questions

[thin pollen]

which one is more common das Parfum / die Parfums or Das Parfüm / die Parfüme/Parfüms?

[plush locust]

Probably "ü"

Plural is a free for all

That's like talking about drinks, there's barely any real situation in conversation where this makes sense

[hollow pasture]

im Wort „Engagement“, wird das „t“ nicht ausgesprochen?

[cedar galleon]

Hey gang does anybody know how to nominalise correctly, im struggling to know when to nominalise the actual verb or using the noun from that verb, example: Man erstellt Bilanzen. Would it be Die Erstellung von Bilanzen oder Das Erstellen von Bilanzen, i wanna know the difference between these two, and would both be accepted as a correct answer 🙏 🙏

[wary jungle]

Does "Sicherheit" and "sicher" mean the Same thing?

Prolly Not right?

[cedar galleon]

Nope

[wary jungle]

Then whats the difference?

[cedar galleon]

Because its pronounced in french way

[wary jungle]

Don't they both mean safety?

[cedar galleon]

Nope

Sicherheit means security

sicher has many uses

But mostly used as an adjective

Basically they are different word groups

Would u say i feel security?

[plush locust]

noun vs. adjective...

[wary jungle]

Ahh

Sorta get it

[frigid tinsel]

-heit is a common suffix.

I'd compare -heit to English -hood. Sicherheit, Kindheit, Schönheit...

[wary jungle]

Thats better

Thanks for the explanation

[tardy mason]

Kann das Adverb überall verwendet werden in Konjunktion mit dem Adverb wo und verwandten Ortsadverbien (d. h., wohin, worauf, usw.) um alle mögliche Stellen/Orten anzugeben?

Wie zum Beispiel:
"Wo ist er überall gewesen?" -> "Wie heißen alle die Orte, an denen er gewesen ist?"

[lucid roost]

What’s better, listening to German music with English subtitles or reading German and translating any word I don’t know? I’m just starting out

[sleek pebble]

yes

[plush locust]

if you are starting out, both is a bad idea. Listen is not a bad idea. But don't read German as a total beginner outside of textbook stuff. (but please read a year or so later)

[lucid roost]

But isn’t music listening??

[plush locust]

No. ...I actually can't tell you because I learned music and listen to music differently.

[lucid roost]

Wait I’m kinda slow.. can you please rephrase that

[plush locust]

You say that you are starting out.

[lucid roost]

Yea

[plush locust]

What does that mean?

(Also: listen to German as much as possible, if you want to/have to get good.)

[lucid roost]

Like I’m just starting to learn German

[lucid roost]

Oohh kk

[plush locust]

hearing is never wrong 🙂

[lucid roost]

Kk thaxxx😊😊😊😊

[plush locust]

(the hardest thing tends to be listening)

[lucid roost]

Is there anything else??

Like grammar is kinda confusing

[plush locust]

what is your native language?

[lucid roost]

English/spansih

[plush locust]

on a beginner level, German is kinda like English (except that you have genders for nouns)

what I want to recommend is typically, that you get used to this mess

all nouns have one of three genders, so don't ever learn "Stift" - learn "der Stift"

[lucid roost]

Yea that part I have kinda down packed cause spansih has that too

[plush locust]

does Spanish have two or three genders btw?

[lucid roost]

Two

Masc and fem

[plush locust]

So like French

[lucid roost]

Ya

[plush locust]

Yeah, German adds one.

[lucid roost]

What’s the extra gender??

[plush locust]

"neutrum" (if you go Latin) or "neutral"

[lucid roost]

Wut does tht mean??

[plush locust]

well, neuter, neither

just a third idea

[lucid roost]

Ohh kk

And like can u explain like the verb at the beginning, at the end, subj at the end, etc?

[plush locust]

but therefore, German noun references operate on a triple-gender matrix, not on two

[lucid roost]

Mmm yea

[plush locust]

that's kinda the basics! (now I don't know how Spanish works. Tell me, whats the word order in a sentence that says: "I can play guitar" in Spanish?)

(English I know, and you do, too)

[lucid roost]

Yo puedo tocar guitarra
I can play guitar
(Subj-helping verb-verb-direct obj)
It’s like the same

[plush locust]

German fucks this up

[lucid roost]

lol

[plush locust]

there's always one verb that conjugates, and all other verbs we just smash at the end of the sentence

[lucid roost]

Oh…

That’s like so confusing…

So is it like
I can guitar play??

