Nuts & Bolts of German: Personal pronouns: You, you & you

 

you

  
       informal formal   
  singular

addressing one person

 du Sie  
  plural

addressing more

than one person

 ihr Sie  
Unlike English, German has three words for "‘you", as you can see from the above box. It is important to use them correctly so that you do not offend anyone. Study the fourteen situations and write the appropriate German word for "you", which one would use in each situation, into the gaps provided. Then press [Check] to see if you got it right.

They address each other with "du".

The child minder addresses the kids with "ihr".

They address each other with "Sie".
situation appropriate German word for you in this situation: du, ihr or Sie?
A father is talking to his children.
A customer is talking to a bank manager.
A woman is asking a pedestrian for directions.
A student is talking to the librarian.
An elderly gentleman is talking to his brother.
A young girl is talking to her class mates.
A tourist is talking to the person behind the counter in a tourist office.
A child is talking to his mother.
A teacher is talking to his six-year-old pupils.
A speaker is talking to managers of various companies in a lecture hall.
A passenger is talking to the bus driver.
One student is talking to another student in the cafeteria.
Two people are talking to a police woman.
A woman is talking to her dog.
Did you get most of them right? To be fair, they were all quite clear-cut. In reality, things can be a bit more complicated in certain circumstances. Work colleagues, for example, will probably say "du" to each other if they are employed at a start-up company in Berlin. In an insurance company however, the "Sie" is much more likely. Neighbours might still use the "Sie" even after living next to each other for twenty years. Click here to see a video published by Deutsche Welle to find out more about the du/Sie dilemma. But don't be disheartened. Most of the time it's quite obvious which form to use, and if in doubt, use the "Sie".
         

 

 

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Tip: If you don't belong to the lucky few who possess a photographic memory, write down what you learnt while doing this exercise.          

photos: (CCO Crweative Commons): https://pixabay.com/en/girlfriends-hug-trust-girl-2213259/
https://pixabay.com/en/kindergarten-kids-preschool-care-90505/
https://pixabay.com/en/cafe-waiter-operation-flirt-kundin-1699126/