— She is coming.sie (+ plural verb)theySie kommen. The word sie is famously overloaded in German. In casual speech, Germans often switch to er or sie based on the child’s actual gender, but the grammatical rule says es. This feels strange to English speakers, but it is grammatically correct. Der aphrodite casino Computer funktioniert nicht.
- I’m pretty sure German too must have some word for handsome, that only applies to males, but I can’t remember how it goes.
- Or at least it’s very unlikely.
- This could be a real subject, but the double “von” in the sentence does sound shitty.
- To say also something related to the topic, for me the pointy der, die, das translate as that one.
- But using ‘der’ or ‘die’ can sound a bit distant or dismissive compared to ‘er’ or ‘sie’.
- This feels weird, and you’d use that instead because it can’t really handle that much focus.
- But the bottom line is… don’t stress about this too much.
Confusing sie (she) with sie (they). Der Rock (the skirt) is masculine, so it is er. Das Mädchen (the girl) is neuter because of the diminutive suffix -chen, so grammatically it is es, not sie.
In writing this is clear; in speech, context does the work. Casesie (they)Sie (you formal)NominativesieSieAccusativesieSieDativeihnenIhnen Only capitalization and context distinguish them.
And we only have one, so the assumption is that it’s the more important element. Here, it’s not 100% clear if I was told BY Thomas or ABOUT Thomas. This could be a real subject, but the double “von” in the sentence does sound shitty. It’s the “topic”, a prepositional object. The reader is in the dative as recipient. “wird … berichtet” is a passive construction in my interpretation.
- If you have a noun with a feminine article (die) then the article and the noun can be replaced with sie.
- For practice on the go, download the Deutschwunder app and master German articles, pronouns, and grammar anywhere.
- Sounds fine to my ear but probably weird to the north German ear.
- If you know a noun’s article, you automatically know which pronoun to use.
- If I wanted to do a slight dig I might refer to a guy as a pretty boy (like Arnold S’s girly man reference).
- So der and die are more pointy than er and sie.
- But what matters more here is that you take a minute to check how the different examples FEEL with the different words.
Table of Contents
— You are coming.ihr (dative of sie)her / to herIch gebe ihr das Buch. FormMeaningExamplesie (+ singular verb)she / it (feminine)Sie kommt. The table is masculine, so it gets the masculine pronoun.
Search my Dictionary
There is one on “Das habe ich auf bemerkt” That should probably be an ‘Auch’ And please do make a quiz or exercise about this topic! But I have a question – this also works for plural, right? But in Berlin, we don’t do that. The question mark immediately after the name is implied. Sounds fine to my ear but probably weird to the north German ear.
A door (die Tür) is sie, not es. So far we have looked at er/sie/es as subjects (nominative case). Context is powerful, and with practice, you will develop the same instinct. In written German, Sie with a capital S always means the formal “you.” Lowercase sie means “she,” “it,” or “they.”
Use er, sie or es instead of the article and the noun
— The table is new. If you know a noun’s article, you automatically know which pronoun to use. This applies to people, animals, objects, and abstract concepts alike. The critical difference is the “Used for” column. Understanding er, sie, and es is essential because these three small words do far more work in German than their English equivalents.
Your Comments and Questions
This explanation really clarifies the nuances between these German pronouns and articles. Listen to natives and copy sentence starts where ‘der’, ‘die’, ‘das’ appear. Avoid starting a sentence with ‘es’ when it refers to a specific thing. Whether that guy is there or not I really don’t care.
er, sie, es and der, die das – What’s the Difference – Key Questions
In this example, I don’t feel there’s a difference between “er” and “der”, but if we make it a conevrsation then der gets a slight edge, for me anyway. I think most people would read this as “about Thomas” because the topic is more important for the verb “berichten” than the person doing it. And the only difference really is that the version with sie sounds less pointy and a bit more personal. For practice on the go, download the Deutschwunder app and master German articles, pronouns, and grammar anywhere.
Or at least it’s very unlikely. My brain doesn’t have distinct words in German, so it’ll just always hear “pretty” and “handsome” as synonyms so I’d never notice this on my own. This topic and your prefix dictionary are exactly where I am in my journey into this heart of darkness. Or, maybe a gay guy talking about another gay guy. The elves in Lord of the Rings might be described as pretty.