For any English speaker who has struggled with the German language, it is one of the oddest rules to comprehend. When do you say "du" and when do you say "Sie"? While it seems obvious when first explained -- "Sie" is the polite form of "you" while "du" is the more familiar version -- things are far from cut and dried in practice.

It seems a strange convention for those who only have the one form of "you" to use in every situation, be it in formal or casual company, and is one that has long been upheld as a typical German idiosyncrasy.

It is hard to get to grips with as it just doesn't happen in the English language -- as former Chancellor Helmut Kohl discovered when offering the informal version to Queen's Elizabeth's husband Prince Phillip on a visit to London in the 1980s: "You can say 'you' to me."

Kohl's friendly offer, one used by Germans to initiate a more relaxed relationship, made no sense to the Queen's consort who squirreled the anecdote away for future mocking.

But it is not only foreigners who have difficulty comprehending the rule. The Germans themselves often find themselves confused as to who gets what. A friendly boss can "du" his long-standing colleagues but the respect issue clouds the judgment of his employees. Do we "du" back or do we keep the professional distinctions intact by keeping it "Sie"?

Inability to decide can lead to long-term awkwardness

Sometimes, the indecision can lead to a lifetime of awkwardness bordering on the bizarre. Take current Chancellor Angela Merkel and her trusted assistant Beate Baumann. They have worked together since 1991, from Merkel's time at the youth ministry to her election victory in 2005 and beyond. Colleagues, and quite possibly, close friends for 15 years and yet they are rumored to still say "Sie" to each other.

Such is the quandary that Germans find themselves in that mass circulation tabloid Bild has taken on the challenge and is leading a campaign to do away with the "Sie" and make Germany the land of the "du."

After a successful World Cup when the friendly face of Germany was evident for all to see, the tabloid believes that it is now time to cement that new relaxed attitude and inclusive feeling in every aspect of life. The "du" puts Germans at ease, the paper claims and is backed up by a number of celebrities and business leaders who extol the virtues of the casual form.

New relaxed attitudes foster "du" atmosphere

Jürgen Klopp, World Cup moderator and coach of Bundesliga team Mainz 05 told the paper: "All my players, even the new ones, say 'du' to me. I also say 'du' readily and have no problem with it."

Lutz Rättig, the head of the supervisory board of the Morgan Stanley bank in Frankfurt, said that everyone uses the informal "you" in the company.

"No employee calls me Dr. Rättig," he said. "Our 'du' is based on mutual respect, competence and humanity."

However, in its attempts to gain a public consensus on the issue, Bild has found that many Germans are against being on an even par with certain people and want to retain the "Sie" as a way of showing respect in formal and polite surroundings.

Work relations do not benefit from casual form

Ulrich Preis of the research institute for German and European Social Law at the University of Cologne is one who believes businesses at least would not benefit from the abolition of "Sie."

"I think that working relations do not improve by saying 'du,'" he said.

But the professor did admit that in social situations, the "Sie" is living on borrowed time.

"When I'm in a bar or whatever, the professor is left at the university," he said.

It seems that the contentious issue of "du" and "Sie" is likely to rumble on for many years to come.