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Better German Podcast with Susi

Susanne Schilk-Blümel
Since 09/2023 50 episodes

49 "Sie" – She, They, It or You? Finally Learn the Difference

Learn how the little German word “sie” can mean “she,” “they,” "it," and even “you” — with simple examples and a free practice PDF.

2025-11-13

Description & Show Notes

Grab the free PDF for this episode here: https://bettergerman.info/sie
This guide walks you through all the different uses of “sie” in one place. Work through the examples, follow along with Susi in the episode, and test yourself with short sentences so each meaning sticks for good. It's straightforward, practical, and finally makes this tiny troublemaker easy to handle.

In episode 49 of the Better German podcast, Susi Blümel explains the different meanings of the little word sie — it can mean "she," "they," "it," or the polite "you." Susi shows you easy ways to tell which one is meant, using simple examples and everyday sentences. By the end, you'll finally understand how this one word can mean so many things, and you'll feel much more confident using it when you speak. 

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Summary
In this episode of the Better German Podcast, Susi Blümel explains the tiny German word “sie” in a simple, clear way. This little word can mean she, they, it, or the polite you — and it can even mean “it” when talking about certain everyday objects in German. With short examples and easy sentences, Susi helps you understand each meaning and know which one fits every time you hear it.

You’ll also get a free PDF with picture prompts and short practice tasks you can try on your own.

Stay tuned until the end for a quick look at what’s coming in the next episodes and some upcoming courses that can help you on your German-learning journey!

Key Topics 🔎 The German Word “sie”
  • Explanation of what “small words” are and why they appear frequently in everyday German.
  • Overview of the different meanings of sie in German.
  • Why sie is one of the first confusing small words learners meet.
  • sie for one woman (she) + simple practice ideas.
  • sie for several people (they) and how to hear the difference (ist vs. sind).
  • sie meaning “it” when talking about certain everyday objects in German.
  • sie for several objects (they) with easy examples.
  • Formal “Sie” — how Germans say polite “you.”
  • Free practice PDF with pictures and sentence prompts.
  • Short look ahead to the next episode on clothing vocabulary.
Mentioned and Related Episodes
Episode 5 – Introduction to German Articles
Episode 26 – I, you, he, she, it... in German
Episode 30 – To be in German
Episode 46 – Clothing Vocabulary

