Noun & Personal Pronouns
නාම පද සහ පුද්ගල සර්වනාම
Master the German personal pronouns, understand formal vs informal you, and build your complete self-introduction with names, age, country, city, job, hobbies and more.
Before you can build any German sentence, you need to know WHO is doing the action. German personal pronouns (Personalpronomen) tell you exactly that - I, you, he, she, it, we, you all, they. This topic also covers everything you need for a complete self-introduction: how to ask and answer questions about your name, age, country, city, languages, job, and hobbies in both formal and informal German.
ජර්මන් වාක්යයක් ගොඩනඟීමට පෙර, ක්රියාව කරන්නේ කව්ද යන්න දැනගත යුතුයි. පුද්ගල සර්වනාම (Personalpronomen) ඒ සඳහා භාවිතා වේ - මම, ඔබ, ඔහු, ඇය, එය, අපි, ඔබලා, ඔවුන්. මෙම topic-හිදී නම, වය, රට, නගරය, භාෂා, රැකියාව, hobby ගැන formal සහ informal ජර්මන් භාෂාවෙන් ප්රශ්න කිරීම සහ පිළිතුරු දීම ඉගෙන ගනිමු.
Personal Pronouns - Personalpronomen (Nominativ)
| German | Sinhala guide | English | Formality | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ich | ඉශ් | I | - | always written in lowercase |
| du | ඩූ | You (singular) | Informal only | used with friends, family, children |
| er | එයා | He | - | for masculine nouns |
| sie | සී | She | - | for feminine nouns |
| es | එස් | It | - | for neuter nouns |
| wir | වීර් | We | - | |
| ihr | ඊර් | You (plural) | Informal only | used when addressing a group informally |
| sie | සී | They | - | lowercase - means 'they' |
| Sie | සී | You (formal sing. & pl.) | Formal only | ALWAYS capitalised - used with strangers, officials |
The most confusing pair: 'sie' (lowercase) = she OR they. 'Sie' (capital S) = formal You. Context and the verb form always make it clear which one is meant.
වඩාත්ම ව්යාකූල යුගලය: 'sie' (කුඩා s) = ඇය හෝ ඔවුන්. 'Sie' (විශාල S) = formal ඔබ. Context සහ verb form සෑමවිටම පැහැදිලි කරයි.
When to use du, ihr and Sie - the most important social rule
German has two entirely different words for 'you' depending on the relationship and setting. Using the wrong one can come across as rude or overly distant. The rule is simple: Sie (formal, always capital S) for anyone you don't know well, any official or professional context, and older people you've just met. du (informal singular) for friends, family, children under ~15, and colleagues who've offered du. ihr (informal plural) is simply the plural of du - when speaking to multiple people you'd address as du individually.
Wie heißen Sie? (formal - to a stranger/official)
වී හයිසෙන් සී?
What is your name? - use in shops, offices, with teachers, with adults you've just met
Wie heißt du? (informal - to a friend/child)
වී හයිස්ට් ඩූ?
What's your name? - use with friends, family, classmates, children
Wie geht es Ihnen? (formal - Sie form of 'you')
වී ගේට් එස් ඊනෙන්?
How are you? (formal) - Ihnen is the dative form of Sie
Wie geht es euch? (informal plural - ihr group)
වී ගේට් එස් ඔයිශ්?
How are you all? (informal) - euch is the dative form of ihr
Greetings - Begrüßungen
Guten Morgen!
Good Morning! - used until around 10am
Guten Tag!
Good Day! / Hello! - the standard daytime greeting, 10am–6pm
Guten Abend!
Good Evening! - used after 6pm
Gute Nacht!
Good Night! - said when going to sleep
Hallo! / Hi!
Hello! / Hi! - casual, anytime
Grüß Gott! / Grüß dich!
Greetings! - common in Southern Germany and Austria
Tschüss! / Tschau!
Bye! - informal farewell
Auf Wiedersehen!
Goodbye! - formal, means 'until we see each other again'
Auf Wiederhören!
Goodbye! - used specifically on the telephone
Bis bald! / Bis später!
See you soon! / See you later!
Bis morgen!
See you tomorrow!
