"Ich mag Sie."
Translation:I like you.
53 CommentsThis discussion is locked.
308
Because "Ihnen" is "Sie" in dative case, but this situation requires accusative (objective) case, that remains "Sie". With "du" it would be "Ich mag dich" dative case for "du" is "dir" accusative case for "du" is "dich"
2047
ateniyo
The dative case is applied to the indirect object.
I hit the ball to her.
I (subject/nominative case)
hit (verb)
the ball (direct object/accusative case)
to her (indirect object/dative case)
The verb hit acted directly on the object the ball
The verb hit was only indirectly involved with her
In English expect to see the indirect object/dative case introduced by prepositions such as
to, from, at, by, with....... etc.
In German expect to see the indirect object/dative case introduced by prepositions such as
aus, außer, bei, gegenüber, mit, nach, seit, von, zu .....etc.
Be aware that some prepositions introduce either direct object/accusative or indirect object/accusative depending on how they are used.
As Crumblus.Crisp has pointed out above, some verbs always take the dative case by their very nature. The reason is not always apparent to English speakers and takes some effort on the part of English speakers to adjust to.
In the example offered by Crumblus.Crisp, German takes the view that you give thanks in general and only indirectly apply it to a particular individual. Giving thanks to someone carries the dative case in German. You may note that giving thanks to someone in English would invoke the dative case as well, except we don't have a dative case form for someone.
308
No, it is the same case, it would be accusative "Ich mag dich" I wrote dative case just to show, that "Sie" changes its form in dative, but not in accusative. And "du" changes its form in both cases
1103
Well, let's say you meet a beautiful stranger and you're drawn to him/her...
Before you hit it off with him/her with that one night stand, you'd want to say something...
Who knows, maybe it'll lead to a long-lasting romance.
308
yes, could be. And not only "I like them, but also "I like her".. but you would understand from context.
If you first come across this exercise through the "type what you hear" route, you cannot hear whether the 's' of "Sie" is a capital 's' or a lower-case 's'. So you can be forgiven for translating
No, you can't.
Listening exercises tell you to "type what you hear", as you said.
So you are not allowed to translate.
"type what you hear" means "hear German words, write down German words".
Not "translate into English and write down English words".
All translation exercises show you the written form and use that as a basis.
- It's not "sie." It's "Sie."
- For it to be dative, it would have to be "Ihnen."
- However, "mogen" takes accusative--not dative--and the accusative for formal you is "Sie."
- Formal you in any case must be capitalized.
- Ich mag dich.
There is never a stupid question when you are learning. In speech, you cannot distinguish between sie (she), sie (they) and Sie (you formal). It is only in context that you would know. Discussion before 'Ich mag Sie' is even said. I hope this brings perspective.
Some German verbs have an -e added to the end in 1-st person singular, but not all verbs.
But almost all verbs. There are just a handful that do not - ich weiß, ich kann, ich soll, ich will, ich mag, ich muss, ich darf (and compounds, e.g. ich vermag) and the irregular verb ich bin; any others?
Saying "some verbs" is a bit misleading here, I think; it sounds like the proportion is 40% rather than 99%.
1917
In english as in german there are two levels of formality. If you meet someone new, or if you talk to your boss, you will usually call them Mr. and Mrs. In these cases you would use "Sie" in german. If you speak to friends and family you would use first names. In these cases you use "du" in german.
Ive read all the comments and still very confused on how when doing the write what you hear thing, how do I know that its "I like you" and not "I like her" when you are hearing it and cant see a capital?
I don't think that capitalisation is checked for "type what you hear" exercises -- so you could write ich mag sie regardless of whether the voice is saying Ich mag sie. or Ich mag Sie.
Also how is "I like her" then said?
Ich mag sie.
1934
Why is it, that "Ich mag Sie" may be translated as "I like you", but on a different translation question, "I like you" may only be translated as "Ich mag dich"?
When you have only sound
When you have only sound, then it is a listening exercise where you are supposed to "type what you hear".
So if you hear ich mag sie, then you can write down Ich mag sie. or Ich mag Sie. and both will be accepted.
But if you write "I like you" or "I like her" or "I like them", then it will be marked wrong, because what you heard was German words, not English words.
Translation exercises have a written text for you to translate.