0

Ich habe einen neuen Wagen. Er ist sehr schnell. VS Ich habe einen neuen Wagen. Der ist sehr schnell.

Is it possible to use der instead of er? I have read that some people would not use personal pronouns for objects. This is confussing me...

Tisch (table): Er ist nagel-neu. Magst du ihn? I would prefer to say " Der ist nagel-neu. Magst du den"? Am I wrong?

ChaiLatte
  • 33
  • 4
  • Related: https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/46226 (about personal pronouns referring to inanimage objects), https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/29013 (about personal pronouns vs. the demonstrative pronouns der/die/das) – amadeusamadeus Jul 05 '21 at 14:01
  • 3
    This seems to be more about the difference between the personal pronoun er, and the demonstrative pronoun der. If it's something you've read, it would be helpful to give a link to it. – RDBury Jul 05 '21 at 14:11
  • I think the question is actually based on an unfounded assumption: As a native speaker, I see no problem in using personal pronouns for objects and have never heard of such. Hence I'm inclined to vote to close the question -- if personal pronouns can be used for inanimate objects is at least implicitly answered by the first question linked above. When to use personal pronouns and when demonstrative pronouns (der/die/das) is topic of the second linked question. – amadeusamadeus Jul 05 '21 at 14:12
  • @amadeusamadeus: I haven't heard of such a rule, or even a preference, either, which is why I like to where the OP is getting this information. German has many accents and varieties, so perhaps it's a regional thing, or maybe it's just one individual's way of speaking, or just someone who's misinformed and is passing it around. In the third case then I'd say definitely close the question and chalk it up to people not being careful enough about what they read on the internet. – RDBury Jul 05 '21 at 17:08
  • https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/784/sollte-man-der-die-das-oder-er-sie-es-als-personalpronomen-verwenden One person in this forum says: "Für Dinge würde ich niemals er/sie benutzen, es nur selten, aber auch das ist vermutlich regional unterschiedlich". – ChaiLatte Jul 05 '21 at 18:29
  • As the poster said, it's probably a regional thing. They weren't specific about which region though. So if you're concentrating on Standard German then you shouldn't worry about it. Anyway, IMO the close was unfair, but it's not the first time. There's a lot of VTC first, read questions later in this forum, so don't take it personally. @fifaltra: Any comment? – RDBury Jul 06 '21 at 10:52

0 Answers0