"Ich helfe Ihnen!"

Translation: I am helping you!

[Andrew662949]

If it were 'Ich helfe ihnen' with lowercase, it'd be I'm helping them? So the only way to know the difference with speech is by context am I right or no. The way the pronouns repeat for completely different uses confuses me so much.

[mizinamo]

If it were 'Ich helfe ihnen' with lowercase, it'd be I'm helping them?

That's right.

So the only way to know the difference with speech is by context am I right or no.

That's also right.

[Sarah0741]

what does Ihnen mean?
formal plural you?

[mizinamo]

Ihnen is the dative case of Sie, the formal "you" pronoun (whether singular or plural).

[Jacquesiosti]

Now that you mention it, I remember having learned that long time ago. Thanks

[Kura817048]

It's perfectly possible to use Präsens to talk about the future! One does not always use Futur with the "werden" auxillary! Why do you reject the translation "I will help you" as a mistake?! This is perfectly alright!

[thomasuk711]

That was also my first thought "I'll help you"

[Sophie.I.G]

Just had the same thing, i asked my german boyfriend what ich helfe ihnen meant and his reaponse was "ermmm... I guess the best thing in english is i'll help you"

[az_p]

I also like that translation - Germans often use the present tense for situations in which English would use the future tense. Such translations can be considered idiomatic, even if the grammar is changed.

This sentence is however administered by the Pearson team, so it's up to them to decide to add it.

[Jacquesiosti]

how do you say: I help them

[mizinamo]

Ich helfe ihnen.

That is, the same as Duo’s sentence, but with the pronoun ihnen not capitalised.

[Jacquesiosti]

I understand. Thanks.

[suecd48]

"I'll help you!" (as mentioned before) is a very natural thing for native speakers of English to say, much more than "I help you."

[daguipa]

Since German speakers mostly use present in order to talk about the future, "I'll help you" should be accepted as a correct translation of "Ich helfe Ihnen".

[TMD2020]

Why not "Ich hilfe ihnen"?

[mizinamo]

Why not "Ich hilfe ihnen"?

Because verbs that change their vowel only do so in the du and er/sie/es forms:

• ich helfe
• du hilfst
• er/sie/es hilft
• wir helfen
• ihr helft
• sie/Sie helfen

So ich verb forms have the same vowel as in the infinitive (dictionary form), hence helfen has ich helfe.

[JayashreeR9]

Where to use 'sie' and where to use 'ihnen'

[mizinamo]

sie in the nominative and accusative cases.

ihnen in the dative case.

[sumedh0123]

Can anyone explain when the verb takes -en and when it doesn't when it comes to 'Formal You'?

[mizinamo]

Can anyone explain when the verb takes -en and when it doesn't when it comes to 'Formal You'?

• with the verb sein (to be), which is irregular, it's Sie sind
• with verbs whose stems end in -er or -el, the -e- is dropped and the Sie form (like the infinitive) ends in -ern, -eln as in ändern (change) or handeln (act)
• otherwise, it ends in -en, like the infinitive

So for example, "You help [someone]" would be Sie helfen (jemandem).

[cwnixon]

The question has the I in ihnen lower case! Wrong

[BrynnWatso1]

Tip: 'helfe' is pronounced 'hel•fa'.

Hope this helps!