Forum .LRN Q&A: Re: german translation: you or you?

7: Re: german translation: you or you? (response to 6)

Posted by Tilmann Singer on 11/22/02 05:29 PM

I just looked at a few web pages in german and realized that most of them use the formal "Sie" and it doesn't look that strange at all. They don't use the direct addressing in most cases too, so I agree that that's the way to go.

Just take care that "Sie" is always written with uppercase first letter (obviously).

Another topic: what about respecting both the female and the male form? Especially in university settings i could imagine writing something like "Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiter" is asking for trouble ...

8: The Awful German Language (response to 7)

Posted by Carl Robert Blesius on 11/22/02 10:04 PM

Here is a valuable resource (in English), so you all know what we are up against here.

The Awful German Language
by Mark Twain (who lived and wrote in Heidelberg for an extended period of time).

Tilmann, I am not sure what to do about the male and female form, but I am sure someone from our group will have an opinion on it.