German "Ihr" instead of "du" or "Sie"

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Theodisce
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German "Ihr" instead of "du" or "Sie"

Postby Theodisce » Mon Jan 30, 2017 5:11 pm

I've just installed the German version of Skyrim only to discover that NPCs use the pronoun "Ihr" with the corresponding verb endings while referring to my single character. I believe that I saw something similar in other games as well. Could someone please explain me what is going on? Why aren't "Sie" or "du" used instead?
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Henkkles
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Re: German "Ihr" instead of "du" or "Sie"

Postby Henkkles » Mon Jan 30, 2017 5:45 pm

It's an older style of polite address, probably for the medieval-esque fantasy setting.
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Doitsujin
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Re: German "Ihr" instead of "du" or "Sie"

Postby Doitsujin » Mon Jan 30, 2017 5:48 pm

Theodisce wrote:I've just installed the German version of Skyrim only to discover that NPCs use the pronoun "Ihr" with the corresponding verb endings while referring to my single character.


Ihr is used as a polite address form. This use of ihr is nowadays pretty much limited to fantasy books, games and movies.
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Theodisce
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Languages: Polish (native), speaks: English, Czech, German, Russian, French, Spanish, Italian. Writes in: Latin, Portuguese. Understands: Ancient Greek, Modern Greek, Slovak, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Serbian/Croatian. Studies for passive competence in: Romanian, Slovene, Bulgarian.
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Re: German "Ihr" instead of "du" or "Sie"

Postby Theodisce » Mon Jan 30, 2017 6:19 pm

Doitsujin wrote:
Theodisce wrote:I've just installed the German version of Skyrim only to discover that NPCs use the pronoun "Ihr" with the corresponding verb endings while referring to my single character.


Ihr is used as a polite address form. This use of ihr is nowadays pretty much limited to fantasy books, games and movies.


Henkkles wrote:It's an older style of polite address, probably for the medieval-esque fantasy setting.


Thank you, it's very instructive.
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