ihn
/iːn/
The German word for 'him' is ihn.
ihn is used when referring to a male person in the accusative case.
Meaning: accusative / direct object (pron)
Which one should you use?
While er is the subject (he), ihn is the direct object (him).
How does it change in a sentence?
The form ihn is used when the person is the direct object of a verb or follows certain accusative prepositions.
How do you pronounce it?
/iːn/
What mistakes should you avoid?
Do not confuse ihn with ihm. Ihm is used when referring to a male person in the dative case.
Did you know?
- In spoken German, people often replace ihn with the pronoun den to emphasize that they are talking about a specific 'him' rather than someone else.
- Because German assigns grammatical gender to objects, you use ihn to say 'it' when referring to any masculine noun, such as der Tisch for 'the table'.
- In some southern German dialects, ihn is frequently replaced by eam or en in casual conversation, which can make it hard for learners to recognize.
Examples in context
- Sie sah ihn an.She was looking at him.This sentence is useful for seeing how to use ihn with the verb for 'looking at'.Tatoeba #2342930 by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation #2342600 by Hybrid
- Er rief ihn an.He called him.This sentence shows how to use ihn with the verb for 'calling'.Tatoeba #7712458 by wolfgangth, translation #5924906 by Wierdmin
- Hol ihn da raus!Get him out of there.This sentence demonstrates the use of ihn in a command.Tatoeba #1671893 by Pfirsichbaeumchen, translation #3916119 by CH
- Der Lehrer hat ihn eingeladen.The teacher invited him.
- Ich habe ihm das Buch gegeben.I gave him the book.
- Ich habe ihn gestern im Park getroffen.I met him in the park yesterday.
- Ich helfe ihm bei den Hausaufgaben.I'm helping him with his homework.
- 6432 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Julia and Maximilian are talking about a mutual friend.
- JuliaHast du Lukas heute schon gesehen?Have you seen Lukas today yet?
- MaximilianNein, ich habe ihn seit gestern nicht getroffen.No, I haven't met him since yesterday.
- JuliaIch werde ihn später einfach anrufen.I will simply call him later.
- MaximilianDas ist eine gute Idee.That is a good idea.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “him” translations and entries ihn, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
