Language Course From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection Contents

Grammatik 2-2 ~ Pronouns in the Nominative Case
Most of the personal pronouns introduced in 
Lektion 1
are used as subjects of their verbs. These 
represent the 
nominative case
in German (as in English). We will shortly learn three other cases in 
German: the 
accusative
for direct objects, the 
dative
for indirect objects, and the 
genitive
for 
expressing possession. For now, remember that the singular personal pronouns in English (
nominative 
case
) are "I", "you", and "he/she/it" (1st, 2nd, and 3rd persons) and the nominative case is used as the 
subject of a verb. In German, these pronouns are rendered as 
ich
, 
du
, and 
er/sie/es
. In these example 
sentences, the 
subject
of the verb is underlined:
Ich gehe einkaufen.
I go shopping.
Er studiert Biologie.
He studies biology.
Es geht mir gut
.
It goes well with me.
( = I am fine).
Wohin gehst du
?
Where are you 
going?
(Notice subject verb reversal in question 
sentence)
There are, of course, plural personal pronouns in the English nominative case: "we", "you", and "they"; 
and in German, these nominative case pronouns are 
wir
, 
ihr
, and 
sie
. These appear in the following 
examples (again, subject underlined):
Wir gehen einkaufen.
We go shopping.
Ihr versteht die Frage.
You all understand the 
question.
Ihr habt die Anleitungen.
You (all) have the instructions.
Sie verstehen die Arbeit.
They understand the work.
In both English and German, the 3rd person singular also has 
gender
. As you will next learn, the 2nd 
person (person being addressed) in German has both