Wir sahen etliche.
We saw quite a few.
Accusative
Er dankt etlichen.
He thanks quite a few.
Dative
Irgendjemand (Anyone/Someone)
The table below shows the indefinite pronouns for "anyone/someone" in German:
Irgendjemand (anyone/someone) | |
|---|---|
Nom | irgendjemand |
Acc | irgendjemanden |
Dat | irgendjemandem |
Muss irgendjemand noch zur Toilette, bevor wir fahren?
Does anyone need to use the bathroom before we leave?
Nominative
Ich kenne hier irgendjemanden.
I know someone here.
Accusative
Du kannst irgendjemandem deine Probleme anvertrauen.
You can confide your problems to anyone.
Dative
Einer (One/Some)
The table below shows the indefinite pronouns for "one/some" in German:
Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|---|
Nom | einer | eins | eine |
Acc | einen | eins | eine |
Dat | einem | einem | einer |
"Wo ist mein Stift?" "Hier ist einer."
"Where is my pen?" "Here is one."
Nominative
"Kaufst du eine Blume?" "Ja, ich kaufe eine."
"Are you buying a flower?" "Yes, I'm buying one."
Accusative
Ich helfe einem Kind. → Ich helfe einem.
I'm helping a child. → I'm helping one.
Dative
Man (One/You)
The pronoun, "man" has only one form and that's the nominative form. For other cases, it uses the masculine forms of the indefinite pronoun "einer". "Man" is used in order to refer to people in general, and it does not have any feminine or neuter forms.
The table below shows the indefinite pronouns for "one/you" in German:
pronoun | |
|---|---|
Nom | man |
Acc | einen |
Dat | einem |
Man muss vorsichtig sein.
One must be careful.
Nominative
Wie sagt man das auf Deutsch?
How do you say that in German?
Nominative
Der Film hat einen zum Nachdenken gebracht.
The movie made one think.
Accusative
In einer guten Gemeinschaft hilft einem jeder.
In a good community, everyone helps you out.
Dative
Kein (None/Any)
The table below shows the indefinite pronouns for "none/any" in German:
Masculine | Neuter | Feminine | Plural | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Nom | keiner | keins | keine | keine |
Acc | keinen | keins | keine | keine |
Dat | keinem | keinem | keiner | keinen |
"Ist ein Stift hier?" "Nein, keiner."
"Is there a pen here?" "No, none."
Nominative
"Er hat keine Antwort." "Er hat keine."
"He has no answer." "He has none."
Accusative
"Ich danke keinen Leuten." "Ich danke keinen."
"I'm not thanking any people." "I'm not thanking any."
Dative
Other Indefinite Pronouns
The table below shows the pronouns that are fixed and don't change based on the case or gender:
etwas | something |
|---|---|
nichts | nothing |
irgendetwas | anything/something |
Nichts ist wichtiger als Gesundheit.
Nothing is more important than health.
Ich habe etwas Interessantes gehört.
I heard something interesting.
Irgendetwas stimmt hier nicht.
Something isn't right here.
Hast du irgendetwas gehört?
Did you hear anything?
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