5/29/2019
Basics 2
Tips and notes
German plurals are also strange :)
In English, making plurals out of
singular nouns is typically as
straightforward as adding -(e)s at the
end of the word. In German, the
transformation is more complex. You
will learn details about this in a later
lesson.
In some languages (such as French or
Spanish), genders are also differentiated
in the plural. In German, the plural form
does not depend on what gender the
singular form is.
Regardless of grammatical gender, all
plural nouns take the definite article
You, you and you
Most languages use different words to
address one person, or several people.
In German, when addressing a single
person, use du:
Du bist mein Kind. (You are my child.)
If you are talking to more than one
person, use ihr:
Ihr seid meine Kinder. (You are my
children.)
https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Basics-2/tips-and-notes
Duolingo | Learn German for free
PRACTICE
die (You will later learn how "cases" can
modify this). This does not make them
feminine. The grammatical gender of a
word never changes. Like many other
words, die is simply used for multiple
purposes.
Just like in English, there's no plural
indefinite article.
English German
a man ein Mann
men Männer
Some English speakers would use "y'all"
or "you guys" for this plural form of
"you".
Note that these only work for people you
are familiar with (friends, family, …). For
others, you would use the formal "you",
which we teach later in this course. So
stay tuned :)
1/3
5/29/2019 Duolingo | Learn German for free

Ihr vs. er
If you're new to German, ihr and er may
sound confusingly similar, but there is
actually a difference. ihr sounds similar
to the English word "ear", and er sounds
similar to the English word "air"
(imagine a British/RP accent).
Don't worry if you can't pick up on the
difference at first. You may need some
more listening practice before you can
tell them apart. Also, try using
headphones instead of speakers.
Learn the pronouns together with the
verb endings. This will greatly reduce
the amount of ambiguity.

Verb conjugation
Here is the complete table for
English German
conjugating regular verbs: ending
person example

Example: trinken (to drink)

I -e ich trinke

you -st du
(singular trinkst
informal)

he/she/it -t er/sie/es
trinkt

we -en wir
trinken

you -t ihr trinkt

(plural
informal)

they -en sie

trinken

Notice that the first and the third person

plural have the same ending.

https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Basics-2/tips-and-notes 2/3
5/29/2019 Duolingo | Learn German for free

And here's the complete table for the You will learn about the distinction
irregular verb sein (to be): between "formal" and "informal" later
(it's easy).
English German

I am ich bin

you (singular du bist

informal) are

he/she/it is er/sie/es
ist

we are wir sind

you (plural informal) ihr seid

are

they are sie sind

https://www.duolingo.com/skill/de/Basics-2/tips-and-notes 3/3