DianeG24
January 11, 2022
Very new to German. Lesson 3.1 is using the expression, “Now I see it.” to offer a lesson on how “it” changes with gender. In the sentence, “it” is referring to das Auto (neuter) so in German the expression is"
Jetzt sehe ich es
They then ask how you would the expression change if you were referring to something masculine like der Mantel.
The answer given is: Jetzt sehe ich ihn. (9:17 into the conversation)
why isn't the answer:
Jetzt sehe ich er
I must be missing something pretty basic.
Tyler.
January 15, 2022
Interesting question.
I think es is in the accusative case in the sentence:
Jetzt sehe ich es.
When er is in the accusative case, it becomes ihn.
This is shown in lesson 4.5 in the accusative pronouns section.
(edit: I can't embed links, so you may want to do some searching for declension tables.)
DianeG24
January 15, 2022
Thank you. At this point I am finding the lesson a tad confusing because some of the grammer is still a mystery. I will go forward to look at the 4.5 lesson to understand accusative pronouns.
Sincerely appreciate you explanation.
Julia-Rocket-German-Tutor
January 17, 2022
Hallo DianeG24 und Tyler!
Thank you for your question DIaneG24 and welcome to Rocket German!
Also thank you for your great response Tyler. You're absolutely right. Personal pronouns like ich, du, er, sie, es, etc. change depending on the case. And while sie and es don't change in the accusative, er does.
It is similar to English in the regard that he changes to him, e.g.
He was hiding behind the tree but now I can see him.
Cases take a bit to get your head around so just take it one step at a time when you get to those lessons.
Tschüss!
Julia