Demonstrative Pronouns (dieser, jener, derjenige)

Demonstrative pronouns point to specific people or things — "this one," "that one," "the one who." German has several demonstrative pronouns, each with distinct uses. The most important are dieser (this), jener (that), derjenige (the one who), and the emphatic use of der/die/das as demonstratives.

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1. Dieser (This / This One)

Dieser points to something near or currently being discussed. It declines like the definite article with strong endings:

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	dieser	diese	dieses	diese
Accusative	diesen	diese	dieses	diese
Dative	diesem	dieser	diesem	diesen
Genitive	dieses	dieser	dieses	dieser

As an Article (Demonstrative Determiner)

Before a noun, dieser works like an article meaning "this":

• Dieser Mann ist mein Nachbar. (This man is my neighbour.)
• Diese Blumen sind schön. (These flowers are beautiful.)
• Ich mag dieses Buch. (I like this book.)
• Mit diesem Zug fahre ich. (I am taking this train.)

As a Pronoun (Standing Alone)

Without a noun, dieser replaces the noun and means "this one":

• Welches Kleid möchtest du? — Dieses. (This one.)
• Welchen Wein empfehlen Sie? — Diesen. (This one.)
• Von all diesen Büchern gefällt mir dieses am besten. (Of all these books, I like this one best.)

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2. Jener (That / That One)

Jener is the counterpart to dieser and means "that" (farther away). It follows the same declension pattern as dieser:

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	jener	jene	jenes	jene
Accusative	jenen	jene	jenes	jene
Dative	jenem	jener	jenem	jenen
Genitive	jenes	jener	jenes	jener

Usage

Jener is relatively formal and literary in modern German. In everyday speech, German speakers prefer using der/die/das with emphasis, or der dort / der da:

• Jener Tag wird mir immer in Erinnerung bleiben. (That day will always remain in my memory.) — literary
• Nicht dieses Haus, sondern jenes. (Not this house, but that one.) — formal contrast
• In jener Zeit gab es noch kein Internet. (In that time there was no internet yet.) — narrative

In conversation:

• Nicht dieses Buch — das da. (Not this book — that one there.)
• Der dort ist mein Bruder. (That one there is my brother.)

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3. Der/Die/Das as Emphatic Demonstrative

In spoken German, the definite articles der, die, das are frequently used as demonstrative pronouns — stressed and standing alone — meaning "that one" or "he/she/it" (with emphasis):

Case	Masculine	Feminine	Neuter	Plural
Nominative	der	die	das	die
Accusative	den	die	das	die
Dative	dem	der	dem	denen
Genitive	dessen	deren	dessen	deren

Note: This is the same table as for relative pronouns.

Examples