ihnen

Ihnen is a German pronoun form used in the dative case of the second-person pronoun. It has two primary functions depending on capitalization and context: it can be the dative form of Sie, the formal address for “you,” or the dative plural of sie, meaning “they.” In standard writing, capitalization signals the polite form Sie, so IHNEN (with a capital I) indicates the formal you, while lower-case filmen ihen? Actually, lower-case ihn? Careful: the lowercase form is "ihnen," used for the third-person plural “they” in the dative. For example, Ich danke Ihnen. means I thank you (formal). Der Brief gehört Ihnen means The letter belongs to you (formal). Ich helfe ihnen means I help them.

As a dative pronoun, Ihnen serves as the indirect object of a sentence. It commonly appears with verbs that govern a dative object, such as geben, helfen, danken, folgen, gehören, and passen. Examples: Ich gebe Ihnen das Buch. (I am giving you the book.) Wir helfen Ihnen beim Umzug. (We help you with the move.) Der Brief gehört Ihnen. (The letter belongs to you.) Ich danke Ihnen. (I thank you.)

Distinctions and usage notes: use capitalized Ihnen when referring to the formal “you” in both written and spoken German, to maintain the polite form. In contexts referencing “they,” the lowercase ιδhnen? The correct form is ihnen. For example: Wir haben ihnen geholfen. (We helped them.) The dative form does not itself indicate tense or mood; it is determined by the verb and sentence structure.

In summary, Ihnen is the dative form of the second-person pronoun in German, most often encountered as the formal “you” form, with capitalization marking the polite address, while in other contexts it functions as the dative of they (ihnen).