Wie geht's Ihnen? Confusion
I hope this little bit helps if you are having a problem understanding the contraction with "geht's"
I find this sentence will confuse many Fluenz German learners: "Wie geht's Ihnen?" It should be written out as "Wie geht es Ihnen?" for proper pronoun and verb learning. Then it can be shortened with a contraction once you understand how to properly conjugate the verb. :)
If you were addressing someone you do not know you would say, "Wie geht es Ihnen?" - literally "How goes it to you?" or "How are you?" (formal voice).
If you were addressing a family member or friend you would say, "Wie geht es dir?" - literally "How goes it to you?" or "How are you?" (familiar voice).
Let's conjugate a verb in the present tense. :)
e.g. gehen (to go) - present tense
Singular
ich gehe… I am going...
du gehst… you are going… (i.e. individual, familiar voice)
er geht… he is going...
sie geht… she is going...
es geht… it is going...
Sie gehen… you are going… (i.e. individual, formal voice)
Plural
wir gehen…we are going...
ihr geht… you are going… (i.e. group of people)
sie gehen… they are going...
Another verb conjugation example! :)
e.g. sein (to be) - present tense
Singular
ich bin… I am...
du bist… you are… (i.e. individual, familiar voice)
er ist… he is...
sie ist… she is...
es ist… it is...
Sie sind… you are… (i.e. individual, formal voice)
Plural
wir sind… we are...
ihr seid… you are… (i.e. group of people)
sie sind… they are...
I HIGHLY recommend that you get Barron's 501 German Verbs - it will help you immensely. Once you get how to conjugate verbs in German the rest is not too difficult.
Status:
Open May 26, 2012 - 09:46 PM
German, German > Grammar