Ihr
your
Used as the possessive pronoun of the formal form of address 'Sie' (you). It expresses possession or belonging.
EXAMPLE
Herr Schmidt, ist das Ihr Mantel?
Mr. Schmidt, is that your coat?
Ihr
your / you
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Meanings
Ihr
you
Used as the personal pronoun for the 2nd person plural (several people you address informally) in the nominative.
EXAMPLE
Ihr seid ein wirklich gutes Team.
You are a really good team.
Usage tips
Context clue
To distinguish the meanings of 'Ihr' (your/you), look at the following word. If 'Ihr' comes before a verb (e.g., 'seid' (are), 'habt' (have)), it is the personal pronoun for 'you (plural)'. If it comes before a noun (e.g., 'Auto' (car), 'Name' (name)), it is the possessive pronoun for the formal form of address 'Sie' (you).
EXAMPLE
Ihr habt wirklich Glück mit dem Wetter.
You are really lucky with the weather.
Formal address
The possessive pronoun 'Ihr' (your) always belongs to the formal form of address 'Sie' (you). It is capitalized in all cases to express respect and distance.
EXAMPLE
Herr Müller, wir haben Ihre Unterlagen erhalten.
Mr. Müller, we have received your documents.
Sentence structure
As a personal pronoun, 'ihr' (you) is used as the subject in a sentence and is usually written in lowercase, except at the beginning of a sentence. The verb that follows always has the ending '-t'.
EXAMPLE
Kinder, wo spielt ihr heute Nachmittag?
Children, where are you playing this afternoon?
Compare with
Ihr vs ihr
you / her / their
ihr and Ihr can express possession or belonging, but capitalization marks the formal form of address. Written with a lowercase letter, ihr refers to a woman or a group, while Ihr belongs to a person being addressed politely. Pay particular attention to the context and capitalization.
Ihr
Frau Keller, steht Ihr Name auf dieser Tasche?
Ms. Keller, is your name on this bag?
ihr
Anna sucht ihre Tasche, weil ihr Name darin steht.
Anna is looking for her bag because her name is written in it.
In real life
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