Many indefinite pronouns can also be used as indefinite articles. Like their counterparts, definite articles, they appear in connection with a noun.
Examples:
Wir feiern jedes Fest.
Es gibt ein Fest für alle Menschen aus Traponia am 8. August.
Declension pattern of indefinite pronouns/indefinite articles
"man", "nichts" and "etwas" are indefinite pronouns that do not change. The pronoun "man" can only be used in the nominative case. For the accusative case, use "einen" and for the dative, use "einem". "jeder" and "alle" follow the same pattern of declension as for definite articles.
| Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Plural | |||||
| Nominative |
jeder Mann der Mann |
jede Frau die Frau |
jedes Kind das Kind |
alle Menschen die Menschen |
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| Accusative |
jeden Mann den Mann |
jede Frau die Frau |
jedes Kind das Kind |
alle Menschen die Menschen |
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| Dative |
jedem Mann dem Mann |
jeder Frau der Frau |
jedem Kind dem Kind |
allen Menschen den Menschen |
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| Genitive |
jedes Mannes des Mannes |
jeder Frau der Frau |
jedes Kindes des Kindes |
aller Menschen der Menschen |
"jeder" and "alle" are also inflected when they are used as pronouns.
Examples:
Das kann jeder sagen.
Das kann jedem passieren.
The indefinite pronouns "niemand" and "jemand" are also inflected. But in colloquial speech, the accusative and dative endings are often ignored. The genitive is very rare.
| niemand | ||||
| Nominative | niemand | Niemand isst Würstchen und Kartoffelsalat. | ||
| Accusative | niemand(en) | Harry hat niemand(en) gesehen. | ||
| Dative | niemand(em) | Harry vertraut niemand(em). | ||
| Genitive | niemandes | Das ist niemandes Schuld. |