Indefinite Pronouns of Quantity
In our dialogue, we had jeder, jede, jedes and the plural alle, meaning 'each' or 'every', and 'all'. To this group also belongs mancher, manche, manches - pl. manche meaning "some, many a " and beide, "both," which is used only in the plural.
They belong to a group of declined words specifying some kind of quantity, which are adjectives but may also function as pronouns.
| jeder | each, every (sing. only) |
| alle | all ( plural + neuter sing.) |
| beide | both, the two (plural only) |
| mancher | some, many a |
These four pronouns can be used to indicate a masculine, feminine, or neuter person or thing, though jeder can refer only to a single individual and beide and alle to plural groups (except that alle can be used in neuter singular--see below).
They are declined like der-die-das.
Examples of use:
Jeder muss helfen.
Jede von euch kann ein bisschen helfen.
Alle müssen helfen.
Jeder von beiden hat mir zum Geburtstag gratuliert (to wish happy birthday).
Neuter Singular Pronouns of Quantity
There is no singular masculine or feminine pronoun for alle; in these cases one would use jeder.
It is however used as a pronoun in the neuter: alles, meaning 'everything'.
Ist alles ok? Hast du alles bezahlt (to pay for)?
Ich kann alles tragen (carry)
Other pronouns which have no masculine or feminine singular, but can be used in neuter singular are:
anderes(anything else)
einiges (some)
vieles (much, a lot)
weniges (a few, a little)
mehreres (more)
Examples:
Ich konnte nur weniges brauchen.
Ich habe nichts anderes erwartet.
Er hat mir einiges gesagt, aber nicht alles.
Wir haben vieles gesehen.
Sie hat vieles anprobiert (to try on), aber nur weniges hat ihr gefallen.
These pronouns are related to some adjectives which we will consider in this chapter.