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- Ihr = you or her?
Ihr = you or her?
What is the meaning of "ihr"? I thought it was "you" but it seems to be wrong.
20 Comments
"Ihr" can be one of many forms of the personal pronoun:
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2.p. pl. Nom. [you]
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3.p. sg. (f) Dat. [(prep. +) her (indirect object)]
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in an archaic formal term when adressing a superior (this is grammatically identical to the 2. p. pl. of the personal pronoun, similar to how you formally adress some one in french) (to clarify, it was used for example when adressing some one as "Eure Majestät" [your majesty] )
Also mark that it can be one of the following possessive pronouns as well:
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3.p. sg. (f) Nom. sg. m./n. (p.e. "ihr Hund/Haus" [her dog/house])
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3.p. pl. Nom. sg. m./n, (p.e. "ihr Hund/Haus" [their dog/house])
The wikipedia article was great. The key is to understand the "dative" form, which is used to indicate that someone or something is being given something. This also relates to its use in the "possessive" form. Since when you give someone something it becomes their possession. "Ich danke ihr" and "Ich danke der Frau" are both examples of the dative form. They coud be read as "I give thanks to the girl" and "I give thanks to the woman". These phrases are probably thought of as idioms because the verb "to give" and the preposition "to" are implied. Something like "Ich gebe dank zu ihr" and "Ich gebe dank der Frau" would make the dative form more explicit.
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For a sentence such as Ihre Frau liest ein Buch, how do you know if Ihre is for she or the formal you in this context?