Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by lorenzhs 3615 days ago
"Sie" has multiple meanings: in addition to the two you mentioned it's also the form of "you" used for strangers/official stuff/... it's usually capitalized in that meaning, and always plural even when talking to only one person. Prepare for lots of confusing moments with the Sie-vs-Du question.
3 comments
vram22 3614 days ago
>"Sie" has multiple meanings: in addition to the two you mentioned it's also the form of "you" used for strangers/official stuff/

Ah, thanks. I remember now that a few days ago I subconsciously noticed this - or rather, had a doubt - because I thought I had seen "Sie" used for all the three meanings, but wasn't sure (they did not all occur in the same session of using the app). Thought I had got it wrong between the meanings She/You or She/They. Good to have it cleared up.

link
vram22 3614 days ago
Interesting. Hindi has 3 words for "you": tu, tum and aap.

The first is for informal usage with familiar people, such as friends or relatives, the second for more formal usage, such as in business or with people you don't know from before, and the third is the more respectful one, such as for elders or superiors in business or people of official rank, such as a judge, priest, etc.

link
wolfgke 3615 days ago
> it's usually capitalized in that meaning

Not only usually capitalized in that meaning, but always.

link
lorenzhs 3615 days ago
Not everyone does it, though. I mean technically yes, it's required grammatically, but it's one of those rules that isn't always obeyed. It's a mistake but common enough to be aware of it.
link
wolfgke 3615 days ago
In my opinion there is a cultural difference here: While in English, as I see it as a foreigner, if many people spell something wrong, it becomes an accepted spelling, in German if lots of people spell something wrong, it is still considered as wrong. There are even websites for common spelling errors and wrongly used words which you can link to in internet discussions to convince someone that/how their spelling was wrong, such as

> http://www.das-dass.de/

> http://www.dassdas.com/

> http://seit-seid.dassdas.com/

> http://wie-als.dassdas.com/

> http://einzigste.dassdas.com/

> http://standart-standard.dassdas.com/

link