It sounds weird to refer to the bartender as pretty, as only feminine things can be pretty, while guys are handsome. The verb phrase is “berichten von”, so a native speaker would not be confused about the topic vs subject based on context, unless it’s REALLY vague. In fact, even some people from Cologne did it and it’s super odd to me because in Berlin we don’t do it. It always feel a bit strange to me (I’m English) to use er/sie to refer to objects not people, but much less so to use der/die.
I didn’t know about this “pretty” vs “handsome” and I’m not sure it’s consensus in English. I’m also surprised at you saying that in Berlin people don’t say “der Thomas”. Try both versions aloud and notice which one sounds pointy and which sounds neutral. ‘er’ and ‘sie’ feel more personal and neutral. Which can make you feel lost… but it can also feel like freedom. And the best way to feel that, I think, is to go back over the examples for it vs that that we had.
If you pay attention to native speakers, you’ll hear der, die, das and den and dem a LOT at the beginning of sentences like these. So der and die are more aphrodite casino pointy than er and sie. The difference in pointy-ness is the same. The only real difference to English is the second example here, where in English that and it work, while in German das is way more idiomatic than es.
The article is about the difference between “es” and “das” (“er” and “der”, “sie” and “die”) when used as pronouns. Get your head around that & you can move on swiftly to learning which nouns are either of the 3 & why they need the correct version of the articles. Clearly it’s because certain languages like French & German classify nouns as Masculine – der (er), Feminine -die (sie), or Neuter – das (es).

  • There is one on “Das habe ich auf bemerkt” That should probably be an ‘Auch’
  • The question mark immediately after the name is implied.
  • Hi Emmanuel, thanks a lot for this article, I am trying to get to B2 and this topic is for me particularly confusing.
  • Not learning nouns with articles.
  • In fact, even some people from Cologne did it and it’s super odd to me because in Berlin we don’t do it.
  • If you’re looking for my lessons, articles about topics or resources I have posted about, search here.

er, sie, es and der, die das – What’s the Difference – Key Questions

  • The fastest way to internalize the link between articles and pronouns is through repeated practice.
  • Sometimes you can but they feel different.
  • Which can make you feel lost… but it can also feel like freedom.
  • Only capitalization and context distinguish them.
  • It’s not really wrong, but it does sound a bit odd and I don’t think a German would use it.

— 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 Computer funktioniert nicht.
But what matters more here is that you take a minute to check how the different examples FEEL with the different words. Or it’s kind of generic like in the last example. While it either directly stands for a noun (implied like “weird behavior” or explicit like “the book” ). But this is really more of a feeling than a rule.

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And the worst part is the young Swabians were REALLY nice people. I had a period in my life where I knew many young people from Baden-Württemberg and they all did it. In Austria (and perhaps southern Germany), when referring to another person who is familiar, it’s usual to use the definite article with their name.
In written, the das has to go or there needs to be a – or something because you’re kind of restarting your sentence. You’re established a new guy, so you couldn’t refer to the new guy with “he”. With the question, you do need the pointy version, and same for “den, der mit Maria redet” because this “den” is actually not an entity yet. This is pretty natural and a German would certainly use it. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist, but it’s not part of the standard vernacular. According to them, it’s rare in Berlin.

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“das ist” or “es ist” – learners often wonder about the difference and the German way of doing it is a little different than English. My handmade dictionary for learners – meanings, word families, examples and all without AI slop.

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.”

In writing this is clear; in speech, context does the work. Casesie (they)Sie (you formal)NominativesieSieAccusativesieSieDativeihnenIhnen Only capitalization and context distinguish them.


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