Indefinite Pronouns

Overview

Indefinite pronouns refer to unspecified people or things. Unlike personal pronouns (ich, du, er...), they do not point to a specific individual. German indefinite pronouns have their own declension patterns and some have surprising case forms.

The main indefinite pronouns at B1 level:

• jemand / niemand — someone / no one
• man / einen / einem — one, you, people (general)
• jeder / jede / jedes — each, every (one)
• etwas / nichts — something / nothing (+ nominalized adjective)

jemand / niemand

Jemand (someone) and niemand (no one) decline for case:

Examples

Jemand hat an der Tür geklopft. — Someone knocked on the door.

Ich habe jemanden gesehen. — I saw someone.

Er hat niemandem davon erzählt. — He told no one about it.

Kennst du hier jemanden? — Do you know anyone here?

Niemand hat die Frage beantwortet. — Nobody answered the question.

Sie hat niemandem vertraut. — She trusted no one.

Spoken vs. Written German

In spoken German, the endings are often dropped:

• Spoken: "Ich habe jemand gesehen" (no -en)
• Written: "Ich habe jemanden gesehen" (with -en)

Both forms are understood, but in written German and formal contexts, the declined forms with -en (accusative) and -em (dative) are preferred.

With Adjectives

When jemand/niemand is followed by an adjective, the adjective is nominalized (capitalized) and takes strong endings:

Ich suche jemand Neues / jemanden Neuen. — I am looking for someone new.

Er hat niemand Bekanntes / niemanden Bekannten getroffen. — He met no one familiar.

man

Man is the German equivalent of English "one" or generic "you/people." It is used for general statements. The crucial point: man exists only in the nominative. For accusative and dative, different words are used.

Nominative: man

Man muss viel üben. — One must practice a lot. / You have to practice a lot.

In Deutschland trinkt man viel Kaffee. — In Germany, people drink a lot of coffee.

Wie schreibt man dieses Wort? — How does one write this word?

Accusative: einen

When "man" would be the direct object, use einen:

Das kann einen wirklich ärgern. — That can really annoy you (= one, people in general).

Manche Dinge machen einen glücklich. — Some things make you happy.

So etwas bringt einen zum Nachdenken. — Something like that makes one think.

Dative: einem

When "man" would be in the dative, use einem:

Das passiert einem manchmal. — That happens to you (= one) sometimes.

Es fällt einem schwer, Nein zu sagen. — It is difficult for one to say no.

So etwas tut einem leid. — One feels sorry about something like that.

Important

• Man is always 3rd person singular (verb conjugation: "man kommt," "man lernt").
• Man is NOT the same as "der Mann" (the man). They are completely different words.
• Never use "man" in accusative or dative — always switch to einen / einem.

jeder

Jeder (each, every, everyone) declines like dieser — it follows the der-word pattern:

There is no plural form — jeder is inherently singular ("each one").

Examples

Jeder Mensch hat Träume. — Every person has dreams.

Sie hat jede Frage beantwortet. — She answered every question.

Er hat jedem Kind ein Geschenk gegeben. — He gave every child a gift.

Ich kenne jeden hier. — I know everyone here.

Das gilt für jede Situation. — That applies to every situation.

In jedem Zimmer gibt es ein Fenster. — In every room there is a window.

As a Standalone Pronoun

When used without a noun, jeder means "everyone/everybody":

Jeder weiß das. — Everyone knows that.

Das kann jedem passieren. — That can happen to anyone.

Jeden Tag lerne ich etwas Neues. — Every day I learn something new.

etwas / nichts + Nominalized Adjective

Etwas (something) and nichts (nothing) are indeclinable — they do not change form. However, they are often combined with a nominalized adjective that takes the strong neuter ending -es.

The Pattern

etwas / nichts / viel / wenig + capitalized adjective with -es ending

Hast du etwas Neues gehört? — Have you heard something new?

Nichts Besonderes ist passiert. — Nothing special happened.

Er hat etwas Wichtiges vergessen. — He forgot something important.

Sie hat nichts Interessantes gefunden. — She found nothing interesting.

With viel and wenig

The same pattern applies with viel (much, a lot) and wenig (little, few):

Sie hat viel Gutes getan. — She has done a lot of good.

Es gibt wenig Neues zu berichten. — There is little new to report.

Er hat viel Interessantes erlebt. — He experienced a lot of interesting things.

Contrast with alles

After alles (everything), the adjective takes the weak ending -e (not -es):

Er hat mir alles Wichtige erzählt. — He told me everything important.

Ich wünsche dir alles Gute! — I wish you all the best!

Compare:

• etwas Gutes (strong ending after etwas)
• alles Gute (weak ending after alles)

Summary Table

Tips

1. Man is ONLY nominative. In accusative use einen, in dative use einem. This is the most common mistake with "man."
2. jemand/niemand endings are optional in speech but preferred in writing: jemanden (Akk), jemandem (Dat).
3. jeder declines like dieser — learn one, and you know both.
4. etwas/nichts + adjective: always strong neuter -es. The adjective is capitalized: etwas Neues, nichts Besonderes.
5. Exception: alles takes weak -e. alles Gute, not alles Gutes.
6. Man is not der Mann. Despite sounding similar, they are completely unrelated words.