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Lesson 4.1A1

Demonstrative Pronouns: dieser, diese, dieses

संकेतवाचक सर्वनाम: dieser, diese, dieses

Words for "this/that" change form exactly like the der/die/das from the last lesson — know the definite-article table, and this lesson comes almost for free.

Grammar Comparison

व्याकरण तुलना

dieser is a 'der-word' — it changes exactly like der/die/das

German

dieser Mann (this man, masc.) / diese Frau (this woman, fem.) / dieses Kind (this child, neut.)

Hindi

यह आदमी / यह औरत / यह बच्चा

Hindi's यह/वह doesn't change by gender (it only distinguishes near/far), but German dieser ("this/that") is called a "der-word" precisely because it takes the same gender and case endings as the definite article: dies-er instead of der, dies-e instead of die, dies-es instead of das — and the rest of the pattern, including how it shifts across all four cases, carries over unchanged. Don't learn dieser as a brand-new word — think of it as "der, with dies- attached."

jener: a more formal, less common 'that'

German

jener Tag (that day)

Hindi

वह दिन

Hindi makes the यह/वह distinction constantly in everyday speech. German technically has jener for "that" (as opposed to dieser for "this"), but in practice, spoken German mostly uses dieser for both, relying on context, or adds da/dort ("there") after the noun for clarity (dieser Mann da, "that man there"). Save jener for formal or literary writing.

Vocabulary

शब्दावली

GermanPronunciationHindiEnglish
dieser MannDEE-zer mahnयह आदमीyah ādmīthis man
diese FrauDEE-zeh frowयह औरतyah auratthis woman
dieses KindDEE-zes kintयह बच्चाyah baccāthis child
diese MännerDEE-zeh MEN-erये आदमी (बहुवचन)ye ādmīthese men (plural)
jener TagYAY-ner tahkवह दिन (औपचारिक/साहित्यिक)vah dinthat day (more formal/literary)