How Are You?

German has both a formal and informal way of addressing people. This makes asking the simple question "How are you?" slightly more complicated than in English. You need to know which "you" to use:

• du the informal, which takes the second-person singular verb tense, or

• sie the formal, with a uppercase S, which also doubles as the third-person plural, equivalent to "they". With a lowercase S (sie) it is the third-person singular feminine pronoun, equivalent to "she".

Du is used among close friends, family, and people younger than you. Sie is used for strangers - or even acquaintances - and people older than you.

It is very important to use which level of formality to use. It can be very insulting to someone to address them incorrectly.

To learn more about du, Sie and similar words, check out the subject pronouns lesson.