German pronouns: personal, possessive, and reflexive

German personal pronouns decline across all 4 cases: Nominativ (ich, du, er, sie, es, wir, ihr, sie/Sie), Akkusativ (mich, dich, ihn, sie, es, uns, euch, sie/Sie), Dativ (mir, dir, ihm, ihr, ihm, uns, euch, ihnen/Ihnen), and Genitiv (meiner, deiner, seiner, ihrer…). Genitiv pronouns are rare in modern spoken German. The table on this page shows all forms.

Mir is the Dativ form (indirect object) and mich is the Akkusativ form (direct object) of ich. The test: "mich" answers "wen?" (whom?), "mir" answers "wem?" (to whom?). Example: "Er sieht mich" (He sees me — direct object, Akkusativ) vs "Er gibt mir das Buch" (He gives me the book — I receive it, Dativ).

Reflexive pronouns (mich/mir, dich/dir, sich, uns, euch, sich) are used when the subject and object of a verb are the same person. Many German verbs require a reflexive pronoun: "sich waschen" (to wash oneself), "sich erinnern" (to remember), "sich freuen" (to be happy). Accusative reflexives are used for direct action (Ich wasche mich), dative when there is another direct object (Ich wasche mir die Hände).

Possessive pronouns (mein, dein, sein, ihr, unser, euer, ihr/Ihr) change based on the gender and case of the noun they modify — not the gender of the owner. So "my car" is "mein Auto" (neuter) but "my house" is "mein Haus" (also neuter), while "my mother" is "meine Mutter" (feminine). The possessive article endings match the indefinite article endings (ein-) for the noun's gender and case.