Courtesy phrases - Höflichkeitsausdrücke
Danke! / Danke schön!
Thank you! / Thank you very much!
Vielen Dank!
Many thanks! - more emphatic than Danke
Bitte! / Bitte schön!
Please! / You're welcome! - same word, two meanings depending on context
Es tut mir leid.
I'm sorry. - sincere apology
Entschuldigung! / Entschuldigen Sie!
Excuse me! - to get attention or apologise briefly
Alles gute! / Viel Glück!
All the best! / Good luck!
Freut mich! / Sehr erfreut!
Nice to meet you! / Very pleased to meet you!
Gleichfalls.
Likewise. / Same to you. - response to 'nice to meet you'
Willkommen!
Welcome!
Herzlichen Glückwunsch!
Congratulations! - literally 'heartfelt good wish'
How are you? - Wie geht es Ihnen / dir?
German has distinct formal and informal versions of 'How are you?' - and a range of standard responses from very good to bad. The verb 'gehen' (to go) is used idiomatically here - literally 'How goes it to you?'
Wie geht es Ihnen?
වී ගේට් එස් ඊ-නෙන්?
How are you? (formal - to one person or a group)
Wie geht es dir?
වී ගේට් එස් ඩීර්?
How are you? (informal singular)
Wie geht es euch?
වී ගේට් එස් ඔයිශ්?
How are you all? (informal plural)
Wie geht's?
වී ගේට්ස්?
How's it going? (very casual shortening)
Responses - Antworten
Common responses range across a scale from excellent to bad. Always follow with 'Und Ihnen?' (formal) or 'Und dir?' (informal) to return the question politely.
Sehr gut, danke!
සේර් ගූට්, ඩාන්-කෙ!
Very good, thank you!
Gut, danke!
ගූට්, ඩාන්-කෙ!
Good, thank you!
Ganz gut.
ගාන්ට්ස් ගූට්.
Quite good. / Pretty good.
Es geht. / So lala.
එස් ගේට්. / සෝ ලාලා.
I'm OK. / So-so.
Nicht gut. / Schlecht.
නිශ්ට් ගූට්. / ෂ්ලෙශ්ට්.
Not good. / Bad.
Und Ihnen? / Und dir?
උන්ට් ඊ-නෙන්? / උන්ට් ඩීර්?
And you? (formal / informal)
Titles - Herr, Frau, Fräulein
Herr
Mr. - used before a man's surname (Herr Müller = Mr Müller)
Frau
Ms. / Mrs. - used for any adult woman regardless of marital status
Fräulein
Miss - technically 'little Frau', now considered old-fashioned; 'Frau' is used for all women today
Name - Wie heißen Sie?
Three ways to state your name in German. All are equally correct - mix them to sound more natural.
Wie heißen Sie? (formal)
වී හයිසෙන් සී?
What is your name? (formal)
Wie heißt du? (informal)
වී හයිස්ට් ඩූ?
What is your name? (informal)
Wer bist du? (informal)
වේර් බිස්ට් ඩූ?
Who are you? (informal)
Ich heiße Navinda.
ඉශ් හයිසෙ නවීන්ද.
My name is Navinda. (I am called...)
Ich bin Navinda.
ඉශ් බින් නවීන්ද.
I am Navinda.
Mein Name ist Navinda.
මයින් නාමෙ ඉස්ට් නවීන්ද.
My name is Navinda.
First name and surname - Vorname und Nachname
German distinguishes clearly between Vorname (first/given name) and Nachname/Familienname (surname/family name). You'll need these on forms and in the A1 writing exam.
Wie ist Ihr Vorname? (formal)
වී ඉස්ට් ඊර් ෆෝර්-නාමෙ?
What is your first name?
Wie ist dein Vorname? (informal)
වී ඉස්ට් ඩයින් ෆෝර්-නාමෙ?
What is your first name?
Mein Vorname ist Navinda.
මයින් ෆෝර්-නාමෙ ඉස්ට් නවීන්ද.
My first name is Navinda.
Wie ist Ihr Nachname? (formal)
වී ඉස්ට් ඊර් නාශ්-නාමෙ?
What is your surname?