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Transcript

So this is a word that you cannot avoid, and also I, no matter how I decide to teach that's a word we can't avoid and we don't want to avoid it because you will use it and it's a very useful word, and it's the word "Sie," and it has some very distinctive meanings, and we are going to go through them. Welcome to the Better German podcast. I am Susi Blümel, a German teacher and founder of Better German. This podcast helps to learn German in a simple and clear way. With useful words, clear sentence structures, pronunciation, and real life topics from daily life and culture. You'll also get tips for learning German and understanding how the language actually works. And when you're ready, we have a free community and courses to support you even more. Welcome to this new episode. This is an interesting one for me. It's a new one, it's a new thing. We're going to go into a new thing. So first of all, we're going to do a small word. I call it a small word, and not the grammar term not by accident because, first of all, I don't think we need to go into grammar at this point. So here's the thing, there is small words like "in" I'm going to give some English examples, even though "in" is actually also a German one, "in, on, with, you, I, we. is," and so on. These are very different parts of speech, and I'm not even going into grammar, but these small words make up, so it's a little different in the different languages, but maybe the 50 most used word forms, make up or words, makeup about 30, 40 or sometimes even more of the language. So basically in German, if I have remembered correctly, so don't nail me down on the exact percentages, but I think it was about 100 most used word forms. And word forms, I'm saying because technically "be" in German, "Sein" is one word and "is" is a form of that word. But that's what I mean, like different word forms. They make up about, I think it was 40% of the German language. So aside all the other things, that's one approach you can take if you want to learn a language, you could, basically, focus very soon, as soon as you are somehow fluent, you can focus on like the most used words and learn those and those will help you tremendously. And then, there is a completely other thing. Let's take this little word "in," even though that's not the one we're going to go over in this episode, but for example, the word "in" has about 30 to 40, depending on the dictionary, different meanings in English, and I think in German it was about 20, 20 to 30. Also, again, depending on the dictionary. These are different meanings, really, really different meanings. Just try to think of a few. So I'm giving you an example. If I'm saying, the most obvious thing that comes to mind when you think of the meaning of "in," it's like, okay, good, "The cat is in the house," or "I am in the room, or she's in Italy." Okay, good. Fine. So you are somehow surrounded by something. You're inside of something. Okay, good, good. But what about "He's good in math?" That's a completely different meaning that's regarding, or, "This was a good lesson in greediness," or something like that. So these are two completely distinct meanings. I don't want to go into "in" more, because that's not really the subject of this episode. However, what I want to point out is these small words have meanings, and very often when you look in the dictionary, particularly in a German dictionary, I have to be honest, they're defined by grammar and sometimes the meaning kind of like gets lost and that is a shame. So when I learned English, after you're learning English for a couple of years in school, I actually did a course and I learned all of these small words in English, and that was so helpful. I actually spent six weeks very intensively. That would be probably more like, I don't know, almost a semester, because I really did the super intensively, just learning these small words. There were other things as part of this course, but this is like amazing and it's also helped me in my own language, and over time, I think I've also looked at all the meanings of the little words in German as well. So basically, when you are learning German with me, depends on what course you are doing, but in my general course we cover small words. Bit by bit. So you will also learn those, and these are very important. I have a, an idea and a project on a back burner, so to say, to even make a separate course just with those forms, like the 100, most used words in German or something like that. So if you're interested in that, let me know. You can send me an email to podcast@bettergerman.info if you're interested in that, or just comment wherever, you're listening to that podcast because, I'm not going to do this right now because currently I'm working on my new German course that is a general German course, not something very specific like this one that will get anybody. Either he's a beginner, then just get him a good start and get him to the point where he can start speaking, or if you have already learned German, maybe even for a while, but you were never able to speak, maybe you weren't taught speaking in that school or in the course that you took, then that's also for you. The course is called, "Get Talking, German for Beginners and Restarters." So this is what I'm working on right now. It's going to launch in February. So this is what I'm working on right now, very intensively. It's a great course. You'll like it. You can sign up for the wait list already and maybe you want to, if you know like, "Yes, I really want to do that," there is going to be a chance for 10 people only to get this half price. I'm doing a pre-sale, I'm only promoting this on the podcast and in my newsletter, but I'm not going to put out any ads or anything like that. There's going to be a presale for 10 people only, and this is going to be in the Thanksgiving week. So in the last week of November. That's what I'm working on right now. But, if you are interested in small words, you can actually think about this until the end of the episode, because then you will understand better what that would mean, so then let me know. Let me know at podcast@bettergerman.info You can also write any other questions you have or ideas there, and I will answer them. Good! So let's get into this week's particular episode. We are going to look at one word, in German that I saw, that's the first word when students are learning with me where they're "Huh? But that means something completely different!" I'm not speaking of grammar terms here, because I decided to just basically eliminate grammar terms mostly in the beginning because