Pronouns of identity (derselbe, dieselbe, dasselbe)

If you find yourself stuck in a bizarre time loop where every day repeats, you will need a way to point out that events are identical. In English, we simply say "the same." In German, you use demonstrative pronouns of identity.

These words are combinations of the definite article (der, die, das) and the word selbe. They are written together as a single word.

Feminine and neuter: "dieselbe" and "dasselbe"

For feminine nouns, combine die + selbe to get dieselbe.

For neuter nouns, combine das + selbe to get dasselbe. You will often see dasselbe used on its own to simply mean "the same thing." To really emphasize the repetition, add exakt (exactly) right before it.

Masculine: "derselbe"

For masculine nouns, combine der + selbe to get derselbe. This is the form you use when the masculine noun is the subject of the sentence (nominative case).

Changing cases

Because these pronouns merge an article and an adjective, both parts change based on the grammatical case. The first half declines just like a definite article, and the second half takes standard adjective endings.

Fortunately, for feminine and neuter nouns, the accusative (direct object) forms are identical to the nominative (subject) forms. Dieselbe stays dieselbe, and dasselbe stays dasselbe.

However, masculine nouns change when they become the direct object. The article der changes to den, and the adjective ending -e changes to -en. When you combine them, derselbe becomes denselben.

Once you know how to spot exactly the same things, you can finally piece together what is happening in the time loop!