GERMAN
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GERMAN |
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A: These are German terms for 'I','you','he','we,etc.
| ich | I |
| du | you(informal form, singular) |
| er | he(or 'it' for masiculine nouns) |
| sie | she(or 'it' for feminine nouns) |
| es | it |
| man | one(translates also as 'we'/'you'/they') |
| wir | we |
| ihr | you(informal form, plural) |
| Sie | you(polite form) |
| sie | they |
These pronouns are all the nominative case.
B: You will notice also that Sie/sie can mean either 'she,'they','you' (formal, both singular and plural) or 'it' (refering to feminine nouns). Although this might appear to be confusing at first, the meaning is always clear from the context of the conversation and from the ending of a verb. In written german, Sie meaning 'you' is always capitalised, which helps to distinguish it from the other two uses.
If you address somebody as 'you', there is a choice of three terms in German: du, ihr or sie. Remember that ihr is the plural form of du, but Sie can be singular or plural. Look at the checklist to see when you use du andihr, and when you should use Sie:
| Use of du/ihr | Use of Sie |
| adults to children | between adult strangers |
| amongst strangers | between adult colleagues |
| amongst children | between adult acquaintances |
| amongst close friends | child or young person to adult |
| amongst student and othe groups |
The most problematic aspect of all the above is whether to call new friends du or Sie. It may be that your German friends will begin by addressing you as Sie, and then later suggest you swithct to du. On the other handd, they may well address you as du from the start. If you are in doubt, take your cue from the german people you are with!
In work situations, relationships are often very formal, with the Sie form of address being used together with Herr X, Frau X, etc.
C: Man is used in German much more often than 'one' in english, and unlike 'one', does not sound old fashionedor stilted. It is a useful convention, and is used in German when English might use 'we','you', 'they' or even 'people'.
D: German nouns can be one of three genders, and we have to take this into account wen we want to say 'it'. As well as the meaning 'he' and 'she', the words er and sie can also mean 'it' when referring to masculine and feminine nouns. If we are referring to a neuter noun as 'it', we use the pronoun es.