du or Sie (A1) – German grammar

Say du to friends and family and Sie to strangers and officials; Sie always has a capital S: Können Sie mir helfen?

Learn first:Personal pronouns in the nominative

Pronoun forms compared

Case	Informal (one person)	Polite (one or more people)	Capital letter
Nominativ (subject)	du (you)	Sie (you)	Always: Sie
Akkusativ (direct object)	dich (you)	Sie (you)	Always: Sie
Dativ (indirect object)	dir (to you)	Ihnen (to you)	Always: Ihnen
Possessive article	dein (your)	Ihr (your)	Always: Ihr

The main points

du: friends, family and children. Several friends: ihr.
Sie: strangers, older adults, banks, offices, the doctor's.
Sie, Ihnen and Ihr always start with a capital letter.
Sie takes the -en verb form: Sie kommen, Sie haben.
Wait until someone offers the du: Wir können uns duzen.

Part 1 of 4

When you use it

1
Sie with strangers and officials
- Entschuldigung, können Sie mir bitte helfen?Excuse me, can you help me, please? (polite)
- Wo arbeiten Sie, Herr Müller?Where do you work, Mr Müller?
Use Sie with adults you don't know well, with older people, and with staff at banks, offices and the doctor's.
2
du with friends and family
- Was machst du heute Abend?What are you doing this evening?
- Kannst du mir das Buch geben?Can you give me the book?
Use du with family, friends and children. Students and young people say du to each other. Many colleagues do too.
3
Wait for the du
- Wir können uns duzen.We can say du to each other.
- Du kannst mich Tom nennen.You can call me Tom.
The older or higher-ranking person usually offers the du. Don't switch to du before someone offers it.

The forms

Pronoun forms compared

Each du form has a polite partner. The polite forms always start with a capital letter.

Case	Informal (one person)	Polite (one or more people)	Capital letter
Nominativ (subject)	du (you)	Sie (you)	Always: Sie
Akkusativ (direct object)	dich (you)	Sie (you)	Always: Sie
Dativ (indirect object)	dir (to you)	Ihnen (to you)	Always: Ihnen
Possessive article	dein (your)	Ihr (your)	Always: Ihr

What to notice

du is for one person. For two or more friends, use ihr: Kommt ihr mit?

Part 2 of 4

Step by step

1
Check who you are talking to
Friend, family member or child? Use du. Stranger, older adult or someone at an office? Use Sie.
2
Match the verb
Sie takes the same verb ending as sie (they): -en. du takes -st. Careful: du hast, not du habst.
- Sie kommen, Sie haben
- du kommst, du hast
3
Keep the other words matching
Stay with one form. With du, use dich, dir and dein. With Sie, use Ihnen and Ihr.
- Ich danke dir für deine Hilfe.Thank you for your help. (informal)
- Ich danke Ihnen für Ihre Hilfe.Thank you for your help. (polite)
4
Herr or Frau goes with Sie
Do you say Herr or Frau + surname? Then use Sie.
- Wo arbeiten Sie, Herr Müller?Where do you work, Mr Müller?

Part 3 of 4

Common mistakes

~~Wo arbeiten du, Herr Müller?~~
Wo arbeiten Sie, Herr Müller?
With Herr or Frau, use Sie. The verb takes -en.
~~Herr Weber, hast du einen Termin?~~
Herr Weber, haben Sie einen Termin?
Herr + surname needs Sie, and Sie takes the -en form: haben.
~~Können sie mir helfen, Frau Schmidt?~~
Können Sie mir helfen, Frau Schmidt?
Polite Sie always has a capital S, also in the middle of a sentence.

Exceptions

Tap one to open it.

du is only for one person. Talking to two or more friends? Use ihr. Sie is the same for one or more people.
- Kommt ihr mit?Are you coming along? (to friends)

Don't mix it up

sie or Sie?

Inside a sentence, small sie means she or they, and capital Sie is polite you. At the start of a sentence, the verb and the context tell you.

Pronoun form	Meaning	Example
sie (lower case)	she or they	Heute arbeitet sie viel. (She works a lot today.) / Heute arbeiten sie viel. (They work a lot today.)
Sie (capitalized)	formal "you"	Herr Klein, Sie arbeiten viel. (Mr. Klein, you work a lot.)

Part 4 of 4

In real life

Neighbors vs. workplace (Nachbarn vs. Arbeitsplatz)

In Leipzig, David talks to his new neighbour in the stairwell. Later he talks to his colleague Sarah in the office. · Tap EN for English.

David (to a new neighbour)
Guten Tag, Herr Klein. Wie geht es Ihnen?
Herr Klein
Guten Tag, Herr Miller. Mir geht es gut, danke. Und wie geht es Ihnen?
David (later in the office, to his colleague Sarah)
Hallo Sarah! Was machst du am Wochenende?
Sarah
Hallo David! Ich besuche meine Eltern. Und was machst du?

That's the whole topic.

Next topicja, nein, doch

Pronoun forms compared

The main points

When you use it

Sie with strangers and officials

du with friends and family

Wait for the du

The forms

Pronoun forms compared

Step by step

Check who you are talking to

Match the verb

Keep the other words matching

Herr or Frau goes with Sie

Common mistakes

Exceptions

Don't mix it up

sie or Sie?

In real life

Sources