they can be confusing to everybody because we run into the confusions with their own grammar and so on, and you just have to have some fluency before you start tackling the grammar. You will have to do that, but not now. However, this is a word that you cannot avoid, and also I, no matter how I decide to teach that's a word we can't avoid and we don't want to avoid it because you will use it and it's a very useful word, and it's the word "Sie," and it has some very distinctive meanings, and we are going to go through them. if you are completely new, and this is the first episode you hear about learning German, then I actually suggest you to go to the beginning of the podcast, because I'm building up the podcast, so the podcast is kind of following the course of a course. It's following a path, like a course, sort of. Okay, good! So the word "sie," the most obvious translation of the word "Sie" into English would be "She." So the first meaning of the word "sie" is we are referring to one female person. To a woman, basically. So if I see a woman on the street, I could say something like, "Oh, there is a woman!" Or "Do you see that woman?" "Siehst du die Frau?" "She has red hair." " Sie hat rote Haare" oder "Sie ist schön" "She's beautiful." Something like that. That would be the first meaning of that word, referring to a woman. So when we go through them, we can go through all of them. You can listen to all of them. You can also just hit pause and practice that meaning. I think this one is not going to be super difficult, but if you're relatively new, let me give you a few more examples and also a few more ideas on how you can practice that. Think of any woman or look at a picture of a woman and just describe her. I don't have a woman right here, but I'm just going to imagine one. So, I'm going to say; " Sie ist groß " "She's tall." "Sie ist meine Mutter" "She's my mother" "Sie hat ein schönes Gesicht "She has a beautiful face." Alright, so that's the first meaning. The second meaning we're going to look at is still fairly simple. It's plural. So we talk of two people, and it doesn't matter if they're male or female. So we're talking about a group, even just two people. It doesn't have to be more than two. So two or more people. Let's say we have some kids in the room then I'm going to make some examples. So; "Sie sind klein" "They are small." Of course, that sentence alone could refer to a lot of things. So now the difference is when we use the woman, we said; "Sie ist." "She is." And now because we're talking about more than one person, we say; "Sie sind" "They are" " Sie sind Maria und Klaus" "They are Maria and Klaus." Saying their names. Oder, "Sie sind, drei Jahre alt." "They are three years old." Twins, for example. Oder, "Sie sind die Kinder meiner Freundin." "They are my friend's children." Oder, "Sie sind laut." "They're loud." "Sie sind lustig." "They're funny." " Sie sind schnell," something like that. Or let's talk about my parents. They don't have to be in the room, obviously. I could say; " Sie sind sehr nett." "They're very nice." Oder, " Sie sind siebzig Jahre alt." " They're 70 years old." Something like that. So, we are talking about more than one person. "They are." So I hope you like what you hear. I wanted to mention this, so the best way to learn German with me is through my life group courses. You get real teaching, you get life support, and you get a clear path to really learn German and use the language. We also offer self-paced courses and the free community with resources and practice. All of that you find on bettergerman.info. Okay, good. Now we are coming to the next thing. So you probably heard, or you probably know if you've been listening to my podcast that, in German, every object, every noun actually to be precise. Every noun is, der, die or das. So in English, these are just, "the." It's female or considered to be kind of like a woman, that's a little bit of grammar. Basically we consider every noun either to be like female or male or like it, like an object. However, also every object have this grammar classifications. These are really just three classifications. They're not necessarily logical at all, and that's just the way it is. So, when we're speaking of one of those nouns that are female, and you see that because they have the article "die," and we are referring to this noun, to this thing, to this object, and we don't want to keep repeating the word, then we also use "sie. In English, we would say "it." I'm going to give you, first, an example, which is only half an example, but so you understand what I'm even talking about. So in English, I could say something like; "There is a vase on the table. It is blue," and in German "vase" is "Vase." That's not very different. But, it is "die Vase." So I would say this whole example in German would be "Auf dem Tisch ist eine Vase." We just put the sequence different. "On the table there is a vase," okay. "Auf dem Tisch ist eine Vase." " Sie ist Blau." "It is blue" "Sie ist Blau." that means every object that we are referring to with "die" when we don't want to keep repeating it, we say "sie." And that is at the same time, the reason why, unfortunately, you cannot just ignore "die, der, das," because you will not understand what people are saying and they will not understand you, frankly. If you don't know that and you hear "There's vase on the table. Das ist eine Vase auf dem Tisch. Sie ist blau (it is blue) You could get really confused and you could be thinking like, " Huh, okay, there is the vase, and now who is blau?" I mean, this is maybe an example which is quite easy and you probably would get it, but sometimes these things are not so close together So anyway, that's just an example. You don't have to be worried about it on the other hand. You will make mistakes and there that is inevitable. Just keep practicing. So how do we practice that? Actually, there is a PDF that goes with this episode and in there I'm going to give you list of words that is female that you can use to practice, and I'm actually even going to, you will find pictures there that you can use to make simple sentences. I'm going to give you a few. Now let's, take another female noun. So another object that is considered to be female. Let's take "die Blume," "the flower." Okay. Let's imagine a flower, and then let's make a few sentences. So we could say something like, "Sie ist rot." "It is red." Oder " Sie riecht gut "It smells good." "Sie ist schön" "It is beautiful." Or, "Sie ist verwelkt" I don't actually know what that word is. Verwelkt is when it's kind of like no longer fresh. You use it particularly for a flower. I don't know what it