[plush locust]

e.g.: "Ich spiele Gitarre." (<- one verb) -> "Ich kann Gitarre spielen."

[plush locust]

in English that's how it would be like yeah lol

[lucid roost]

🫩😩

That’s like the hardest part so far for me

[plush locust]

but one verb will be at the start and change depending on the "I, you, he, etc." logic

[lucid roost]

And especially in long sentences when there’s a whole bunch of verbs at the end and you gotta try and match it😩

[plush locust]

you're a beginner

[lucid roost]

But sometimes there’s no subj in the front right? Cause like the verb is always second and when something else comes first the subj goes to the back

[plush locust]

you're not supposed to do long sentences ^^;

[lucid roost]

lol

It’s cause I tried to read something and it was a HUGE mess🥹🥹

[plush locust]

I tried to make sense of Japanese song lyrics 3 months into learning Japanese...it was not very successful! (so, its fine 😄 )

[pearl horizon]

Achso Tagesschau

[plush locust]

Ein wenig. Heute auch viel Google-Feeds.

(oder sowas)

[lucid roost]

lol 🥹🥹

[plush locust]

poetry is never=always a bad idea to start out with 😄

it teaches you that you don't understand anything

(but hopefully that makes you want to understand)

[plush locust]

So, what you asked is "sometimes there is no subject in the front" is restricted to two ideas: a) imperative: "Kauf ein Bier!" : b) yes/no question: "Magst du Bier?"

(Even saying this, I actually dislike, because I don't know through what reference you learn, what you know, etc.)

[iron forum]

Create connecting with everyone here. I’m Gene R Boykin Jr, glad to be in this channel.
there’s definitely a lot changing right now economically, technologically, and even in the way people think about financial independence. With the shifts happening across the global monetary system, crypto, stocks, and real estate, it feels like one of those moments where staying aware really matters.

I’m curious, how do you feel, hope have secured your assets to a “LIVING TRUST”?

[plush locust]

hello bot

[light lake]

"Es sind fast alle mitgegangen" the Es is confusing to me and my simple einzeller brain would have probably preferred something like "Fast alle sind mitgegangen" but still i cant seem to naturally formalize a sentence like the one before.... any tips ?

[scenic obsidian]

So this is German being weird in order to hold onto the rule of "keep that conjugated verb in position 2"

[light lake]

so nothing is wrong with the way I said it ?

[opaque iris]

hello! currently learning German but I was wondering if anyone knows how I could type German characters quickly without resorting to google or such?

[scenic obsidian]

There is a rule that says, "newer/more important information is put towards the end of a sentence"

If you want to put the subject at the end, one option is to push it to the back.

But then the issue is: You still need to have the conjugated verb kept in position 2.

So you take

Fast alle sind mitgegangen.

You move "fast alle" to later in the sentence, and then the "es" appears as an empty placeholder, which is purely there to make sure the conjugated verb is in position 2 still.

Fast alle Es sind fast alle mitgegangen.

[light lake]

why on God's green earth would I want to do that

[scenic obsidian]

The way you said it is grammatically correct. The difference is that your version does not put emphasis on the subject. The version where the subject is pushed towards the end, has emphasis put on the subject, it's saying, "the subject is important"

[scenic obsidian]

Why on God's green Earth would I want to do that?

We put emphasis on certain words in English as well, my dude

Most commonly, through tone of voice

[light lake]

Nichts Neues unter der Sonne

[scenic obsidian]

Although sometimes we do change the sentence a bit

[light lake]

thanks for letting me know about the weird german thing though

[scenic obsidian]

For example:

Normal sentence: She passed the difficult calculus exam.

Topicalized: That calculus exam, she passed it easily.

[light lake]

i was like isnt Es singular ? waaddahhelll

[scenic obsidian]

"es" is not just singular

it can also be plural

or rather

"es" is kind of like neutral

if you have a copula verb, where it's like "X is Y" (der Hund ist ein Tier)

and one of the nouns is "es", then the verb will conjugate to match the other noun

for example

Es sind zwei Tiere im Haus.

