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Pronouns are words that substitute for nouns and refer back to them.
The English pronouns "he" and "she" refer to people; "it" refers to things.
| That is Mr. Smith. He is from America. |
| That is Mrs. Smith. She is originally from Canada. |
| This is my bank. I have been using it since 1985. |
Germans use the pronouns er (masculine), sie (feminine), es (neuter) to refer to nouns based on grammatical gender. Depending on the meaning of the noun they refer to, er, sie or es may each mean "he," "she," or "it."
| sie = it |
Ist das die Bank? Nein. Sie ist links. |
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Is that the bank? No. It’s on the left. |
| er = it |
Wo ist der Dollarschein? Ist er da? |
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Where’s the dollar bill? Is it there? |
| sie = she |
Ist das die Bankangestellte? Nein. Sie ist links. |
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Is that the teller? No. She’s on the left. |
| er = he |
Das ist Herr Smith. Er ist aus Amerika. |
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That is Mr. Smith. He is from America. |
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