is in English, you see. Sorry for that, Nate. English is not my native language. even, I don't know the words obviously. So, "Sie ist verwelkt." I'm going to put it in the PDF. I'm going to look it up, and in the PDF you'll find it. Let's take another female noun, another object considered to be female. " Die Hose" That's actually an interesting one, I hope you don't find it too difficult. "Die Hose" is "Trousers." However, "Die Hose" in German is considered like trousers in English is always plural. That's kind of like one of the things my English students are like, "Huh?" Because it's just one thing, even though it has two legs. So in German, "Die Hose" is one thing. It's like one pair of trousers. One object considered to be female. So, "Die Hose ist zu groß." "The trousers are too big." Oder, "Die Hose ist bequem." "The trousers are comfortable." " Die Hose ist alt." "The trousers are old." "Die Hose ist zerrissen" Okay, good. So these are the examples. I'm not going to keep going on and on and on in the podcast about it. I'm going to put a few more words that you can practice even with pictures in the PDF and you can just describe it and get used to it. It's in the beginning, maybe something, maybe it's simple for you. I saw that a few students. Kind of like had to wrap their minds around it, and then once you know it, then it's easy, obviously. Good. Next meaning of the word, "Sie." And that would be, it's kind of like I'm putting it as a different meaning in a dictionary, you probably won't find it as a different meaning, and you maybe will just say like, yeah, sure. We can also refer to objects in the plural with "sie." but that's like in English. Das sind zwei Polster auf dem Boden" " There are two pillows on the floor," " und Sie sind flauschig" "They're fluffy." " Flauschig" is, I'm pretty sure a word you may not know. " Flauschig" means "fluffy." My hair is a little fluffy today. I don't really like it fluffy. Anyway, that's, I think, not super difficult, but still, let's make a few examples. "There are two glasses on my table." "Sie sind leer." "They are empty." "Sie sind voll." "They are full" Sie sind schön." "They are beautiful." Something like that. So that's a simple one. Good. Now that's the last one I'm going to do because I don't want to go into advanced sentence structures. This is a simple kind of thing, and I want everybody to be able to practice this, but in German we have a formal form of communication. In English, we always will use "you" no matter if we're good friends with someone or if we just met them for the first time on the street, or if they're like your superiors or your teachers. It's always "you," and it doesn't even matter if it's one person or several people. In German, It's different. I'm not going to go into all, definitions of you or all translations. Actually, that's probably another episode I should be doing. Write to me or comment if you would find that helpful, but now a very specific one if we are talking with someone formally. So if you would be addressing a teacher or somebody who could be your superior. Even though, in Austria and in Germany, it's also becoming less formal. you have to check honestly, like the last time I was employed, which is a long time ago, and not self-employed, I was also addressing my superiors, most of them, maybe not the boss of the company, with informal communication. But let's say a teacher in my school or at university, or if you're a lawyer, you wouldn't address a client like that. You would address in a special, formal way and what we are doing is we're using this exact word, "Sie." So if you are speaking to someone formally and you would say, something like "You are here." I don't know, for some reason. You would say; "Sie sind hier," and that is the same form. We also use the verb form the same way as if we were talking about other people in the plural. "Sie sind hier" oder or "Sie sind sehr nett" " You're very friendly." "Sie sind sehr nett" Oder (or) "Sie sind groß" I don't know, a lady in the shop that you're trying to find clothes in says for some reason, "Sie sind groß" "You are tall," Oder (or) " Sie sind zu spät" something you would not want to hear. "You're too late." So that is also how we use "Sie," and in this case, it doesn't matter if you speak to one or to several people. Okay, so these are the basic meanings of the word, "sie." I suggest you to practice all of them. Get the PDF. You find the PDF always you find everything that I mention in this episode in the show notes. And you find the show notes either right where you're listening to the podcast or you can always go to bettergerman.Info and then slash (/) and then the episode number. So this is the episode 49, so you can go to bettergerman.info/49, and I will link the PDF there that goes with this episode. However, this particular PF you can also find at bettergerman.info/sie SIE, the German word that we're covering. So either of those places, you can find the PDF. You have to sign up once, but it's completely free. Get it, download it, and then you find in there, one more time, the definition summarized, and I'm going to give you pictures and prompts, how you can practice them both, verbally, but also in writing. Okay, so let me end off with a little outlook on the next episode. Next episode is episode 50. I'm excited! Can't believe that I've already done 50 episodes, to be honest, even though it's almost two years, but I stopped almost a year in between. It's kind of like a year basically, and it was a very exciting time. So episode 50 is actually, the sentences for the clothing vocabulary. So we had episode 46, was an episode about clothing vocabulary. " Die Hose" "the trousers" was in there, but words like coat, shirt and so on, in German. The next episode is actually the episode where I provide the practice for these words. We are doing sentences with those words, but I'm going to look back on last episodes and give you my highlight list and a little bit of a summary of what's happened in that time that I have been podcasting and so on. So I hope you're going to tune in to this next episode. It means the world. Thank you very much for everybody who's listening. So if you want to support me and if you like what I'm doing, definitely like the podcast episodes, wherever you can. Subscribe to the podcast, share the podcast with other people, and give me a good review on Apple reviews. That would help also very, very much, and if you have anything nice to say or suggestions on, topics or questions, then you can always write to me at podcast@bettergerman.info. Okay, hear you next time. Bye-bye!

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