There are two animals in the house.

@light lake Hammer's German Grammar actually talks about all of this

[light lake]

i own it but i usually use it as a consulting

rather than read back to back book

[scenic obsidian]

3.6.2(d)

3.6.2(b)

[light lake]

welp

its 2 am

my eyes have officially stopped working

thank you argus

[opaque iris]

Is listening to music from German artists helpful in learning?

[plush locust]

You want the exposure, but please don't torture you with music you don't like.

Also: listening to music makes no sense at all unless you read the lyrics.

[opaque iris]

Ive been listening to Max Richard and Jeremias, and like listening to learn the pronunciation of certain words. Although idk if it's helpful since it's sang and not specifically being said.

I genuinely enjoy the music, but I don't know if it's helpful in my journey to fluency.

[viscid niche]

I unfortunately learnt this, listening to bangers isn't useful if you're purely vibing out and not using your brain to atleast pick up vocab

[indigo bear]

Yeah, the pronunciation will be very different between singing and speaking.

But you can learn some vocab from song lyrics.

[opaque iris]

Gotcha thank you

[frigid tinsel]

The main thing about singing vs talking is rhythm.

Singing of course matches the song. So the accents and speeds don't line up as much.

As long as you treat song vs speech separate you should be fine. Be sure to get plenty of regular speaking practice.

[scenic obsidian]

This weekend, I've been playing Elder Scrolls Online, which is $20 for the base game. If you set your language to German, it has fully voiced German for every single person in the game. It's really remarkable how many lines of dialogue there are, which you really notice when they're all in a foreign language 😅

The books are also in German as well.

Now, that being said, these sentences do have some amount of difficulty--it's a fantasy world, and so the German used there defaults to using "Ihr" to address people, and has some word choices that are clearly medieval-based rather than how people would talk in real life.

They're are also some words in there you learn at B2 or C1 level, reading full on novels in German

Still, I think it's quite worth the price in terms of how much German you're exposed to, assuming you're interested in playing an MMORPG.

[indigo bear]

No, the actual sounds are also different. Especially vowels, which is the hardest part of pronunciation for most learners. You do not sing with the same vowels and you speak.

[tired kestrel]

How do you know when to use der, die, and das?

[scenic obsidian]

You memorize it for every noun.

There are some sort-of patterns, but mostly it's just random and you have to memorize it.

[stray surge]

How do i distinguish similar verbs such as vermischen and vermissen

[verbal nymph]

hat jemand goethe b2 prüfung geschrieben ? wie schwer ist dass ? Ich hatte nie Nachhilfe und habe keine Ahnung vom Prüfungsablauf

[winter kayak]

You have to look at the letters. Spoken they don’t really sound the same.

[marble sparrow]

Here are some of the patterns Argus mentioned: https://germanstudiesdepartmenaluser.host.dartmouth.edu/Nouns/nouns.html

Feminine words have the most useful patterns, as words with suffixes like -heit, -keit, -schaft, -ung (and so on) are always feminine and are relatively common.

[marble sparrow]

Was verwirrt dich daran? Dass sie ein bisschen ähnlich aussehen?

[stray surge]

ja

manchmal vergesse ich die Bedeutung fur ahnliche Verben

[marble sparrow]

In dem Fall ist es nur eine Sache von Übung, aber Wie lolo gesagt hat, werden die Wörter (die du uns als Beispiele gegeben hast) anders ausgesprochen, also könnte es dir vielleicht helfen, die Wörter/den Satz vorzulesen. Oder vielleicht die Wörter auseinanderzunehmen, sodass die Silben von jenem Wort erkennen kannst, und sie damit einfacher unterscheiden kannst (z.B. ver-mi-sch-en oder ver-miss-en)

[tired pelican]

I have a question. I'm learning from Deutsch welle, and I'm like learning words and phrases. So when will be fluent enough to form sentences like i do in English

[digital needle]

to me the sch-sound and the s-sound don't really sound similar. If you have trouble distinguishing between the two you can practice with minimal pairs, that is sets of two words each that only differ in one aspect (in this case, one word with sch the other with s, like vermischen and vermissen). You can make an anki deck where an audio clip plays and you have to make out if it's a sch- or an s-sound. That way you can train your ear to better percieve the difference
It's a similar idea to people having problems distinguishing between l and r

just an idea

[stray surge]

not really the sound, but the meaning

[tired pelican]

