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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**.

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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.

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### 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).

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### 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*.

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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**.

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

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Pronouns of identity (derselbe, dieselbe, dasselbe)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
the same (f)	dieselbe
the time loop	die Zeitschleife
We are experiencing the same time loop.	Wir erleben dieselbe Zeitschleife.
to happen (formal)	geschehen
exactly	exakt
the same (n)	dasselbe
Exactly the same thing happens every day.	Jeden Tag geschieht exakt dasselbe.
the same (m)	derselbe
the nightmare	der Albtraum
It was the same nightmare.	Es war derselbe Albtraum.
to escape	entkommen
Will we escape the time loop?	Werden wir der Zeitschleife entkommen?
trapped	gefangen
I am trapped in the nightmare, because I do not wake up.	Ich bin in dem Albtraum gefangen, weil ich nicht aufwache.
the event	das Ereignis
Exactly the same event happened.	Exakt dasselbe Ereignis geschah.
desperate	verzweifelt
I am desperate, because I saw the same woman.	Ich bin verzweifelt, weil ich dieselbe Frau sah.
We always eat exactly the same breakfast.	Wir essen immer exakt dasselbe Frühstück.
Are we trapped, because the event is repeating?	Sind wir gefangen, weil sich das Ereignis wiederholt?
We are trapped, but we will escape.	Wir sind gefangen, aber wir werden entkommen.
I saw the same man yesterday.	Ich sah gestern denselben Mann.
Will we hear the same story?	Werden wir dieselbe Geschichte hören?
The accident happened because the same bus came.	Der Unfall geschah, weil derselbe Bus kam.
Will exactly the same thing happen?	Wird exakt dasselbe geschehen?
I am desperate, because today is exactly the same day.	Ich bin verzweifelt, denn heute ist exakt derselbe Tag.
own	eigen
She has her own room.	Sie hat ihr eigenes Zimmer.
We want a house of our own.	Wir wollen ein eigenes Haus.

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