she / they
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she
Third-person singular feminine personal pronoun in the nominative or accusative. It refers to a female person or a feminine noun.
Meine Schwester kommt gleich, sie ruft gerade an.
My sister will be here soon; she is calling right now.
they
Third-person plural personal pronoun in the nominative or accusative. It refers to several people or things that are being talked about.
Wo sind meine Schlüssel? Ach, sie liegen auf dem Tisch.
Where are my keys? Oh, they are lying on the table.
You can recognize the meaning of 'sie' (she/they) from the verb ending. If the verb ends in '-t', the singular is meant, as in 'sie geht' (she goes). If the verb ends in '-en', the plural is meant, as in 'sie gehen' (they go).
Meine Schwester ist Ärztin. Sie arbeitet viel.
My sister is a doctor. She works a lot.
The form 'sie' is both nominative (subject) and accusative (direct object). Its function in the sentence reveals the case: if 'sie' comes before the conjugated verb, it is usually nominative. If it comes after it, it is often accusative.
Sie (Nominativ) liest ein Buch.
She (nominative) is reading a book.
In the singular, 'sie' (she/it) refers to all nouns with the article 'die'. These can be female people, but also objects or abstract ideas.
Die Tasche ist neu. Sie hat viel Geld gekostet.
The bag is new. It cost a lot of money.
In the plural, 'sie' (they) refers to all plural nouns, regardless of what gender they had in the singular. So it replaces 'die Autos' (the cars, neuter), 'die Stühle' (the chairs, masculine), and 'die Frauen' (the women, feminine).
Die Kinder spielen draußen. Sie sind sehr laut.
The children are playing outside. They are very loud.
the
Die and sie can refer to the same woman or the same group of people. Sie is the neutral reference back to them, while die emphasizes them demonstratively and can sound colloquial, distancing, or exclusionary depending on the tone. For a matter-of-fact statement, sie is usually appropriate.
Sie hat meinen Platz genommen.
She took my seat.
Die dort am Fenster hat meinen Platz genommen.
That woman over there by the window took my seat.
