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If you've
had any German at all you would know that there is three ways to say "you".
One these words, sie, is plural meaning all of you, so it's not very confusing
to use. The other two (du and Sie) have the exact same meaning in English, but
can't really be used interchangeably in German. Sie is the formal form of you,
and is used for people in businesses, people you don't know very well, and people
that are older than you. Du is only used with family, close friends and children.
You should always start with the Sie form until the other person has given you
permission to call them with the du form. Some other precautions about meeting
people are below.
- Titles
are also very important. Anyone that you would use the Sie form with is
someone that you should use Mr. or Ms. (Herr or Frau) with.
- Fräulein
should only be used on small girls under the age of 14.
- To
address a doctor, you have to use two addresses, Frau Doktor or Herr Dokter.
- In
Germany people like to shake hands when they meet. This applies not only
with the first time, but at almost every time they meet. So, when you're
visiting people make sure to keep you're hands out of your pockets and make
eye contact with the person you're shaking hands with.
- Germans aren't
always going to come up and introduce themselves to strangers especially
if they know that you don't speak their language. Not all Germans know English
and even if they do they might be not comfortable using it. Even if you
don't know very much German most of them will appreciate you learning their
language.
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