European Mini eBook German Language Phrases

In common with many other European languages, German has two "you" verb forms which denote the relationship the speaker has to someone else. To express familiarity, one uses the du form; for formality, the Sie form. As a general rule the Sie form is used when one might address someone as "Madam" or "Sir". If on first name terms, one uses the du form. Grammatically, the Sie form takes the 3rd person plural ending. There are 3 different noun genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. The article of a noun depends on the gender: der (m), die (f) and das (n). Furthermore, German nouns are declined. There are four grammatical cases: nominative (subject), accusative (direct object), genitive (posessive), and dative (indirect object.) Each varies depending on the noun's gender and whether it is singular or plural.