Discussion
Petrol_noggin said:
because Sie means something different from sie, cant rememb er at the mo, as its friday night, BUT IIRC its the difference between "she" and "they" or something.
I got and A in german GCSE so eat that
Ah danke schonn: I'll see your German GCSE and raise you O level (ie GCE, harder than GCSE
) French, Spanish and Latin... oh and I did a crash course in old Greek when I was 13... oimoi and all that... 
Mind you I never got past 'Snakker de Engelsk?' in Norwegian....
Mrs BB here...
In German every noun, whether it is a name, an object etc has a capital letter.
If you want to say your house is small, in English only the first word will have a capital letter, in German the word house will also have a capital letter:
My house is small = Mein Haus ist klein. Note that adjectives do not have capital letter.
In your sentence, sie has a capital letter. Sie has several usages. It can be the equivalent of 'they' in which case it will have a capital letter only at the beginning of a sentence.
It can also be a formal form of 'you'. In German as in French or even Spanish, you won't use the same 'you' for someone you know very well or someone you have never met before or for whom you have somekind of respect.
E.g you are talking to your boss or to a friend, in English you will use 'you'only, in German you will use 'du' for a friend but you will use 'Sie' with a capital letter for your boss, your bank manager or someone you have never talked to before.
I hope this helps even if surely a German speaker will have more to say about the capital letters...
In German every noun, whether it is a name, an object etc has a capital letter.
If you want to say your house is small, in English only the first word will have a capital letter, in German the word house will also have a capital letter:
My house is small = Mein Haus ist klein. Note that adjectives do not have capital letter.
In your sentence, sie has a capital letter. Sie has several usages. It can be the equivalent of 'they' in which case it will have a capital letter only at the beginning of a sentence.
It can also be a formal form of 'you'. In German as in French or even Spanish, you won't use the same 'you' for someone you know very well or someone you have never met before or for whom you have somekind of respect.
E.g you are talking to your boss or to a friend, in English you will use 'you'only, in German you will use 'du' for a friend but you will use 'Sie' with a capital letter for your boss, your bank manager or someone you have never talked to before.
I hope this helps even if surely a German speaker will have more to say about the capital letters...
Petrol_noggin said:
because Sie means something different from sie, cant rememb er at the mo, as its friday night, BUT IIRC its the difference between "she" and "they" or something.
I got and A in german GCSE so eat that
Sie = You, and sie = she, .........
edit: Whoops I was gazumped!.....
>> Edited by 8Pack on Friday 17th February 23:40
Ballistic Banana said:
Mrs BB here...
In German every noun, whether it is a name, an object etc has a capital letter.
If you want to say your house is small, in English only the first word will have a capital letter, in German the word house will also have a capital letter:
My house is small = Mein Haus ist klein. Note that adjectives do not have capital letter.
In your sentence, sie has a capital letter. Sie has several usages. It can be the equivalent of 'they' in which case it will have a capital letter only at the beginning of a sentence.
It can also be a formal form of 'you'. In German as in French or even Spanish, you won't use the same 'you' for someone you know very well or someone you have never met before or for whom you have somekind of respect.
E.g you are talking to your boss or to a friend, in English you will use 'you'only, in German you will use 'du' for a friend but you will use 'Sie' with a capital letter for your boss, your bank manager or someone you have never talked to before.
I hope this helps even if surely a German speaker will have more to say about the capital letters...
See I TECHNICALLY got it right
did I mention I got an A in English A level Wedg1e? 
wedg1e said:
I didn't study German at school and it has always puzzled me: why Do certain Words start With capitals in the Middle of a sentence For no apparent reason....e.g...
saugen Sie meinen Hahn, Mutterbumser
Is it something to do with nouns, or adverbs or what?
Mrs BB again,
not sure your Hahn actually needs a capital....
and i don't think Teds swear filter works in German: i might offer my translator services.... naughty man
Petrol_noggin said:
See I TECHNICALLY got it right
Ar53. I only got to O levels before I was thrown out into the cruel and bitter world; where I had to run 45 miles to work, barefoot over gravel and thorns, before putting in a 26 hour shift digging coal in the cotton-mill. I'd have a 23-second teabreak every other Tuesday and if I was lucky the boss would put my wages in a packet so I wouldn't lose all those half-pence pieces out of my pocket.
i've only lived here 8 years, don't ask me 
but anyway, yes, every noun takes a capital, not just proper nouns (names) like in english
du and sie, basically du for anyone you call by their first names (which means hardly anyone in your work sphere usually), sie for everyone else (except god, that's du too)
>> Edited by hugoagogo on Friday 17th February 23:55
but anyway, yes, every noun takes a capital, not just proper nouns (names) like in english
du and sie, basically du for anyone you call by their first names (which means hardly anyone in your work sphere usually), sie for everyone else (except god, that's du too)
>> Edited by hugoagogo on Friday 17th February 23:55
Ballistic Banana said:
I didn't study German at school and it has always puzzled me: why Do certain Words start With capitals in the Middle of a sentence For no apparent reason....e.g...
saugen Sie meinen Hahn, Mutterbumser
Is it something to do with nouns, or adverbs or what?
Mrs BB again,
not sure your Hahn actually needs a capital....
and i don't think Teds swear filter works in German: i might offer my translator services.... naughty man
OOer missus... Sssssh!
wedg1e said:
Most proper nouns in German take a capital letter.
Also sprach Wendyg
I suppose...
Evening anyway, still got the Elise? It'll be Shaftoe's time soon...
Guten Abend Wedgie. Ja ich hofnet am Shafto's zu gehen. Ich habe nicht seine Lederhosen, ich bin ein Fraue, und Ich liebe mein kinder. Kann ich gibst wasser fur ihre Volkwagen?
i'm not entirely positive what I said, I hope it's not offensive!
>> Edited by wendyg on Friday 17th February 23:54
wedg1e said:
See I TECHNICALLY got it right
Ar53. I only got to O levels before I was thrown out into the cruel and bitter world; where I had to run 45 miles to work, barefoot over gravel and thorns, before putting in a 26 hour shift digging coal in the cotton-mill. I'd have a 23-second teabreak every other Tuesday and if I was lucky the boss would put my wages in a packet so I wouldn't lose all those half-pence pieces out of my pocket.
Okay you win, I got to sleep in a bed made from spangles wrappers and egg shells for 1/2 an hour before going to work in the mines next door wearing nothing but a piece of A4 paper, I suppose I was spoilt. wendyg said:
Most proper nouns in German take a capital letter.
Also sprach Wendyg
I suppose...
Evening anyway, still got the Elise? It'll be Shaftoe's time soon...
Guten Abend Wedgie. Ja ich hofnet am Shafto's zu gehen. Ich habe nicht seine Lederhosen, ich bin ein Fraue, und Ich liebe mein kinder. Kann ich gibst wasser fur ihre Volkwagen?
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