German Grammar Explained /
Pronouns: he, she, it
Gender in German doesn't match that in English. This is particularly the case for the German es which often doesn't correspond to the English "it". In the same way, however, sie is not always "she", nor er always "he". Let's see why!
Difference #1: English objects don't have a gender, German ones do!
the table, it is nice | → | der Tisch, er ist schön. |
the sun, it is warm | → | die Sonne, sie ist warm. |
the museum, it is open | → | das Museum, es ist offen. |
Difference #2: In English, we always use "it" for inanimate objects. Germans don't follow this restriction and they even use es to refer to a child for example.
the child | → | das Kind |
He/She is tired. | → | Es ist müde. |
The other day I met Kurt, my German neighbor, and he said: "Oh, is this your child? How old is it?". Now I understand why he said that! :D
Haha! I hope no offence was taken.
Difference #3: Animals can be masculine or feminine.
The cat, it is tired | → | Die Katze, sie ist müde. |
The dog, it is tired. | → | Der Hund, er ist müde. |
So to sum up, it all comes down to the gender of the noun. Is that right?
Exactly.
der Monat → Er ist lang.
the month → It is long.
die Uhr → Sie ist alt.
the watch → It is old.
das Haus → Es ist groß.
the house → It is big.
This will take a little getting used to, but don't worry about it too much - you'll start doing it automatically at some point!