Er sie es – Learn how to use them
If you want to practice using personal pronouns in general, use the following links:
>>> I, You, He, She, It in German
If you prefer, you can also start with the German alphabet.
Use er, sie or es instead of the article and the noun
If you have a noun with a masculine article (der) then the article and the noun can be replaced with er.
If you have a noun with a feminine article (die) then the article and the noun can be replaced with sie.
And if you have a noun with a neuter article (das) then the article and the noun can be replaced with es.
der + noun => er
die + noun => sie
das + noun => es
Er, sie or es – Exercise A
- Start by examining the picture carefully.
- Read the text and listen to the audio several times.
- Repeat each phrase after the speaker.
- Focus on mimicking the speaker’s pronunciation as accurately as possible.
- After a few repetitions, proceed to Part B (located further down).
Tip: Visualize the scenarios in your mind; this will help you retain the words more effectively!
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Have a look at the example sentences:
der Riese => er
Der Riese ist groß.
The giant is big.
Er ist groß.
_ _ _
der Zwerg => er
Der Zwerg ist klein.
The dwarf is small.
Er ist klein.
_ _ _
das Auto => es
Das Auto fährt schnell.
The car drives fast.
Es fährt schnell.
_ _ _
das Eis => es
Das Eis ist kalt.
The ice is cold.
Es ist kalt.
_ _ _
die Schnecke => sie
Die Schnecke ist langsam.
The snail is slow.
Sie ist langsam.
_ _ _
die Sonne => sie
Die Sonne ist heiß.
The sun is hot.
Sie ist heiß.
Use er, sie or es (not just es)
Please note that in English we use the pronoun it when we talk about ‘objects’ which are not equivalent to people.
In German we need to use: er, sie or es to refer to masculine, feminine, or neuter nouns.
Let’s take one example from above:
The snail is slow = Die Schnecke ist langsam.
In English we would say:
It is slow (referring to the snail). In German we need to know the gender of the noun Schnecke.
In German it is die Schnecke (feminine) and that’s why we need to say sie:
Sie ist langsam (not: Es ist langsam).
Please read the sentences above again.
Er, sie or es – Exercise B:
How to Practice with Part B of the Exercise
Question and Answer Section:
- Start by reading and listening to the questions and answers several times.
- Try to answer during the pauses (it’s okay to check the answers if needed).
- After a few rounds, challenge yourself by not looking at the answers anymore.
- Focus on closely imitating my pronunciation.
- Keep practicing until you can answer all the questions with ease.
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Questions and Answers
Frage:
Ist der Riese groß oder klein?
Kurze Antwort:
groß
Lange Antwort:
Der Riese ist groß.
Er ist groß.
Ist der Zwerg groß oder klein?
klein
Der Zwerg ist klein.
Er ist klein.
Fährt das Auto schnell oder langsam?
schnell
Das Auto fährt schnell.
Es fährt schnell.
Ist das Eis heiß oder kalt?
kalt
Das Eis ist kalt.
Es ist kalt.
Ist die Schnecke langsam oder schnell?
langsam
Die Schnecke ist langsam.
Sie ist langsam.
Ist die Sonne heiß oder kalt?
heiß
Die Sonne ist heiß.
Sie ist heiß.
Wisst ihr wer noch heiß ist?
Meine Nachbarin (my neighbor)
Meine Nachbarin ist auch heiß.
Sie heißt Anna. (Her name is Anna).
Anna sieht verdammt gut aus (looks damn good).
Don't stop now - repeat this part again!
Repeat this lesson until you can easily answer the questions.
Conjugation of sein and haben
The next lesson is about the conjugation of sein and haben.
These are two very important verbs in German! Conjugations can seem confusing, but just listen to the lesson and answer the question and you’ll get them.
Do you sound like a German or do you have an accent?
Don’t worry if you have an accent – so what? Nobody needs to be perfect!
And after all if you practice with my TPRS audio stories your accent will get better step by step and after a while it will vanish almost completely.
Learning German has never been easier.
Lesson 1
Learning Tip: der, die, das
…
Lesson 11
sie, sie und Sie – WHAT?
Superb!
Let’s keep the momentum going.
You are in Lesson 12
Er, SIE, ES instead of a Noun
Lesson 13
SEIN + HABEN
Lesson 14
Important Words + Phrases
Jump to…
Lesson 20
German Umlauts Audio Lesson
Lesson 30
Telling Time in German Video
There is more…
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