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In German we have only one, but very common courtesy form in the language. The use of Sie instead of Du for 'you' in formal occasions. Tends to trip English spe

In German we have only one, but very common courtesy form in the language. The use of Sie instead of Du for 'you' in formal occasions. Tends to trip English speakers up a little bit.

wruza 4y ago
“You” is also a polite plural that became default and displaced “thou”. Probably slightly differently but in the same category. https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/why-did-we-stop-using-thou https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/why-did-we-sto... The pronoun that had previously been restricted to addressing more than one person (ye or you) started to see service as a singular pronoun. Initially you was used to refer to a person of high social standing (such as royalty, who would be addressed as “your majesty”) but soon came to be used as well when speaking with a social equal. As a result, poor thou was downgraded, and was used primarily when referring to a person of lower social standing, such as a servant. However, this pronoun did not disappear, as it also functioned as an indicator of familiarity or intimacy, and retained its function as a singular form of address for God in many cases in ecclesiastical writings.
- hnbad 4y ago
  An odd artefact of this difference is that in many English speaking TV shows (especially up to the 2000s) translators would use the more formal "Sie" by default even when the show itself clearly suggested a level of familiarity or intimacy that made this weird.
- mlatu 4y ago
  > was downgraded, and was used primarily when referring to a person of lower social standing, such as [...] a singular form of address for God what do you mean i messed up the context?
smallthings 4y ago
One interesting thing I've noticed after moving from Poland to Germany is that while both languages have two politeness levels (du/Sie and ty/pan respectively), the rules governing their use are vastly different. It seems that the German system is mostly age-based (most of the time you only address people older than you formally), while the Polish one is relationship and familiarity-based (you address people you don't know and people you've met in certain circumstances formally). It's common to see Polish people who've met each other at a larger stage of life keeping using formal pronouns in casual conversations. However, in written communication, Germans default to the formal way; Poles write announcements, letters etc. with casual pronouns. An instruction manual written in first person formal instead of infinitives tells me that this instruction has been translated in Germany :)

In German we have only one, but very common courtesy form in the language. The use of Sie instead of Du for 'you' in formal occasions. Tends to trip English speakers up a little bit.

wruza 4y ago

“You” is also a polite plural that became default and displaced “thou”. Probably slightly differently but in the same category. https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/why-did-we-stop-using-thou https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/why-did-we-sto... The pronoun that had previously been restricted to addressing more than one person (ye or you) started to see service as a singular pronoun. Initially you was used to refer to a person of high social standing (such as royalty, who would be addressed as “your majesty”) but soon came to be used as well when speaking with a social equal. As a result, poor thou was downgraded, and was used primarily when referring to a person of lower social standing, such as a servant. However, this pronoun did not disappear, as it also functioned as an indicator of familiarity or intimacy, and retained its function as a singular form of address for God in many cases in ecclesiastical writings.

hnbad 4y ago
An odd artefact of this difference is that in many English speaking TV shows (especially up to the 2000s) translators would use the more formal "Sie" by default even when the show itself clearly suggested a level of familiarity or intimacy that made this weird.
mlatu 4y ago
> was downgraded, and was used primarily when referring to a person of lower social standing, such as [...] a singular form of address for God what do you mean i messed up the context?

smallthings 4y ago

One interesting thing I've noticed after moving from Poland to Germany is that while both languages have two politeness levels (du/Sie and ty/pan respectively), the rules governing their use are vastly different. It seems that the German system is mostly age-based (most of the time you only address people older than you formally), while the Polish one is relationship and familiarity-based (you address people you don't know and people you've met in certain circumstances formally). It's common to see Polish people who've met each other at a larger stage of life keeping using formal pronouns in casual conversations. However, in written communication, Germans default to the formal way; Poles write announcements, letters etc. with casual pronouns. An instruction manual written in first person formal instead of infinitives tells me that this instruction has been translated in Germany :)