How to differentiate pronunciation of these words?
- Sie (you — formal), sie (she), and sie (they)
- ihr (you — plural), er (he)
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RegDwight
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8In German you have always to consider the context. You can't distinguish the different "Sie" by pronunciation – infinitesimalLeanne Aug 02 '11 at 14:52
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@infinitesimalLeanne: "Sie machen das Heim zum Daheim", how one could differentiate they're talking about a person in formal sense or more than one person (plural)? – Aug 02 '11 at 15:08
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4@Gigili: you can't. You need to know who that sentence is addressed at and/or what the context of that sentence is. It could be "you" (singular), "you" (plural) or even "they". – Joachim Sauer Aug 02 '11 at 15:12
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Sie is always pronounced the same.
The pronunciation of ihr and er really only differs in the starting vowel — although the h demands the long pronunciation of i, the e of er is equally long.
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Was about to make matters more complicated - but this answer is already all you need, so +1. – OregonGhost Aug 02 '11 at 15:21