Because like currently I can only speak little phrases like wei ist dien name or das macht nichts, mein Name is etc so I want to be fluent like to form sentences and explain my situation

[stray surge]

sometimes i confuse translations of ssimilar verbs

[digital needle]

oh ok, in that case ignore what I said ^^

[tired pelican]

Can anyone answer my question

[winter kayak]

years

[tired pelican]

🥀

[tawny fractal]

I mean this one is easy no? Miss is the same in English lol

Mix and mischen are also derived from the same latin word miscere, sometimes it also helps to create mnemonics

Doesn't always work ofc but might help for some to look up their origins and compare

[scenic obsidian]

Wenn du die Bedeutung vergisst, solltest du die Verben in einen Satz setzen, der die Bedeutung des Verbs durch Kontext klarmacht.

Zum Beispiel:

Während du in Japan bist, werde ich dich vermissen.

Um Kuchen zu backen, muss man zuerst die trockenen Zutaten vermischen.

[graceful yarrow]

How to dertirmine when to use the diffrent articles.

[scenic obsidian]

It takes a surprisingly long time to form even relatively simple sentences in German because of the case system and the endings of adjectives/articles being affected by that.

All the way through B1, you're still learning about how to form different basic sentence structures, and through B2, you're still learning really important conjunctions and expressions.

Which is to say: You're going to spend a long time not able to express yourself as well in German as you can in English. This is a normal and expected part of the learning process.

You will be able to start forming incredibly basic sentences at the end of A1:

Ich esse Äpfel. Ich heiße Argus. Mein Hobby ist Basketball.

With A2, you'll start to be able to say things in the past and with the slightest possible bit of added complexity:

Ich hatte einen roten Apfel. Ich habe ihn gestern gegessen.

Even here, the case system leads to a lot of complications, and You'll end up declining things wrong. That's normal.

With B1, you can start having sentences that have more than one clause/aren't entirely simple:

Ich liebe meinen Bruder, obwohl er immer die Äpfel isst.

With B2, you finally get to where you're expressing somewhat complex thoughts:

Ich liebe meinen Bruder, obwohl er manchmal vergisst, dass er die Äpfel teilen muss, auch wenn er es nur ungern tut.

With C1, you're starting to write properly complex thoughts:

Meinen Bruder liebe ich trotz seiner Neigung, die von ihm gekauften Äpfel auf dem Heimweg aufzufressen.

But even here, you're still not fully able to express everything you can in English. Or at least, I can't, since English is my native language.

[tired pelican]

English isn't my native language but I can confidently affirm that I'm definitely a C2 level person. And the thing is that my reason to learn Deutsch is because in the future when I graduate from highschool i would want to apply to foreign universities and I want the countries in the EU to be a part of that as well. And even if I don't land at a university at least in future when I can get a job then I can apply in Germany or Netherlands

[scenic obsidian]

For university, they say you should have a minimum of C1, btw, if you want to have any hope of understanding the lectures. C1 normally takes years of learning to reach.

Some people can nolife it and reach C1 in like, 1.5 years, but they usually need to then fill in the gaps of their lack of experience because they did it so quickly

[jade zodiac]

what is trennbare prafixe again can someone help me please

[stray surge]

danke, das hilft mir! 🫶

[tired pelican]

See I am currently In 8th grade so I believe that if I stay consistent then I'll be around b2 when I reach highschool and be close to finishing

As i live in india, i would naturally have to compete in national exams to even have a little chance of getting anywhere in life, as I would grow older my time would be limited

[tranquil granite]

Some of the german verbs require you to use prefixes. The word with prefix usually has a different meaning apart from the original verb, e.g.:

tun - to do
antun - to cause (in the context of damage)

This prefix should go in the end of the sentence if you see 1 verb, and if there are >2 - it should be used with the verb

Ich tue - I do
Ich tue an - I cause damage

Ich breche meine Routine ab

Same goes for more complex things like Perfekt and Modalverben

[glacial crag]

trennbare präfixe = separable prefixes
These are small words that slightly modify a verb's meaning

