Make sure that you imitate the pronunciation of my voice. To say how old you are is simple: Ich bin 30 Jahre alt I’m 30 years old. The next step after greeting someone in German is asking the question How are you? / dat. / Neut. There are 3 ‘persons’: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Instead just remember: © 2020 German with Laura  |  All Rights Reserved  |  Privacy, 1711 Kings Way Onawa, IA 51040 |  (603) 303-8842  |  hallo@germanwithlaura.com, On some level, you do have to simply memorize these pronouns. This statement is filled with formality and is appropriate in a formal scenario or a professional setting. In the formal form, both singular and plural is Sie. The girl is kind. So, what are ‘nominative personal pronouns’? In English, we rarely make a distinction between direct and indirect objects — for us, objects are just objects. Notice all the spots where the pronoun is doubled (e.g. In German, you use either the formal Sie (zee) ( you) or one of the two informal forms: du (dooh) ( you ), if you’re talking to one person, or ihr (eer) ( you, you guys, you all ), if you’re addressing two or more people. She is nice. Of course, just like in the other examples, you have the singular version (talking about a him, her, or it) and a plural [2+] version (talking about them). (And you?) Find more German words at wordhippo.com! in the feminine column! The verbs following the formal form of "you"—"Sie"—are conjugated identically as in the third-person plurals. Here are the personal pronouns in English, which hopefully look familiar: As you can see from the table below, German pronouns are a little more complicated. German has 4 different types of ‘you’. (How are you?) Likewise, the ‘1st person plural’ is for a group of 2+ people that includes you — a.k.a. The German sie / Sie can mean she, they, or You (formal). Continue reading below for the essential elements of learning personal pronouns: In English & in German, personal pronouns are used all. The following are acceptable answers to the question Wie geht es Ihnen? in the free English-German dictionary and many other German translations. How old are you? Greetings and introductions are often accompanied by some form of bodily contact. (The big, white goose gaggled with the small, yellow duck.). Unlike the accusativ case discussed in the last lesson, the dative case not only affects the ending of the words linked to the noun, but it affects the noun itself as well. If you find yourself in Austria it is always polite to say “Hi” every … Let’s look first at how to determine which role a noun plays in a given sentence. is quite a bit better, right?! (How are you? They are the pronouns we use for whoever is the subject of the sentence (and are therefore also called ‘subject pronouns’). The best way to learn personal pronouns is to see them listed side-by-side in the 3 main cases (nominative, accusative, dative).On some level, you do have to simply memorize these pronouns. (vee geyt ês oyH?) 3rd Person PluralQuestion: Are you talking to someone about a group of 2+ people? You can see in this marked up version of the pronouns chart that we have THREE different ‘sie’s! Remember, too, that in German we have the formal 2nd Person (Sie) and the informal (du) plus their plural forms! Do you like her? You saw this chart (unmarked) above. (singular, informal you), Und euch? time. The phrase "vielen Dank für … that tell us how many of the noun or which one. 1 When to use "Sie" Now, leave me a comment and tell me what you think. (formal) So, you can work forwards by figuring out the noun’s role as the means to select its case…OR you can work backwards by looking at nearby declensions to decipher the noun’s case. We see exactly those same -s, -s, -m strong declensions in the neuter column. The case of each noun is signaled by the words that come directly in front of it. (oont oyH?) Though the casual way of addressing someone in German is included, these sayings should be reserved only for close friends and family. For example, if you are formally addressing one or two Germans, you won't see a difference in writing: Woher kommen Sie? Most recently she has been developing, writing, and editing student textbooks and teacher handbooks for Berlitz. Then, if you imagine that you (1st person) are talking to someone else … that someone else is the 2nd person. Personal pronouns (for example, she) are used to replace names or even entire (<– sometimes really long) noun phrases: Sally → sheThe girl → sheThe tall, kind girl that I like but you don’t → she. The following three versions of How are you? But in German, this difference between the accusative case & dative case is still crucial. (vee geyt ês een-en?) This is the formal version. (Where are you from, sir/madam?) Here’s the formal version: Here’s how to pose the question informally: Und dir? we, us (wir, uns). Germans expect a reply because for the German speaker, asking “Wie geht es Ihnen?” isn’t the same as a casual hello but rather is a means of showing genuine interest in someone. There are also some noun groups (e.g. Notice that “Dir,” meaning “You” has changed to “Ihnen.” This, unlike the version above, can be used for both – individuals and when addressing a group of people. She and they have their own spots on the chart — no problem. After you know exactly which person your noun is in (1st, 2nd, 3rd; singular, plural), you still need to figure out which case your noun is in. Click on this link if you would like to review numbers in German. But this time it should be slightly more familiar, as English has kept some of these distinctions too. months of the year) that are comprised of nouns all (or with few exceptions) taking the same gender. Tip: If you want to formulate a question, you change the word order and you raise your voice a little at the end of the question! Even just She is tall. You’ll learn some formal and informal ways to ask people how they are in this free German audio lesson. (Thanks, I’m fine.) 1. How you conjugate your verbs will depend on which word you use. Start the email You are probably familiar with the difference between “Sie” and “du” in German — formal ‘you’ vs. the informal, more familial ‘you’. Then, German continues to have separate pronouns for the accusative vs. dative cases (e.g. You can do it! When I’m explaining it, though, I use ‘you all’ or even ‘y’all’ in my examples). (And you?) (oont deer?) #4 Bis bald - “See you soon” in German. is often just a way of saying hello, and no one raises an eyebrow if you don’t answer. This is the informal, singular version. include Woher kommst du? is pretty tricky — these nouns should definitely be memorized with the der, die, das in front of them. (plural, informal you). It means ‘You’ [formal] no matter how many people you’re talking to. Dr. Christensen recieved her MA and PhD from Dusseldorf University, Germany. I highly recommend this for German learners. If you feel like you’re getting the gist of the above, you should be ready to move on to section 2. Determiners & adjectives take little changes called declensions (bolded): Die große weiße Gans schnattert mit einer kleinen gelben Ente. You stop a stranger to ask for help finding the way, but in your haste, you address the person in familiar terms rather than using the formal. Well, figuring out which form to use is easier than you may think. 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