In German grammar, demonstrative pronouns (Demonstrativpronomen) are one of the topics that easily confuse learners. Today's article will help you understand demonstrative pronouns and the points to watch out for when using them. 

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1. Demonstrative pronouns (Demonstrativpronomen) are pronouns used to emphasize a person or thing in order to avoid repeating the noun in the sentence.

2. Demonstrative pronouns include:

a. The demonstrative pronouns der, die, das

• Table of the demonstrative pronouns der, die, das:

• The demonstrative pronoun “der, die, das” refers to the noun it wants to emphasize.

Magst du das Handy? (Do you like the phone?)

- Ja, das mag ich. (Yes, I like it.)

           &rar r; ‘’das’’ is a demonstrative pronoun. It replaces the neuter noun ‘’das Handy’’ in the Akkusativ.

Magst du den Laptop? (Do you like the laptop?)

– Ja, den mag ich. (Yes, I like it.)

           &rar r; In the example above, the demonstrative pronoun “den” replaces the masculine noun ‘’der Laptop’’ in the Akkusativ.

• The demonstrative pronoun “das” can replace an entire sentence

Tauschen sie dieses Handy gegen mein Geld? - Das können wir machen.    

(Will you exchange this phone for my money? - We can do that.)

           &rar r; The demonstrative pronoun “das” replaces the whole sentence “Tauschen sie dieses Handy gegen mein Geld?”

• The demonstrative pronoun “das” is often used with the verb sein. It is often combined with the adverbs dort, hier and da to indicate a specific location.

Was ist das dort? – Das ist ein Auto.

(What is that over there? – That is a car.)

b. The demonstrative pronouns dies-/jen-

• These two demonstrative pronouns are used to point to objects in front of you or to distinguish between the objects mentioned. Dies- is used for nearer objects, jen- for farther objects.

Dieses Auto gefällt mir besser als jenes. (I like this car better than that one.)

→ In this case, ‘’dieses Auto” is the nearer one being pointed to. ‘’jenes’’ is the one farther away.

• Endings of dies-/jen-: the same as the definite article (bestimme Artikel)

!!!Note:

• The demonstrative pronouns “dies” (a shortened form of dieses) and “jenes” are used like the demonstrative pronoun “das” when they are used with the verb sein.

Dies ist mein Ball. (This is my ball.)

Jenes ist ihr Stift. (That is her pen.)

• The demonstrative pronoun ‘’dies’’ can replace an entire sentence, like the demonstrative pronoun “das”

Er ist nicht zur Besprechung gekommen. Dies hat alle überrascht.

(He did not come to the meeting. This surprised everyone.)

           &rar r; In the example above, the demonstrative pronoun “dies” replaces the whole sentence “Er ist nicht zur Besprechung gekommen”

c. The demonstrative pronouns derselbe, dieselbe, dasselbe 

• The demonstrative pronouns derselbe, dieselbe, dasselbe describe a person or thing that has been mentioned before, or people or things that are the same.

• Here is the table of the demonstrative pronouns derselbe, dieselbe, dasselbe:

Die Schauspielerin heißt Emma Watson. Dieselbe haben die beide Filme.

(The actress is called Emma Watson. Both films have the same actress.)

→ ‘’dieselbe” replaces ‘’Emma Watson’’ - who was mentioned earlier

d. The demonstrative pronouns derjenige/diejenige/dasjenige

• Used for stronger emphasis than der, die, das; they can be used to clarify when a sentence with a relative clause is ambiguous.

Ich gebe die Magazinen, die ich gelesen habe, meinem Bruder.

→ This sentence can be understood in two ways:

I read all the magazines and I give those magazines to my brother. 

Or: I give my brother the magazines that I have read, and I keep the ones I have not read.

​→ If you want to express the second meaning more clearly, you need to use diejenige: Ich gebe diejenigen Zeitschriften, die ich gelesen habe, meinem Bruder.

• When declining this type of word, split it into 2 parts and follow the adjective ending rules: derjenige = der + jenige