jemand/niemand

Someone/No One

Level 2

jemand = someone / somebody
niemand = no one / nobody

How It Works

In German, jemand and niemand are used to talk about people in an indefinite way.

1. Declension (Cases):
While they are always singular, they can change based on the four cases. In modern German, the endings for the Accusative and Dative are often omitted, which is considered standard usage.

  • Nominative: jemand / niemand (No ending)
  • Accusative: jemand / jemanden (Both are standard)
  • Dative: jemand / jemandem (Both are standard)
  • Genitive: jemands / jemandes or niemands / niemandes (Both short and long forms are standard)

2. Gender:
These pronouns are grammatically treated as masculine (e.g., if you refer back to them, you use er or sein), but they are semantically gender-neutral and can refer to anyone.

3. Combination with Adjectives:
When you want to say 'someone new' or 'no one interesting', you use a nominalized adjective after the pronoun. The adjective is always capitalized. While the neuter -es ending is very common (jemand Neues), masculine endings (jemand Neuer) are also grammatically correct and standard.

Examples (6)

  1. Hat jemand meinen Schlüssel gesehen?

    Has someone seen my key?

    Word by Word: Has someone my key seen?

    Here, 'jemand' is the subject in the Nominative case.

  2. Ich habe mit niemandem darüber gesprochen.

    I haven't spoken to anyone about it.

    Word by Word: I have with no-one there-about spoken.

    The preposition 'mit' requires the Dative case, so 'niemand' becomes 'niemandem'.

  3. Kennst du jemanden, der gut kochen kann?

    Do you know someone who can cook well?

    Word by Word: Know you someone, who well cook can?

    In this sentence, 'jemand' takes the Accusative ending '-en' because it is the direct object. The ending '-en' is optional but common.

  4. Niemand ist zu Hause.

    No one is at home.

    Word by Word: No-one is at home.

    A simple use of 'niemand' as the subject of the sentence.

  5. Ich habe heute jemand Interessantes getroffen.

    I met someone interesting today.

    Word by Word: I have today someone interesting met.

    When followed by an adjective, 'jemand' often stays uninflected, and the adjective is capitalized with an '-es' ending.

  6. Das ist niemands Schuld.

    That is no one's fault.

    Word by Word: That is no-one's fault.

    This shows the Genitive case. Both 'niemands' and 'niemandes' are correct.

Common Mistakes

  • Using 'niemand' to refer to objects (none of the...).

    Niemand der Bücher ist hier.
    Keines der Bücher ist hier.

    'Niemand' only refers to people. To say 'none' of a group of objects, use keiner/keine/keines.

  • Confusing 'jemand' with the general 'man'.

    Jemand darf hier nicht rauchen.
    Man darf hier nicht rauchen.

    Use man for general rules or 'people in general'. Use 'jemand' for a specific, unknown individual.

  • Using the wrong case ending after a dative verb.

    Ich helfe jemanden.
    Ich helfe jemandem.

    The verb 'helfen' is a dative verb. Therefore, 'jemand' must take the dative ending '-em' (or no ending), but never the accusative '-en'.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

jemand/niemandLevel 2Someone/No One

Learn This First

To use jemand and niemand correctly, you need to understand the German case system because these pronouns decline (jemanden, jemandem). It is also helpful to be familiar with other indefinite pronouns like etwas/nichts and the concept of negation using words like kein.

Words in This Pattern