After trying to get to grips with the gender star and gender-neutral language, it is now time we turn to another problem in German that our clients are facing: How should they address users, clients, readers and their own employees? Should they use the formal “Sie” or go with the informal “du”?

For myself and many of the older generation, informal “du” was very much reserved for addressing family members, friends and children, both in spoken and in written communication. Children, when addressing an adult, would use “Sie”. When students reached the age of 16, teachers would start addressing them as “Sie”, a sign they had now reached maturity. But things have been changing over the past 20 years. One factor no doubt is the increasing presence of English where no such distinction is made. Many companies have adopted the use of “du + first name” for that reason. Another reason is that foreigners struggling with German find it difficult to learn two separate forms, therefore they often simplify things by using “du” in all situations.

So these days, when I go into a Migros or a Coop store in Switzerland I am no longer taken aback when the friendly cashier asks me “Hast du eine Clubkarte?” or “Zahlsch du medere Charte?”. And if you love the mountains, note that once your at 1000 m (in some locations it’s 1500 or 2000) the general rule is to use “du” (while you’re up there, at least).

But on the whole, certainly in the business environment and in written communication, the “Sie” has not vanished. Typically, when we translate internal and external communications, user manuals and mailings for our clients, the question doesn’t even arise. We use the formal “Sie”, like we always have. And yet, as some of you may have noticed, the “du” is popping up in various places. Adverts for holidays, for example, or for cars, or for bank accounts. Or even job ads: “Du hast Erfahrung im Aufbau und Betrieb von Cloud-Lösungen?”; “Du hast eine Ausbildung im Bereich Medien absolviert?”; “Teamarbeit macht dir Spaß. Du bist aufgestellt und motiviert…”

Decision time for companies

Thinking that Fashion might be a domain where a casual tone was most likely to be adopted, I checked a few websites, and discovered, to my surprise I must admit, that most of them are still using “Sie”. Exceptions are for example: Max Mara (“Entdecke mehr”; “Auch deine Wunschfarbe ist mit dabei” …) and H&M (“Entdecke reduzierte Lieblingsteile”. “Im Sale findest du alles …”. Zara, on the other hand, sticks with formal: “Abonnieren Sie unseren Newsletter”, “Haben Sie Ihr Passwort vergessen?”, as do Burberrby, Gucci, Hugo Boss, Marc Cain, Tommy Hilfiger …

It seems then, that just as with gender-neutral language, the formal/informal tonality dilemma is very much a decision each company must take.

When it comes to written communication, where space is often at a premium, the informal ‘du’ phrasing has the advantage of being a fraction shorter:

Entdecken Sie unsere Neuigkeiten

Entdecke unsere Neuigkeiten

Melden Sie sich zum Webinar an

Melde dich beim Webinar an

So how are companies tackling this? The answer is: with bewilderment.

• Some are consistently using “Sie” in all their communications
• Some are consistently using “Du” or “du” (more about these two different spellings later)
• Some are using a mix (depending on platform, for example)

Among the first of our clients to give the topic serious consideration was Logitech, maker of mice, keyboards and joysticks (and much more). At the beginning of the 1990s they decided to use a two-pronged approach. They would use the casual “du” for products that were aimed at game players (typically youngsters), but stick with the more conventional and polite “Sie” for their professional products. They were pioneers also in the linguistic sense. For us it has meant maintaining two parallel “Logitech TMs” for some 30 years now.

Really trendy companies, like Switzerland’s bag-maker, Freitag, naturally use the casual form “du”, as does Liebeskind Berlin, and s.Oliver, to name but a few.

Deutsche Bank, for example, uses “du” (“In nur vier Schritten zu Deinem Konto”; “Lad Dir die Deutsche Bank Mobile-App herunter” – when trying to attract young people to bank with them. But not with their business clients. (Note that they use the direct/personal spelling with the capital “D” – deemed to be incorrect by many*.)

The ‘du’ on social media

However, there is one area where informal/casual is mandatory, really: social media, especially Facebook and Instagram.

Social media, in many ways, has taken over from personal conversations. It is less formal, and more chatty, than traditional writing. It is a way of communicating with others at eye-level, in a non-hierarchical fashion. And as it is predominantly used by the younger generation, their way of talking/writing dictates the tone. A columnist in the German weekly DIE ZEIT says: “In social media, ‘du’ is the default. But a shocking number of users don’t respect that. And that’s discourteous.” Some people go as far as saying that using the “Sie” form within companies is simply outdated – a status symbol, that is no longer relevant in our time.

