German Demonstrative Pronouns
Point to people and things with der, die, das and dieser, and use denen, dessen and deren without hesitation.
Demonstratives point: this one, that one. In spoken German the most common one is simply der, die or das, stressed and used without a noun.
Dieser means 'this' and works with or without a noun. Jener exists, but you'll mostly read it rather than hear it.
Der, die, das as 'that one'
Use them instead of er, sie, es to point or to stress someone. They often move to the start of the sentence.
- Gender and number follow the noun it replaces.
- Das refers to a whole idea: Das stimmt.
Kennst du Paul? – Ja, den kenne ich gut.
Do you know Paul? – Yes, I know him well.
Die Jacke ist super. Die nehme ich!
The jacket is great. I'll take it!
Wir treffen uns um acht. – Das passt mir gut.
We're meeting at eight. – That suits me fine.
Forms of der, die, das
They look like the definite article, with two differences: dative plural denen and the genitive dessen/deren.
Nominative
- Masculineder
- Femininedie
- Neuterdas
- Pluraldie
Accusative
- Masculineden
- Femininedie
- Neuterdas
- Pluraldie
Dative
- Masculinedem
- Feminineder
- Neuterdem
- Pluraldenen
Genitive
- Masculinedessen
- Femininederen
- Neuterdessen
- Pluralderen
Meine Nachbarn? Mit denen rede ich nicht mehr.
My neighbours? I don't talk to them any more.
Frau Weber? Mit der habe ich gerade telefoniert.
Ms Weber? I was just on the phone with her.
Dieser: this (one)
Dieser takes the same endings as der, die, das. Use it with a noun or alone, often with hier.
Nominative
- Masculinedieser
- Femininediese
- Neuterdieses
- Pluraldiese
Accusative
- Masculinediesen
- Femininediese
- Neuterdieses
- Pluraldiese
Dative
- Masculinediesem
- Femininedieser
- Neuterdiesem
- Pluraldiesen
Fährt dieser Zug nach Köln?
Does this train go to Cologne?
Welche Tasche willst du? – Diese hier.
Which bag do you want? – This one here.
Jener and 'der da'
Jener means 'that' and has the same endings as dieser, but it sounds formal or old-fashioned. In speech Germans say der da or das dort instead.
In jener Zeit gab es noch kein Internet.
In those days there was no internet yet.
Nicht dieses Hotel, sondern das da.
Not this hotel, but that one.
Common mistakes
✗
Mit den rede ich nicht.✓ Mit denen rede ich nicht.
The dative plural demonstrative is denen.
✗
Dies Buch ist spannend.✓ Dieses Buch ist spannend.
Before a neuter noun, use dieses.
✗
Ich nehme dieser Pullover.✓ Ich nehme diesen Pullover.
Masculine accusative: diesen, like den.
Questions learners ask
What is the difference between der and dieser?
Both can point to something. Der as a pronoun is very common in speech; dieser is a bit more emphatic, like 'this one here'.
Is jener still used in German?
Mostly in writing and fixed phrases. In conversation, der da, das dort or just a stressed der, die, das are far more natural.
What is the difference between den and denen?
As a pronoun, den is only masculine accusative. The dative plural pronoun is denen (mit denen), while the article stays den (mit den Kindern).