Example:
Ich gehe - I'm going
Ich gehe weg - I'm going away (the verb here is weggehen and the prefix is weg)

Ich fahre - I'm driving / travelling
Ich fahre ab - I'm setting off (prefix: ab)

[jade zodiac]

TYSMMMM

[jade zodiac]

DANKEE SEHRR

i see the picture now

[tranquil granite]

Also there are some complicated verbs like kennenlernen, where kennen is sort of a prefix

Ich lerne dich kennen - I am getting familiar with you

I know only a couple of such verbs, so these are more like an exception

[jade zodiac]

okayyy broo ty

@tranquil granite so in sentence like this Ich stehe um 6 Uhr auf. so the trennbare verb is Aufstehen and then we broke it down keeping the verb in second position and put the prefix am ende?

[tranquil granite]

Correct

Please notice that it works only for a sentence with 1 verb

[jade zodiac]

if two verbs

?

[tranquil granite]

Ich will morgen früh aufstehen

[barren mirage]

then there is no separation

[stray surge]

how do you geniunely learn german slang if you dont live in germany??

[barren mirage]

dass ich aufstehen muss ("that I must wake up")

[stray surge]

a lot of tik toks i see have german slang and i dont know how to translate them

[tranquil granite]

subordinate clause is out of scope here I believe

[jade zodiac]

also there is no separation with modal verbs and Nebensatz yeah

?

[barren mirage]

yeah

[tranquil granite]

All of that because there are >=2 verbs

[jade zodiac]

Yeah

Ich muss einkaufen

👍

Weil ich früh aufstehen

[tranquil granite]

Subordinate clause is an advanced thing for beginners but it also requires you to use prefix and a verb together

[jade zodiac]

is it a a2 concept?

ig its b1 yeah?

[tranquil granite]

A2, but if you are asking about prefixes for verbs it is an advanced topic for you, get back to it later

[stray surge]

can somebody tell me this

[jade zodiac]

uhhhh sureee ig im revising all my a1 and a2 concepts rn

[tranquil granite]

You usually learn nebensätze at the same time with Inifinitiv which is even more complex in some edge cases

[tranquil granite]

Rap

[jade zodiac]

when u will go there and talk to germans even in vcs thats the most efficient way

[jade zodiac]

ik this

@tranquil granite

i never understood clearly the use of the wort "doch"

can u help?

[tranquil granite]

What is you native language?

This is called Modalpartikeln and they dont have translation on english

[jade zodiac]

u can say English

[frigid tinsel]

Subordinate clause with "weil" or "denn" and different verb-orders was A2-lesson for me.

In multiple books I've checked.

[jade zodiac]

yeah its like hauptsätze and Nebensatz where u use weil or denn and put the verb at the end yeah?

[jade zodiac]

in the first part verb stays at second position and then after weil the verb goes at the end?

[tranquil granite]

Doch can mean

1. doch! - Means "I disagree"
2. Geh doch joggen! - Means "Go and do this, I encourage you to do this"
3. Das weißt du doch! - Means "I know that you know that"

[frigid tinsel]

weil is verb-last subordinate clause. denn is normal verb-in-2nd position order.

despite both meaning "because", the grammar of them are different.

[jade zodiac]

ohhhh sorry sorry i got confused

denn is that auf Englisch?

SORRYYY

OKAY I AM WASHED

BOTH MEANS BECAUSE

Im so stressed

😭

been hours i am studying

[frigid tinsel]

Marathon, not a sprint!

[tranquil granite]

Forget about sc for now

[jade zodiac]

so if u use denn then vern stays in 2nd position but if u use weil verb goes am ende

?

[frigid tinsel]

Basically yes.

[jade zodiac]

Okay im just revising my goethe is on 10 juni

[jade zodiac]

Okay bro

[tranquil granite]

There are 2 types of conjunctions: coordinating and subordinate

coordinating: und, denn, aber, oder, sondern (you dont need to put verb at the end)
subordinate: weil, dass (or daß), als, ... and everything else

[jade zodiac]

Hmmmmm oh okayy

[frigid tinsel]

Maybe a 3rd category: splitting "und" and "denn". "und" takes up 0th position, while "denn" takes up 1st position.

[tranquil granite]

wdym?

