German sie vs Sie

[AML]

A German friend of mine (native German speaker from Hamburg) was translating some English to German for me, and I noticed that he always uses "sie" in situations where I always thought it should be "Sie" (formal/polite). For example, "Sie zahlen mir jetzt den ganzen Betrag, wenn ich den Tisch für sie reservieren soll." I thought that you ALWAYS use "Sie", with the capital S, in formal/polite situations like this. He insists that it's "sie" (lower case). I'm so confused.

I asked him about this, and he said that you only use "Sie" (capitalized) when the author is speaking directly to the reader (like when you sometimes see Du or Dir in the middle of a sentence).

[Doitsujin]

I asked him about this, and he said that you only use "Sie" (capitalized) when the author is speaking directly to the reader (like when you sometimes see Du or Dir in the middle of a sentence).

The explanation is utter nonsense. The spelling of formal personal pronoun is alway Sie with a capital S.
BTW, I don't know what the original English sentence was, but I find the translation a bit rude. (It does reflect actual spoken German, though.)

[Kraut]

"für Sie reservieren" : he adresses a single person, the guest is alone
"für sie reservieren": the person adressed as "Sie" is reserving a table for a group": "sie" meaning
"für Sie und Ihre Freunde"

[SGP]

A German friend of mine (native German speaker from Hamburg) was translating some English to German for me, and I noticed that he always uses "sie" in situations where I always thought it should be "Sie" (formal/polite). For example, "Sie zahlen mir jetzt den ganzen Betrag, wenn ich den Tisch für sie reservieren soll." I thought that you ALWAYS use "Sie", with the capital S, in formal/polite situations like this. He insists that it's "sie" (lower case). I'm so confused.

In that example, both occurrences of "Sie" are the same. It is simply the formal way of addressing someone you wouldn't call "du".

I asked him about this, and he said that you only use "Sie" (capitalized) when the author is speaking directly to the reader (like when you sometimes see Du or Dir in the middle of a sentence).

In the example above, the waiter is speaking to the customer in a very direct way. Addressing him/her as "Sie", just as another person would be addressed as "du".

"sie" without capitalization is (the female 3rd person singular, and also) the 3rd person male/female plural. We use the capital S to make it clear that it is meant as an Anrede (way of addressing someone), rather than a way of speaking about someone in the 3rd person.

However, a lot of us natives mix up those things every now and then. There is a very wide-spread sign that can be seen in places of construction (Baustellen). It says, "Eltern haften für ihre Kinder.". I.e., "parents are responsible for their children". However, I have seen way too many of those signs with a capital I instead. "Eltern haften für Ihre Kinder." is more about "(Any) parents are responsible for (your, yes, your!) children" ...

[Kat]

A German friend of mine (native German speaker from Hamburg) was translating some English to German for me, and I noticed that he always uses "sie" in situations where I always thought it should be "Sie" (formal/polite).

What's the pronoun in the original English sentence? You or they?

[Philipp]

Your friend is mixing up the rules for Sie and du. Du/Ihr can be capitalized when speaking to some directly, e.g. in a letter.

According to the Duden:

https://www.duden.de/sprachwissen/sprac ... von-sieSie
https://www.duden.de/sprachwissen/sprac ... und-ihrIhr

[AML]

A German friend of mine (native German speaker from Hamburg) was translating some English to German for me, and I noticed that he always uses "sie" in situations where I always thought it should be "Sie" (formal/polite).

What's the pronoun in the original English sentence? You or they?

You.
Speaking to one man.

[Kat]

You.
Speaking to one man.

In that case your friend is mixing something up. "Sie" should definitely be capitalized.
Otherwise, I'd assume that the waiter means a group of other people or a female but not the man he is actually talking to.

I like this overwiew:

Beispiele zur Groß- und Kleinschreibung von "Sie" und "sie"

"Haben Sie [= Ihr Gegenüber] die Leute an der Ecke gesehen? Es kommt mir so vor, als hätten sie [= die Leute] Sie [= Ihr Gegenüber] nicht gegrüßt."
"Haben Sie [= Ihr Gegenüber] die Leute an der Ecke gesehen? Es kommt mir so vor, als hätten Sie [= Ihr Gegenüber] sie [= die Leute] nicht gegrüßt."
"Kennen Sie [= Ihr Gegenüber] die Telefonnummer der Werkstatt? Ich würde gerne dort anrufen, um einen ihrer [= Mitarbeiter der Werkstatt] Mitarbeiter zu sprechen."
"Wie geht es Ihnen [= Ihr Gegenüber] heute? Der Besuch ist da. Können sie [= der Besuch] reinkommen?"

https://praxistipps.focus.de/sie-klein- ... -ist_98954

It might look a bit confusing at first but I think it explains the different options and meanings pretty well.

[SGP]

I like this overwiew:

Beispiele zur Groß- und Kleinschreibung von "Sie" und "sie"[...]

It might look a bit confusing at first but I think it explains the different options and meanings pretty well.

Confusing? Yes, maybe. Rather information-dense. Requoting your source with some color-coding added #ColorCodingIsADoubleEdgedSword #SomeMayBenefitSomeMayNot.

Beispiele zur Groß- und Kleinschreibung von "Sie" und "sie"

"Haben Sie [= Ihr Gegenüber] die Leute an der Ecke gesehen? Es kommt mir so vor, als hätten sie [= die Leute] Sie [= Ihr Gegenüber] nicht gegrüßt."

"Haben Sie [= Ihr Gegenüber] die Leute an der Ecke gesehen? Es kommt mir so vor, als hätten Sie [= Ihr Gegenüber] sie [= die Leute] nicht gegrüßt."

"Kennen Sie [= Ihr Gegenüber] die Telefonnummer der Werkstatt? Ich würde gerne dort anrufen, um einen ihrer [= Mitarbeiter der Werkstatt] Mitarbeiter zu sprechen."

"Wie geht es Ihnen [= Ihr Gegenüber] heute? Der Besuch ist da. Können sie [= der Besuch] reinkommen?"

[AML]

Update:
I chatted with him, and he admitted that he made a mistake. Indeed, the polite/formal Sie should be capitalized...as everyone but him knew...