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- Mit Ihnen zu reden, war mir e…
Mit Ihnen zu reden, war mir eine Freude.
1389
Does Ihnen need to be capitalized? Is this formal or not? Also in this sentence: Es steht Ihnen frei zu gehen. Is this formal? Does Ihnen need to be capitalized?
Thank a lot. I have a hard time with "Ihnen".
8 Comments
The “Sie” (formal you) is always capitalized, and historically it was derived from the 3rd person plural “sie” (they) and all its respective grammatical variants (ihnen, ihr) which are never capitalized, except for at the beginning of a sentence.
A similar thing happened in English, when people started using the plural “you” also for singular, instead of the original “thou”. In French the same, formal you is derived from 2nd person plural. Apparently it’s more polite to treat someone like they were several people instead of just one. :)
1389
It does what, have to be capitalized? Is it formal then? And yes, it means "you".
So if it means "them" like in: Mach ihnen die hölle heiß!; it would not be capitalized? So if it is not capitalized it means "them"?