In subsequent chapters we shall also encounter "wohin" which means "to where": 2. Hallo! P.S. (singular, informal you), Und euch? Luckily, there are some tips & tricks to help out us English-speakers who aren’t used to an accusative vs. dative distinction! Guten Morgen. Men usually don’t kiss or hug each other, although they may greet a woman friend with a hug (and a kiss). and Woher kommen Sie?. Adjectives: describe some feature of the noun (e.g. I highly recommend this for German learners. Pronouns are handy, efficient, little words used to. The easiest way to start learning a foreign language is to memorize greetings and goodbyes. Start the email In English, I like to capitalize it, too — You vs. you — just to help make the distinction when teaching this concept. Wie geht es euch? Wie geht es dir? we, us (wir, uns). / acc. 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. You saw this chart (unmarked) above. You can now learn even more on this topic with the help of a fun animation and a grammar quiz. We can talk about some patterns, so you have to memorize even fewer of these pronouns. Let’s look first at how to determine which role a noun plays in a given sentence. (vee geyts?) all the forms of ‘you’ English doesn’t have). We see exactly those same -s, -s, -m strong declensions in the neuter column. Then, if you imagine that you (1st person) are talking to someone else … that someone else is the 2nd person. The next step after greeting someone in German is asking the question How are you? Woher kommen Sie? (Where are you from, sir/madam?) 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. Sie (you, formal) takes the same verb form as sie (they), which is why in conjugation tables, you will find both words at the bottom together. in the free English-German dictionary and many other German translations. (How are you?) "Woher" means "from where", whereas "wo" is the word which is used when no movement is involved. This German expression actually means it goes. And that’s all we use, for anyone, ever. German words for where are you from? Repeat the lesson until you can answer the questions easily. When you’re on du (dooh) (you, informal) terms of address, you go with conversational expressions. These are important, time-saving little words! Dr. Christensen recieved her MA and PhD from Dusseldorf University, Germany. This is the informal, singular version. You are probably familiar with the difference between “Sie” and “du” in German — formal ‘you’ vs. the informal, more familial ‘you’. Make sure that you imitate the pronunciation of my voice. There are 3 types of declensions (none, strong, & weak) that you can see reflected in this All-In-One Declensions Chart: If you need to know the case that a noun has already been put into (so that you can replace the noun with the correct pronoun), then you can ‘work backward’ by looking at the declensions on this chart to analyze which case (nominative, accustive, dative) your noun is in. Now, leave me a comment and tell me what you think. *NOTE: the formal ‘you’ is ALWAYS capitalized in German. You can see in this marked up version of the pronouns chart that we have THREE different ‘sie’s! (The big, white goose gaggled with the small, yellow duck.). Instead of getting directions, you receive what seems to be some kind of insult as the stranger shakes his head and walks away. As in other European languages, German has both a formal and a familiar form of “you.” The formal Sie is used to address strangers, business associates, and acquaintances (Bekannte, as opposed to close friends, Freunde), and for most situations outside the family. The German sie / Sie can mean she, they, or You (formal). Of course, if you don’t have the noun’s gender memorized and neither a suffix nor a particular noun group can help you out either, you can always look the noun up in a German dictionary! NICE. There are two ways to say “you” in German: the formal “Sie” and the informal “du.” You should always use “Sie” in business relationships, unless directed otherwise. Here’s the formal version: Here’s how to pose the question informally: Und dir? The phrase "vielen Dank für … months of the year) that are comprised of nouns all (or with few exceptions) taking the same gender. As mentioned above, one of the most apparent differences between informal and formal German is the different words for “you.” Sie is formal, while du is informal. 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. "Sie spricht Deutsch." accusative vs. dative), how & when to use German personal pronouns correctly, how to memorize the fewest possible pronouns, If the sentence is already formed (you just want to replace the noun with a pronoun), you can. Continue reading below for the essential elements of learning personal pronouns: In English & in German, personal pronouns are used all. At this stage in learning German, you likely have a nice bit of German nouns under your belt — great job! If you're writing an informal letter, try something more casual like "Bis bald," which means "Talk to you soon," or "Ich vermisse Dich," which means "Miss you." Translation for 'I'm fine, and you?' (So, so.) (How’s it going?) You can tell your German acquaintances goodbye with this expression. Picture this scene: Your train is departing in 20 minutes and you are trying to find the train station. (ês geyt.) Herzlich means “heartfelt” and is an adjective that boosts the power of a regular German thank you. The case of each noun is signaled by the words that come directly in front of it. Simply check out our Number Lessonin level A1. Hopeless romantics of the world, this is your chance: to finally declare your undying love to the person you cherish the most. The following three versions of How are you? There are also some noun groups (e.g. Germans are quite particular about showing proper respect towards others. We have to get a little deeper into grammar here, but it’s worth it: the terminology of ‘person’ is something you will use a lot in learning German (or any other foreign language) and it’s not hard anyway. How old are you? (niHt zoh gooht.) 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! me & me, him & him) because in English there is no difference between the two — they both are the same ‘object’ (vs. subject) pronouns. #4 Bis bald - “See you soon” in German. Do you like the girl? Why? This is the formal version. It means ‘You’ [formal] no matter how many people you’re talking to. Guten Morgen [gu:tən mɔrgən] — Good morning (In German, it’s used before midday) 1. In a way, since it’s the 2nd person singular / plural, it should not only be listed TWICE (<– if we’re being thorough), but it should be up in the 2nd person parts of the chart. that tell us how many of the noun or which one. There are patterns and other tips & tricks that make learning German pronouns easier. Remember from above that this du / ihr difference is one of the 4 reasons German pronouns are tricky — we don’t have an official 2nd Person Plural form in English (at least outside of Texas ). (Thanks, I’m fine.) If you’re talking directly to one person, you would use the 2nd person singular (you / du) and the plural (you / ihr), if you’re talking to 2+ people. Getting your hellos and goodbyes straight in German is a matter of keeping in mind how well you know someone. The following three versions of How are you? Even just She is tall. 3rd Person PluralQuestion: Are you talking to someone about a group of 2+ people? (vee geyt ês deer?) strong declensions in our, *Sie (2nd person singular / plural ) → *You [formal] / *You (2+) [formal]. (vee geyt ês een-en?) This statement is filled with formality and is appropriate in a formal scenario or a professional setting. Much like with Sie and du, it’s best to err on the side of caution and adopt the more formal manner, unless they have stated otherwise. Finally, if you (1st Person) are talking to/with someone (2nd Person) about someone else (a ‘3rd party, if you will), that someone else is the 3rd Person! Here’s a breakdown of what to use when: Wie geht es Ihnen? Asking how old someone is. Find more German words at wordhippo.com! Wie geht’s? use three dative-case pronouns that represent you. Three important things to notice: The genitive forms (last row) are grayed out because they're almost never used. (How are you?) #5 Gute Nacht - “Good night” in German. (vee geyt ês een-en?) She and they have their own spots on the chart — no problem. German has 1 pronoun that has 3 different meanings. This means either "You speak German" or "They speak German", and it is completely up to the context to determine which one it is. (plural, informal you). It’s fairly easy to know when to use the subject pronouns in either English or German, and we’ve talked about that above. 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. Likewise, the ‘1st person plural’ is for a group of 2+ people that includes you — a.k.a. (How are you? You may notice that people in Europe often stand closer to you than you’re used to, for example, in stores, on the bus or subway, or during conversations with you.

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