When you do not know exactly who did something—like leaving a mysterious gift on your desk—you need indefinite pronouns. To say "someone" or "anyone" in German, you add the prefix irgend- to the question words for people.
Just like the question word wer (who), these pronouns change their ending based on their grammatical case.
"Someone" as the Subject: irgendwer
Use irgendwer in the nominative case when "someone" is the subject of the sentence (the person doing the action).
| Someone left a gift on the desk today. | Irgendwer hat heute ein Geschenk auf dem Schreibtisch hinterlassen. |
"Someone" as the Direct Object: irgendwen
If "someone" is the direct object of the sentence, use the accusative form irgendwen.
| I am looking for someone who did that secretly. | Ich suche irgendwen, der das heimlich gemacht hat. |
"Someone" as the Indirect Object: irgendwem
When "someone" is the indirect object, or when it follows a dative preposition (like von or mit), use the dative form irgendwem.
| The package must come from someone from the office. | Das Paket muss von irgendwem aus dem Büro stammen. |
| I told the secret to someone, but I am not saying to whom. | Ich habe das Geheimnis irgendwem erzählt, aber ich sage nicht, wem. |
The Secret Admirer
This grammar is perfect for talking about mysteries, like an anonymous sender (ein anonymer Absender) or a secret admirer (ein Verehrer).
| An anonymous sender wrote this note. | Ein anonymer Absender hat diesen Zettel geschrieben. |
| Can you guess who left the rose behind? | Kannst du erraten, wer die Rose hinterlassen hat? |
Combining Cases
You can easily use multiple indefinite pronouns in the same sentence if you need to describe an interaction between two unknown people. Simply use the correct case for each role.
| Did anyone see anybody in the hallway today? | Hat irgendwer heute irgendwen im Flur gesehen? |