"Sie" or "du"?

Guten Tag! I have just started learning German and I'm already a little bit confused. I learned to say "Wie heißt du" when asking for someones name. Now I came across "Wie heißen Sie". What is the difference and which one is right? I hope you can help me! Alf P.S. Really like the Rocket German audio course its helping me a lot!

Hi Alf, I'm glad you asked this question, because I'm sure that everyone who starts learning German wonders whether "Sie" or "du" is right. The answer is: both! In German you have a choice about whether you are going to address another person respectfully or familiarly. "Du" (you) is used when addressing someone familiar, like a friend or family member, children and anyone who has offered you the "du". "Sie" (you) is used when addressing someone older, superior or someone you don't know. You can use "Sie" to address just one single person or a whole bunch of people. "Wie heißt du" is asking for someones name in a casual way, whereas "Wie heißen Sie" is asking the same question in a more formal or polite way. I hope that helps you in the meantime. If you want to find out more about the whole concept of "Sie" and "du" check out our Rocket German Learning Guide. Have fun! Nathalie

Thanks Nathalie. Just wondering... from what I hear, a lot of European languages seem to be heading towards using the casual/familiar phrases more often when addressing someone rather than rigidly sticking with using the more formal statements of address. Is this happening in Germany as well? Alf

Hi again, a long, long time ago even English used to have a formal and informal way of addressing someone. Nowadays everyone is just "you". Germans always tended to be quite formal and I don't think it will change in a hurry. Some work places have a policy that everyone is addressed with "du", but then again it's a place where you would more than likely use "du" after a while anyway, at least with the colleagues you work with every day. So I think "Sie" and "du" will still be around for quite a while! Have a good day, Nathalie :D

Actually for the spanish speakers like me is easy to understand this, since we have both ways as well ("tu" and "usted")

If I take a trip to Germany, would I offend someone by using the casual word where I should have used the formal word??

Hi there, it's always safer to use the formal "Sie" for adressing someone, but I guess most people would be thrilled that you are making an effort to learn German that they wouldn't be offended. Nevertheless I would recommend that you use "Sie" unless someone offers you to say "du" to them. I hope that helps you. Have fun learning German!

The very first introductory lesson teaches us "Wie geht's dir" but the word "dir" is not recognized in any of the grammar texts. I'm trying to understand the difference in in du, ihr and especially now, dir. What prompted this is my desire to say, informally, to my (German) neighbors, "How are you guys?" Which I initially thought would be something like "Wie geht sind ihr" but I'm really not sure. Thanks in advance for any help on this.

Hi there, the reason why you say "dir" in "Wie geht es dir" and not "du" is because German uses different cases. "dir" is the dativ of "du". When it comes to German grammar the dative is a little bit tricky and I recommend going through Grammar lesson 7.3, 7.4, 8.1 and 8.2 to get some background information that might help to clarify it a little bit. If you want to say "How are you guys" to your neighbors just say "Hallo, wie geht es euch?" You would use this phrase when you are talking to more than one person, i.e. your neighbor is out in the garden playing with the kids etc. Here are some more variations: "Alles klar bei dir?" = All going well for you? (referring to one person) "Alles klar bei euch?" = All going well for you (referring to more than one person) "Wie geht es dir?" = How are you? (one person) "Wie geht es euch?" = How are you (more than one person) "Wie geht's?" = How's it going? (one or more than one) I hope that helps :D

Danke! Das ist ser nützlich. (That's very helpful. ??)

Das ist sehr nützlich :D