In Germany, mastering politeness is vital if you want to establish good relationships. This is certainly true in the business world. The tricky thing is that there are two words which both mean ‘you’, and if you use the wrong one, it could result in the other party feeling slightly insulted. Time to learn how to effectively use ‘Sie’ and ‘du’.<\/p>\n
It can be tricky to know exactly when you are expected to be formal or when it is okay not to be. Using \u2018Sie\u2019 can form a barrier between you and the other party, and can be seen as a sign that you do not want to develop the relationship any further. That barrier could hold you back from forming long lasting friendships, but on the other hand, it is too risky to impulsively start using \u2018du\u2019. So how do you know when it\u2019s time to switch from Sie to du?<\/p>\n
Some signs that you can take notice of are the following:<\/p>\n
Still, if you aren\u2019t sure which form to use, stick with \u2018Sie\u2019 and you will be safe. It is always better to be a little too polite than to be rude from the start.<\/p>\n
Germans will generally use the words \u2018sietzen\u2019 and \u2018dutzen\u2019 when talking about these matters. They are just the verbs of \u2018Sie\u2019 and \u2018du\u2019<\/b>. \u2018Sietzen\u2019 means addressing someone with \u2018Sie\u2019 while \u2018dutzen\u2019 means the opposite, addressing someone with \u2018du\u2019. Sometimes, after a certain period of time, when two people have got to know each other, they might ask\/say: \u2018Kann ich Sie dutzen?\u2019\/ \u2018Sie k\u00f6nnen mich dutzen\u2019, which translates into: \u2018Can I talk to you in a familiar way?\u2019\/ \u2018You don\u2019t need to talk that formally\u2019. It means you have become closer and can now be more familiar and informal with each other. Whether you will change from Sie to du generally depends on the atmosphere and working culture of the company you\u2019re dealing with. Don\u2019t be disappointed if the change never happens, as a lot of German people prefer to keep work and private life separate by keeping things professional during business.<\/p>\nConjugating verbs with Sie and Du\u2019<\/h3>\n
For those who are worrying about how to conjugate verbs using ‘Sie’, the good news is that it\u2019s actually easier than using \u2018du\u2019. When you talk in the familiar or informal way, you need to constantly conjugate the verbs, which isn\u2019t always easy, if you take a look at all the rules (and all the exceptions on the rules). However, when using \u2018Sie\u2019, you simply use the infinitive of the verb. Piece of cake! Here are some examples:<\/p>\n
This helps a lot when you are still a beginner at German and don\u2019t know your verbs that well. Just by knowing your infinitives you will master \u2018Sie\u2019 in no time. Of course the long term goal would be to master both ‘Sie’ and ‘du’.<\/p>\n
The term Hochdeutsch means proper German. As in many languages, German has a lot of dialects<\/a>, which can make it a tad more difficult to understand sometimes. Sometimes, it is even the case that Germans from different regions and who have different dialects struggle to understand each other!. \u00a0Luckily, \u2018Sietzen\u2019 and \u2018Hochdeutsch\u2019 go hand in hand. A lot of people switch to proper German when addressing someone formally, this also automatically creates the correct atmosphere for work-orientated conversation.<\/p>\n