So, companies that use “Sie” for website content, for glossy brochures, of course for any Legal notices, Terms and Conditions switch to the informal register for weekly mailings and for blogs and Facebook messages. Being on a social platform such as Facebook it’s a bit like going to a party. You don’t want to be caught out as uptight and old-fashioned. So you’re not going to attend in your pin-striped suit.

A mixture

In addition, look at a number of random websites, and you will find “Sie” in the main text, but informal imperatives on the buttons, or calls for action (“Entdecke unser Sortiment”; “Melde dich an”; “Du möchtest mehr erfahren?”). Perhaps because of space constraints, or because they believe the informal here will encourage people to spontaneously click on the button. Or simply because they had two different people producing content, who did not synchronize their approach or did not think there might be a problem. In the same way as in your everyday life at work, some colleagues might use “du”, while others persist with “Sie”, without necessarily reflecting about it.

Use of TMs

So the dual approach is fine, even recommended. But, bear one thing in mind: if you are using the services of a translation company to get your English material into German (of any other language that distinguishes between formal and informal writing), be prepared for some extra cost. You have been relying on the translators using a translation memory – which is instrumental in helping you cut your translation budget. The moment you decide to use both “tonalities”, these savings are reduced. For 100% matches will no longer be 100% matches in cases where you address the user directly. A sentence such as “We’re happy to offer you a 10% discount on your next purchase”, or “Please subscribe to our newsletter so you never miss anything” will now necessitate two different translations, one using the formal, one using the informal tonality. (Remember it is not just the personal pronoun, but also the verbs, and the tone and vocabulary to some degree.)

Sensitivities vis-à-vis the informal address and the customer experience

You might say, well in that case I’d rather go the whole hog and switch to informal altogether. While that may be an option if you’re a manufacturer of sneakers or leisure wear or cool products like Apple, it may not go down so well with your customers if you sell luxury cars, or property. In German-speaking countries, the Swedish furniture manufacturer IKEA is credited with having been the first company to address their customers with the informal “du” (“Wohnst du noch oder lebst du schon?”).

Talking about Sweden, they started using the informal “du” in the 1960s for everyone. They felt it was time to do away with a highly complex and hierarchical system, where the “ny” (formal form) was actually a kind of insult (for people who did not have a title). Apparently, their way of addressing people used to be in the third person singular, with a title (“Herr direktör, vill ni ha en kopp kaffe till” – “Would the Director like to have another cup of coffee?” …). So for the Swedes it was preferable to go straight to the casual “du”. And they brought that with them when they started selling their beds and bookcases in Germany.

But some consumers might find it inappropriate, condescending or “in-your-face” if you start addressing them using “du”. They do not want to be your friend, they do not want to be treated like buddies, they’d like to keep a bit of distance. Not mix a business relationship with an informal, casual approach.

At the same time, there is no denying that slowly, slowly, the distance between a manufacturer/seller and their customers or users is being eroded. With “user experience” (CX) and “personalization” being the buzzwords for all sales-driven activities, companies know more and more about us consumers, their (potential) clients, about our preferences, shopping behaviours, likes and dislikes. That tempts them into thinking they should be addressing us in a more familiar, friendly manner.

Perhaps, the first question companies need to ask before on-boarding their clients on that famous customer journey should be: How would you like to be addressed? Just as you can choose your preferred option from among Dr., Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms. …. But saying that, most of the “personalized” mails we receive these days start with “Dear XX”, where XX is our first name. No Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. anywhere.

To conclude this little excursion into the Formal/Informal tonality, I’d like to make you aware that DeepL which used to provide a mix of du/Sie now offers the choice of Formal/Informal.

But the decision lies with every company that does business in the German-speaking world.

*Footnote: The informal “Du” with all its derivatives always used to be written with a capital D. So we had Du, Dein, Deine, Deines, Dich, Dir … when writing letters to friends and family. But now, the safe spelling is to use lower-case “du”. Unless you are perhaps writing to an elderly friend and you want to be respectful and polite, and not affront them with using a form that is unfamiliar to them. In advertising and marketing material where you are not REALLY addressing one particular person, but you a general audience whose attention you wish to capture, the safe rule is to always spell it with lower-case.