Mein Nachname ist Perera.
මයින් නාශ්-නාමෙ ඉස්ට් පෙරේරා.
My surname is Perera.
Familienname = Nachname
ෆා-මී-ලියෙන්-නාමෙ = නාශ්-නාමෙ
Family name = Surname (same word, two forms)
Age - Wie alt sind Sie?
Use 'sein' (to be) to express age in German - literally 'I am 28 years old.' Never say 'Ich habe 28 Jahre' - this is a very common mistake.
Wie alt sind Sie? (formal)
වී අල්ට් සින්ට් සී?
How old are you? (formal)
Wie alt bist du? (informal)
වී අල්ට් බිස්ට් ඩූ?
How old are you? (informal)
Ich bin 28 Jahre alt.
ඉශ් බින් අශ්-උන්ට්-ට්ස්වාන්-ට්සිශ් යා-රෙ අල්ට්.
I am 28 years old.
Ich bin dreißig Jahre alt.
ඉශ් බින් ඩ්රයිසිශ් යා-රෙ අල්ට්.
I am 30 years old.
Country - Woher kommen Sie?
Use 'kommen aus' to say where you are from. 'aus' means 'from' and is always used with countries (no article) or cities.
Woher kommen Sie? (formal)
වෝ-හේර් කො-මෙන් සී?
Where do you come from? (formal)
Woher kommst du? (informal)
වෝ-හේර් කොම්ස්ට් ඩූ?
Where do you come from? (informal)
Ich komme aus Sri Lanka.
ඉශ් කො-මෙ ඔව්ස් ශ්රී ලංකා.
I come from Sri Lanka.
Ich komme aus Deutschland.
ඉශ් කො-මෙ ඔව්ස් ඩොයිශ්-ලාන්ට්.
I come from Germany.
Living place - Wo wohnen Sie?
Use 'wohnen in' or 'leben in' to say where you live. Both verbs mean 'to live' - wohnen emphasises your place of residence, leben is slightly broader.
Wo wohnen Sie? (formal)
වෝ වෝ-නෙන් සී?
Where do you live? (formal)
Wo wohnst du? (informal)
වෝ වෝන්ස්ට් ඩූ?
Where do you live? (informal)
Ich wohne in Colombo.
ඉශ් වෝ-නෙ ඉන් කොලොම්-බෝ.
I live in Colombo.
Ich lebe in Kandy.
ඉශ් ලේ-බෙ ඉන් කෑන්-ඩී.
I live in Kandy.
Languages - Welche Sprachen sprechen Sie?
Use 'sprechen' (to speak) for the languages you speak and 'lernen' (to learn) for languages you are currently studying.
Welche Sprachen sprechen Sie? (formal)
වෙල්-ශෙ ෂ්ප්රා-ශෙන් ෂ්ප්රෙ-ශෙන් සී?
Which languages do you speak? (formal)
Welche Sprachen sprichst du? (informal)
වෙල්-ශෙ ෂ්ප්රා-ශෙන් ෂ්ප්රිශ්ස්ට් ඩූ?
Which languages do you speak? (informal)
Ich spreche Singhalesisch und Englisch.
ඉශ් ෂ්ප්රෙ-ශෙ සිං-ගා-ලේ-සිශ් උන්ට් එං-ග්ලිශ්.
I speak Sinhala and English.
Ich lerne Deutsch.
ඉශ් ලෙර්-නෙ ඩොයිශ්.
I am learning German.
Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch.
ඉශ් ෂ්ප්රෙ-ශෙ අයින් බිස්-ශෙන් ඩොයිශ්.
I speak a little German.
Job - Was sind Sie von Beruf?
Use 'sein' (to be) for your profession. Important rule: German does NOT use an article before job titles - say 'Ich bin Lehrer' not 'Ich bin ein Lehrer'.
Was sind Sie von Beruf? (formal)
වාස් සින්ට් සී ෆොන් බෙ-රූෆ්?
What is your profession? (formal)
Was bist du von Beruf? (informal)
වාස් බිස්ට් ඩූ ෆොන් බෙ-රූෆ්?
What is your profession? (informal)
Ich bin Lehrer von Beruf.
