Person and number

Person and number define those verb categories that are expressed only through finite verb forms. The subject of the clause determines the person and the number.

subject	person	number
ich	1. person	singular
du / Sie	2. person	singular
er, sie, es	3. person	singular
wir	1. person	plural
ihr / Sie	2. person	plural
sie	3. person	plural

There are two numbers, the singular and the plural, and three different persons, the first, the second and the third. The first and second person refer almost exclusively to natural persons but the third person can also refer to non-persons.

person		Examples	person / non-person
er, sie, es	3. person singular	er lernt Deutsch	person, e.g. Paul
		sie läuft ab	non-person, e.g. die Frist
		es passiert oft	non-person, e.g. dass die Sekretärin sich verspätet
sie	3. person plural	sie spielen Fußball	person, e.g. die Kinder
sie	3. person plural	sie verfaulen	non-person, e.g die Kartoffeln

In German, two options are distinguished regarding the second person:

1. addressing someone in an informal manner (informal form) and

2. the polite/formal form.

These options are present in both numbers.

subject	number	Example
du	singular	Möchtest du einen Kaffee?
Sie	singular	Möchten Sie einen Kaffee?
ihr	plural	Möchtet ihr einen Kaffee?
Sie	plural	Möchten Sie einen Kaffee?

The personal pronoun Sie of the polite form is always written with a capital initial letter.

The subject and the finite verb form of a clause must agree in number and person.

This principle is called agreement (concord).

Example	person	number	verb form
Ich lerne Deutsch	first	singular	lerne
Ihr lernt Deutsch	second	plural	lernt