A2 · Articles
this one and that one
dieser, jener, der da
German points with dieser — and mostly with a stressed der, which is what speakers actually say.
Dieser means "this" and declines exactly like der: dieser Mann, diese Frau, dieses Kind, diesen Mann, diesem Kind. Anything that follows the der-pattern is worth spotting, because one table then covers dieser, jeder, jener, welcher, mancher, solcher as well.
Jener means "that" and is nearly dead in speech. German draws the near-far distinction differently: it uses dieser or a stressed der and adds hier or da — der Mantel hier, das Buch da. Trying to use jener as a straight translation of "that" produces correct and noticeably bookish German.
The most common demonstrative of all is simply der with stress, standing alone: Den kenne ich, Die war das, Das ist gut. Spoken German uses this constantly, and its forms differ from the article in the genitive and the dative plural: dessen, deren, denen.
Die Form
| declines like der | dieser, diese, dieses |
| accusative, dative, genitive | diesen, diesem, dieses |
| stressed, standing alone | Den kenne ich. |
| genitive and dative plural | dessen, deren, denen |
| formal, mostly written | jener, jene, jenes |
Die Regeln im Einzelnen
dieser declines exactly like der.
Ich nehme diesen Mantel.I will take this coat.
A stressed der standing alone is the everyday demonstrative.
Der war es.It was him.
hier and da mark near and far, not jener.
Nicht das Buch hier, das da.Not this book, that one.
The standalone forms differ in the genitive and the dative plural.
Ich habe mit denen gesprochen.I spoke to them.
Genauer hingesehen
The der-pattern is the one table worth knowing
A large group of words takes the same endings as der: dieser, jeder, jener, welcher, mancher, solcher, aller. They are called der-words for that reason, and an adjective after any of them behaves as it does after der — the weak endings, -e or -en.
The other group takes the ein-pattern: ein, kein and all nine possessives. Between them the two patterns cover every determiner in the language, which is why they are worth learning as patterns rather than word by word.
Ausnahmen und Sonderfälle (2)
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the demonstrative stands alone in the genitive
the forms are dessen and deren.
Mein Bruder und dessen Fraumy brother and his wife
These are the same forms as the relative pronoun, and they refer back to something just named.
-
solch stands before ein
it takes no ending.
solch ein Glück, or: so ein Glücksuch luck
The ein carries the marking instead.
Woran man es erkennt
- dieser
- diese
- dieses
- jener
- hier
- da
- solch
- manch
Beispielsätze
Dieses Jahr fahren wir nicht weg.We are not going away this year.
Diesen Film habe ich schon gesehen.I have already seen this film.
Wer war das? — Der da.Who was that? — Him over there.
Solche Fehler passieren.Mistakes like that happen.
Manche Leute mögen das nicht.Some people do not like that.
Noch 6 Beispielsätze
Diese Woche habe ich frei.I have this week off.
In diesem Fall stimme ich zu.In this case I agree.
Das da gefällt mir besser.I like that one better.
Denen kann man vertrauen.Those are people you can trust.
So einen Mantel suche ich.That is the kind of coat I am looking for.
Dieser hier, bitte.This one, please.
Besonderheiten (2)
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Standalone der is not rude, but it is informal
Using <z>der</z> or <z>die</z> for a person present in the room — <z>Die weiß das</z> — is entirely normal in casual speech and can sound dismissive in a formal setting, where a name or <z>er</z> and <z>sie</z> are safer. It is a register question, not a grammar one.
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dies without an ending
The short form <z>dies</z> appears as a neuter pronoun standing alone: <z>Dies ist mein Vorschlag.</z> It is formal and mostly written, and <z>das</z> does the same job everywhere else.
Die typisch deutsche Falle
Aufgepasst
Jener is grammatically perfect and belongs to written and rather formal German; saying it in a shop sounds like a line from a nineteenth-century novel. German makes the near-far distinction with hier and da instead, which is why a learner who has mapped "this = dieser, that = jener" ends up sounding stilted in exactly the situations where pointing matters most.
Point with dieser or with der plus da — not with jener.
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