ich I

du you (thou)

er he

sie she

es it

wer who

man one


wir we

ihr you (ye)

sie they

Sie you (stranger or strangers)




(Please note the differences between 'du', 'ihr', and 'Sie'. 'du' and 'ihr' are used for second-person singular and plural respectively only for people with whom you are familiar, or with children, animals, or objects. With adults you do not know well, you must use 'Sie'. Some people have mistakenly taught this as the 'Sie' being a sign of respect, but in practise, I have found it the reverse. The verbs 'duzen' and 'siezen' have no real English equivalent and mean 'to address some one by du or sie'(respectively).)

(Please note that the third-person pronouns here translated as 'he', 'she', and 'it' refer in actuality to masculine, feminine and neuter nouns more than they do people. This means that objects will some times be referred to as 'he' or 'she', and people will some times be referred to as 'it'. 'sie' is used for all third-person plurals.)



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