Welcher Politiker ist das?
Which politician is that?An welchem Computer arbeitest du?
Which computer are you working on?See also^9 (p. 14) and 44.2 (p. 119).
31 Other forms used as pronouns
Note the following, some of which can also be used as determiners:See also^24 (p. 41) for determiners.
31.1 dieser/diese/dieses is sometimes used in place of er/sie/es:
Dann hat der Vater angerufen. Und dieser sagte,...
And then his/her father rang. And he said...dieser and jener are also used for ‘the latter’ and ‘the former’ respectively (see 24.1).31.2 The definite article der/die/das is often used in place of personal pronouns, especially
in the spoken language:
Die wohnt drüben.
She lives over there.Den kenne ich schon lange.
I’ve known him for a long time.Das wissen wir schon.
We already know that.Ich bin mir dessen bewusst.
I am aware of that.Mit dem kann man handeln.
With him one can do business.See also^58 (pp. 146–8).
31.3 einer/eine/eins ‘one’. This declines like the predicative ( 43 ) meiner/meine/meins
(see 30.3):
Hast du einen/eine/eins?
Have you got one?Often it is used with a degree of emphasis:In der Schweiz spricht man nicht nur eine Sprache.
They don’t just speak one language in Switzerland.See^15 (pp. 20–2).
31.4 man ‘one’, ‘people in general’, ‘they’:
Man versteht das schon.
People understand that.31
Other forms used as pronouns