ඉශ් බින් ලේ-රෙර් ෆොන් බෙ-රූෆ්.
I am a teacher by profession.
Ich arbeite als Softwareentwickler.
ඉශ් අර්-බයි-ටෙ අල්ස් සොෆ්ට්-වෙ-රෙ-එන්ට්-විශ්-ලෙර்.
I work as a software developer.
Hobbies - Was sind Ihre Hobbys?
Use 'sein' to list your hobbies. You can also use the verb directly: 'Ich singe gern' (I like to sing) or 'Ich spiele gern Gitarre' (I like to play guitar).
Was sind Ihre Hobbys? (formal)
වාස් සින්ට් ඊ-රෙ හො-බීස්?
What are your hobbies? (formal)
Was sind deine Hobbys? (informal)
වාස් සින්ට් ඩයි-නෙ හො-බීස்?
What are your hobbies? (informal)
Meine Hobbys sind Lesen, Musik hören und Schwimmen.
මයි-නෙ හො-බීස් සින්ට් ලේ-සෙන්, මු-සීශ් හෝ-රෙන් උන්ට් ෂ්විම-මෙන්.
My hobbies are reading, listening to music and swimming.
Ich singe und tanze gern.
ඉශ් සිං-ගෙ උන්ට් ටාන්-ට්සෙ ගෙර්න්.
I like to sing and dance.
Countries & Nationalities - Die Länder und Nationalitäten
| English | German (country) | Nationality (m/f) | Language |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sri Lanka | Sri Lanka | Sri Lanker/in | Singhalesisch / Tamilisch |
| Germany | Deutschland | Deutscher/Deutsche | Deutsch |
| Austria | Österreich | Österreicher/in | Deutsch |
| Switzerland | die Schweiz | Schweizer/in | Deutsch / Französisch |
| England | England | Engländer/in | Englisch |
| Great Britain | Großbritannien | Brite/Britin | Englisch |
| America/USA | Amerika / die USA | Amerikaner/in | Englisch |
| Australia | Australien | Australier/in | Englisch |
| France | Frankreich | Franzose/Französin | Französisch |
| Italy | Italien | Italiener/in | Italienisch |
| Spain | Spanien | Spanier/in | Spanisch |
| Russia | Russland | Russe/Russin | Russisch |
| China | China | Chinese/Chinesin | Chinesisch |
| Japan | Japan | Japaner/in | Japanisch |
| India | Indien | Inder/in | Hindi / Tamilisch |
| South Africa | Südafrika | Südafrikaner/in | Englisch / Afrikaans |
| Turkey | die Türkei | Türke/Türkin | Türkisch |
| Greece | Griechenland | Grieche/Griechin | Griechisch |
| Poland | Polen | Pole/Polin | Polnisch |
| Netherlands | die Niederlande | Holländer/in | Niederländisch |
| Sweden | Schweden | Schwede/Schwedin | Schwedisch |
| Norway | Norwegen | Norweger/in | Norwegisch |
| Brazil | Brasilien | Brasilianer/in | Portugiesisch |
| Canada | Kanada | Kanadier/in | Englisch / Französisch |
| Mexico | Mexiko | Mexikaner/in | Spanisch |
| South Korea | Südkorea | Südkoreaner/in | Koreanisch |
| Portugal | Portugal | Portugiese/Portugiesin | Portugiesisch |
| Hungary | Ungarn | Ungar/in | Ungarisch |
| Romania | Rumänien | Rumäne/Rumänin | Rumänisch |
| Czech Republic | die Tschechische Republik | Tscheche/Tschechin | Tschechisch |
Country names in German take no article - but some need one: die Schweiz, die Türkei, die USA, die Niederlande (feminine/plural countries take die). All others: Ich komme aus Deutschland, aus Frankreich, aus Japan - no article needed.
ජර්මන් භාෂාවේ රටවල් නාම article නොගනී - නමුත් ව්යතිරේකයන්: die Schweiz, die Türkei, die USA, die Niederlande (ස්ත්රී ලිංග/බහු රටවල් 'die' ගනී). අනික්: Ich komme aus Deutschland - article නොයෙදේ.
