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2.2 Hallo und das Alphabet

Sie, du oder ihr?

The German language has three different words for “you”.

  1. Sie (formal singular and plural) – commonly used among adults, with someone you don’t know or who functions in a professional role or position of authority (e.g., boss, doctor, police officer, flight attendant, professor, student)
    Wie heißen Sie? / Woher kommen Sie?
  2. du (informal singular) – used with friends, family, children, fellow students, longtime coworkers
    Wie heißt du? / Woher kommst du?
  3. ihr (informal plural) – used with a group of friends, family members, children, students (e.g., meeting several students at a party, a teacher talking to a group of younger students)
    Wie heißt ihr? / Woher kommt ihr?

In general, German speakers use much more formal language when addressing each other than English speakers do. It is not uncommon for people who have been neighbours for years or coworkers in the same office to still address each other with “Frau Meier” or “Herr Berg” and use the “Sie-Form”.

Did you know?

If you are ever unsure whether to use the “du-Form” or the “Sie-Form,” it is safest to use “Sie” until the person to whom you are talking suggests that you use “du“.

Übungen

2.2a

Match each picture with its corresponding pronoun.

Text Description
Drag and Drop Activity
1. Two business people meeting each other and shaking hands.
2. A teacher in front of the class.
3. A group of friends greeting each other.
Answer options:
  • ihr
  • du
  • Sie

Answers:

  1. Sie
  2. ihr
  3. du

2.2b

Listen to the dialogue and click on the correct answer based on what you hear.

Text Description
Multiple Choice Activity
1. They greet each other saying …
  1. Guten Tag
  2. Hallo
  3. Servus
2. How does Frau Meier ask how Herr Dall is doing?
  1. Wie heißen Sie?
  2. Wie geht es dir?
  3. Wie geht es Ihnen?
3. How does Herr Dall respond?
  1. Es geht mir nicht so gut.
  2. Ich bin krank.
  3. Es geht mir auch sehr gut.
4. Where is Frau Meier from?
  1. Dresden
  2. Düsseldorf
  3. Köln
1. Correct answer: a. Guten Tag
2. Correct answer: c. Wie geht es Ihnen?
3. Correct answer: c. Es geht mir auch sehr gut.
4. Correct answer: c. Köln

2.2c

Listen to the dialogue and click on the correct answer based on what you hear (True = Richtig and False = Falsch).

Text Description
TrueFalse Activity
1. Sie heißen Susanne und Thomas. (Richtig/Falsch)
2. Thomas sagt: “Heute geht es mir nicht so gut.” (Richtig/Falsch)
3. Susanne kommt aus Mainz. (Richtig/Falsch)
1. Correct answer: Richtig
2. Correct answer: Richtig
3. Correct answer: Falsch

2.2d

Listen to the dialogue.

Text Description
DragText Activity
Drag the phrases into the correct boxes.
  1. A: Hallo, ich bin Emma und das ist Lara. Und _____?
  2. B: _____ Ich heiße Walter. Woher kommt ihr?
  3. C: Emma und ich kommen _____, und woher kommst du?
  4. B: Ich komme aus Wien, das ist _____.
Possible answers:
  • wie heißt du
  • aus Stuttgart
  • in Österreich
  • Servus!
DragText Activity
  1. A: wie heißt du?
  2. B: Servus! Ich heiße Walter. Woher kommt ihr?
  3. C: aus Stuttgart, und woher kommst du?
  4. B: in Österreich.

Das Alphabet

Watch this video and practice as she teaches you the alphabet.

Video: “Day 1 – The German alphabet *German to Go*” by GermanToGo.com [10:02] is licensed under the Standard YouTube License. Transcript and closed captions available on YouTube.

Achtung

All activities in this e-textbook require ä, ö, ü, and ß where necessary, and you should learn how to spell words the way we present them. You also need to use ä, ö, ü, and ß when you write tasks and quizzes. If you do not know how to make an umlaut or Eszett (ß), please refer to this short article. Also, please note that we always try to provide special characters for you so that you can copy and paste them from the instructions.

“Einheit 1.2” from Willkommen: Deutsch Für Alle by Claudia Kost and Crystal Sawatzky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

License

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Discovering German Copyright © 2024 by Sabine Milz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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