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This question also has an answer here (in German):
Spricht man über ein Mädchen/eine Frau mittels „sie“ oder „es“?

I’ve come across this text:

Ein Mädchen sitzt am Fenster. Sie hat lange Haare.

Shouldn’t it be es instead?

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  • Welcome to Stackexchange! I linked to the question and answer in German. Your question is still no duplicate as it is OK to ask in German or English. – Iris Nov 03 '16 at 09:29
  • Actually I had a hard time trying to comprehend the answers in German, as I'm still a beginner. Thanks a lot. –  Nov 03 '16 at 10:09

2 Answers2

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The grammatically correct personal pronoun is "es", because "Mädchen" as it is a neuter substanctive. Words with -lein or -chen are diminutive forms of words and always neuter.

Other examples:

Das Bürschlein ist sehr flink. Es klettert im Nu auf einen Baum.

Das Mütterchen wohnt im alten Haus. Ich gehe es morgen besuchen.

However, it is common to use the biological gender of the person (er/sie), in colloquial speech or in longer texts (without the danger of misunderstandings).

This might be compared to the use of pronounce "he/she" for beloved pets instead of the pronoun "it".

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Iris
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Yes, it should be es. But we don't know the context. It would be inappropiate if Mädchen had been used merily as an affectionate form for woman and the next sentence would be something like this:

Ein Mädchen saß am Fenster. Sie hatte lange Haare. Ich fühlte mich sofort zu ihr hingezogen.

That one is okay, because it is clear it isn't really a Mädchen but a young Frau.

The following would let people think of Nabokov's Lolita.

Ein Mädchen saß am Fenster. Es hatte lange Haare. Ich fühlte mich sofort zu ihm hingezogen.

Janka
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  • Thanks. I had no knowledge of such use of the word 'Mädchen'. –  Nov 03 '16 at 10:08
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    This answer is nonsense. The correct answer was given by Phira here: http://german.stackexchange.com/questions/2731/spricht-man-%c3%bcber-ein-m%c3%a4dchen-eine-frau-mittels-sie-oder-es?noredirect=1&lq=1 – fdb Nov 03 '16 at 11:14
  • Could you please explain why this answer is nonsense to you, when it says exactly the same as the answer you linked to? – Janka Nov 03 '16 at 11:58
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    Nope. it's perfectly ok to refer to a young woman as "Mädchen" + "es" or a female child as "Mädchen" + "sie". It is merely a question of style, apparently there is a trend to use the pronoun according to natural gender instead of grammatical gender. – Stephie Nov 03 '16 at 12:01
  • I gave you a fishy look if you talked as in the second example. – Janka Nov 03 '16 at 12:04
  • Can we agree to disagree? For me, combining "Mädchen + es" is always perfectly grammatical; being attracted to a child (and possibly acting on it) is disgusting independent of the pronoun used. – Stephie Nov 03 '16 at 12:28
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    Can we agree that both is correct (mainly because it's my opinion)? Das Mädchen ging über die Straße - [Sie|Es] trug ein blaues Kleid und gelbe Turnschuhe. Sounds both perfectly alright to me without expressing affection or not. – tofro Nov 03 '16 at 12:31
  • @tofro I very much agree - as I tried to explain above. – Stephie Nov 03 '16 at 12:44
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    @Stephie The choice might be a matter of distance - I would never refer to my daughter as "es", to any other girl very well. – tofro Nov 03 '16 at 12:53
  • @tofro likewise I can't think of a feasible example when I would refer to mine as a "Mädchen" unless I use the term as a qualifier for her behaviour or other pattern. ("Ein richtiges Mädchen"). But that discussion would be better placed in [chat], I guess. – Stephie Nov 03 '16 at 12:57
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    -1. I think, this example is not well chosen. It would never assume that "das Mächen" was used as an affectionate for a woman in the sentence of the question. And I "Ich fühlte mich sofort zu ihr/ihm hingezogen." both makes me think of a lolita girl – Iris Nov 03 '16 at 12:58
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    Yet another falsification of facts in an accepted answer. – TheBlastOne Nov 03 '16 at 14:36
  • @Iris: that example is deliberately chosen that way. It should be es gramatically. That's what I've written in the first sentence. However, sie is also acceptable and may be even better, depending on the context. I don't get what's so hard to understand about it. – Janka Nov 03 '16 at 16:13
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    @Janka I don’t (like all the others here) see any difference in implied meaning or usage between your two examples. Neither makes any explicit or implicit statement about the girl’s age. Both can be interpreted as a young lady or a little girl. Most importantly, both make me immediately jump to a conclusion involving Nabukov’s Lolita. – Jan Nov 03 '16 at 17:21
  • I think you should read more regular love novels then. – Janka Nov 04 '16 at 09:42