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Indefinite Pronouns (Indefinitpronomen)

Indefinite pronouns refer to people or things that are not specific. They include words like "someone," "nothing," "everyone," or the general "one."

1. man (one / you / they)

man is one of the most common indefinite pronouns. It refers to a general, non-specific person ("one," "people in general," "you").

  • man only exists in the Nominative and always takes a 3rd person singular verb (like er/sie/es).

  • In the accusative and dative cases, it uses the forms einen and einem.

  • Nom: Hier darf man nicht rauchen. (One is not allowed to smoke here. / You can't smoke here.)

  • Akk: Stress macht einen krank. (Stress makes one sick. / Stress makes you sick.)
  • Dat: Das hilft einem sehr. (That helps one a lot. / That helps you a lot.)

2. People: jemand / niemand

  • jemand: someone, somebody
  • niemand: no one, nobody

These are usually used in the singular. They can decline (add endings) in the accusative and dative, but it's also common to drop the endings in everyday speech.

  • Nom: Jemand hat geklingelt. (Someone rang the bell.)
  • Akk: Ich habe niemand(en) gesehen. (I saw no one.)
  • Dat: Hast du mit jemand(em) gesprochen? (Did you speak with someone?)

3. Things: etwas / nichts / alles

These pronouns refer to non-specific things or concepts. They are simple because they never change their form. They are always singular and neuter.

  • etwas: something

    • Ich muss dir etwas sagen. (I have to tell you something.)
    • Hast du etwas Geld? (Do you have some money?)

  • nichts: nothing

    • Ich habe nichts gehört. (I heard nothing.)

  • alles: everything

    • Alles ist gut. (Everything is good.)

4. Groups: alle / einige / manche

These refer to groups of people or things and are (mostly) used in the plural. They decline like definite articles in the plural.

  • alle: all, everyone
    • Alle sind hier. (Everyone is here.)
  • einige: some, a few
    • Ich habe einige Freunde eingeladen. (I invited a few friends.)
  • manche: some, many a
    • Manche Leute mögen das nicht. (Some people don't like that.)