Useful everyday phrases - Nützliche Ausdrücke
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? (formal)
Do you speak German? (formal)
Ich verstehe nicht.
I don't understand.
Ich weiß nicht.
I don't know.
Können Sie mir helfen? (formal)
Can you help me? (formal)
Wie bitte?
Pardon? / What did you say? - polite way to ask for repetition
Wie heißt das auf Deutsch?
What is that called in German?
Natürlich! / Gerne!
Of course! / Gladly! - positive, enthusiastic responses
Keine Angst!
Don't worry! - literally 'no fear!'
Das macht nichts.
It doesn't matter. / Never mind.
Ich liebe dich.
I love you. (informal only)
Dialogue 1 - Casual (informal)
Two friends meeting. Both use 'du' throughout.
Hallo, Klara. Wie geht es dir?
හලෝ, ක්ලාරා. වී ගේට් එස් ඩීර?
Hello, Klara. How are you?
Hallo Tom. Danke. Mir geht es gut! Und dir?
හලෝ ටොම්. ඩාන්-කෙ. මීර් ගේට් එස් ගූට්! උන්ට් ඩීර?
Hello Tom. Thanks. I'm doing well! And you?
Auch gut, danke! Tschüss!
ඔව්ශ් ගූට්, ඩාන්-කෙ! ශ්යූස්!
Also good, thanks! Bye!
Dialogue 2 - Formal introduction
Two adults meeting for the first time. Both use 'Sie'.
Guten Morgen! Wie heißen Sie?
ගූටෙන් මෝර්-ගෙන்! වී හයිසෙන් සී?
Good morning! What is your name?
Guten Morgen! Ich heiße Tom. Und Sie?
ගූටෙන් මෝර්-ගෙන්! ඉශ් හයිසෙ ටොම්. උන්ට් සී?
Good morning! My name is Tom. And you?
Ich bin Peter. Freut mich, Sie kennenzulernen.
ඉශ් බින් පීටෙ. ෆ්රොයිට් මිශ්, සී කෙනෙන්ට්සූ-ලෙ-ර°-නෙන்.
I am Peter. Pleased to meet you.
Danke! Gleichfalls.
ඩාන්-කෙ! ග්ලයිශ්-ෆල්ස়.
Thank you! Likewise.
Dialogue 3 - Formal workplace
Colleagues or business contacts meeting. Sie is used throughout.
Guten Tag, Herr Palliyaguru.
ගූටෙන් ටාග், හෙ`ර් පල්ලියගුරු.
Good day, Mr Palliyaguru.
Guten Tag, Frau Ranasinghe. Wie geht es Ihnen?
ගූටෙන් ටාග, ෆ්රව් රණසිංහ. වී ගේට් එස් ඊ-නෙන?
Good day, Ms Ranasinghe. How are you?
Danke gut. Und Ihnen?
ඩාන්-කෙ ගූට්. උන්ට් ඊ-නෙන?
Thank you, fine. And you?
Auch gut, danke. Auf Wiedersehen!
ඔව්ශ් ගූට්, ඩාන්-කෙ. ඔව්ෆ් වී-ඩෙර-සේන!
Also good, thanks. Goodbye!
A complete self-introduction covers: name (Ich heiße...), age (Ich bin ... Jahre alt.), country (Ich komme aus...), city (Ich wohne in...), languages (Ich spreche...), job (Ich bin ... von Beruf.), and hobbies (Meine Hobbys sind...). Practise this until it flows naturally - it's exactly what Part 1 of the A1 speaking exam asks for.
සම්පූර්ණ ස්වයං හඳුන්වාදීමෙහි: නම (Ich heiße...), වය (Ich bin ... Jahre alt.), රට (Ich komme aus...), නගරය (Ich wohne in...), භාෂා (Ich spreche...), රැකියාව (Ich bin ... von Beruf.), hobby (Meine Hobbys sind...). A1 Speaking exam-ේ Part 1 මෙය හරියටම අසයි - ස්වාභාවිකව ගලා ගිය ආකාරයෙන් ඉගෙන ගන්න.
Check your understanding
Which pronoun do you use when speaking formally to ONE person you don't know well?