uns
/ʊns/
The English word 'us' is translated into German as uns.
Meaning: objective case of "we" (pron)
Which one should you use?
Use wir when the group is the subject of the sentence (the nominative case), and use uns when the group is the direct or indirect object (the accusative or dative cases).
Is it said differently in some regions?
In the Bavarian dialect, 'us' is expressed as öis.
How does it change in a sentence?
The form uns is used for both the accusative (direct object) and dative (indirect object) cases of the first-person plural pronoun.
How do you pronounce it?
/ʊns/
Did you know?
- While 'us' is a simple pronoun in English, the German uns can sometimes function as a reflexive pronoun, meaning it can literally translate to 'ourselves' depending on the verb used.
- In the German way of thinking, if you want to say 'it is up to us', you might use a construction involving uns that feels more like 'it lies upon us' than the English equivalent.
- Because uns serves multiple roles, you cannot always tell if a German sentence means 'it hits us' or 'it is given to us' just by looking at the pronoun alone.
Examples in context
- Es ist an uns.It's up to us.This sentence shows how to express that something is someone's responsibility using uns.Tatoeba #6645067 by Felixjp, translation #2891659 by CK
- Es ist für uns.It's for us.This sentence shows how to use uns after the preposition 'für'.Tatoeba #6645061 by Felixjp, translation #2549811 by CK
- Was ist mit uns?What about us?This sentence shows how to use uns after the preposition 'mit'.Tatoeba #1542298 by al_ex_an_der, translation #1542297 by Spamster
- Bitte geben Sie uns Informationen.Please give us information.
- Können Sie uns den Weg zum Bahnhof zeigen?Can you show us the way to the train station?
- Würden Sie uns bitte behilflich sein?Would you please help us?
- Gib uns bitte Bescheid, wenn du angekommen bist.Let us know when you arrive, please.
- Ich kann uns ein Taxi rufen.I can call us a taxi.
- Kommst du mit uns ins Kino?Are you coming to the movies with us?
- Lasst's uns doch zammharbeitn.Let's work together.
- 5514 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Julian and Julia are deciding on a restaurant for dinner.
- JulianKönnen Sie uns bitte den Weg zeigen?Can you please show us the way?
- JuliaJa, gehen Sie einfach geradeaus.Yes, just go straight ahead.
- JulianDas hilft uns sehr, vielen Dank!That helps us a lot, thank you very much!
- JuliaGern geschehen, guten Appetit!You're welcome, enjoy your meal!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “us” translations and entries uns, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