[jade zodiac]

WASS??????

[frigid tinsel]

Das wetter ist schlecht und ich bin schlecht.

[tranquil granite]

You mean course or exam? If exam then I just propose to ask for refund before it is not too late

[frigid tinsel]

Ich bin schlecht, denn ist das Wetter schlect.

[winter kayak]

denn and und both connect Hauptsätze.

[winter kayak]

this is wrong

[frigid tinsel]

Oh crap

Time for review

[jade zodiac]

nah nah i have to give the exam

its obligation

[tranquil granite]

I dont see any 3-rd category here

[jade zodiac]

i got this

[winter kayak]

Just to clarify, both und and denn connect Hauptsätze, word order stays the same (both occupy "position 0", right?)

Ich mag Hunde und ich fahre nächste Woche nach Wien.
Ich habe meine Mutter angerufen, denn ich habe ihr gesagt, dass ich das tun werde.

[tranquil granite]

They both belong to coordinating conjunctions, correct

[tranquil granite]

Yes, that is what I said above

[frigid tinsel]

uggggh. I mixed up denn vs dann

🙁

dann is position 1 Hauptsätze.

[glacial crag]

Mir geht es schlecht denn das Wetter ist schlecht

🙂

[frigid tinsel]

Das Wetter ist schlecht, dann bin ich schlecht.

Is this correct?

[winter kayak]

not really because it makes no sense. But the word order is okay.

[jade zodiac]

the weather is bad so you are bad?

[winter kayak]

Wenn das Wetter schlecht ist, dann bin ich schlecht. (zB)

[frigid tinsel]

Hmm, I guess dann is still temporal yeah.

[scenic obsidian]

Wenn das Wetter schlecht ist, dann geht's mir schlecht.

Perhaps?

[winter kayak]

it's used in wenn...dann (if-then conditional) constructions. Can also be omitted.

Temporal, it would be like:
Ich gehe um 14 Uhr einkaufen. Dann koche ich Abendessen.

[frigid tinsel]

I feel like I understand perfectly when I do the grammar exercise. But after a few weeks the skills in this stuff just degenerates.

and I have to relearn.

[scenic obsidian]

Hence the need to learn daily

Keep the momentum going

[jade zodiac]

Help???

[scenic obsidian]

Use what you learn: write German sentences using the grammar you've learned

[winter kayak]

what is the question?

[scenic obsidian]

Also, please can you rotate the picture?

[jade zodiac]

ALR

[winter kayak]

man i was having so much fun craning my neck 90 degrees 😄

[jade zodiac]

LMAO

[jade zodiac]

idk how to use these in sentences sometimes

like a good example

ik the concept

i just want u guys to give me some examples chatgpt aint helping shi

[frigid tinsel]

Have you tried completing all of page26 and page27 of the exercises?

[jade zodiac]

YEEEPP

i got 90% correct

[scenic obsidian]

There's a list of imperative rules for how to conjugate the verb:

https://deutsch.lingolia.com/en/grammar/verbs/imperative

[lunar lynx]

#general message Please read section 1

[winter kayak]

'gebt mir bitte ein paar Beispiele' (das hättest du uns sagen können)
Kommen Sie bitte mit
Gehe mal einkaufen! Gucke mal!
Sei vorsichtig // Seien Sie vorsichtig // Seid vorsichtig!

[scenic obsidian]

You don't know how to form the imperative, or you don't know when to use the Imperative?

[jade zodiac]

i dont know when to use the imperative

[scenic obsidian]

Imagine any sentence in English that:

1. starts with a verb
2. is a command

That's probably imperative

Give me a few examples.
Come with me.
Go shopping!

Eat something!

Help me!

[jade zodiac]

ik how to form them

[winter kayak]

When you want to tell someone to do something, like an order/instruction

[frigid tinsel]

I dunno, it feels like pg26 and pg27 had plenty of examples.

[winter kayak]

Hilfe mir! -- help me!
Just now, when you said help, that was imperative in Englisch. In German it is used in the same situations.

[jade zodiac]

OH OKAYYY

[jade zodiac]

Got it got it

[jade zodiac]

Got it

[jade zodiac]

HOLY GRAIL TYSM

craziest thing is

i was writing an email yesterday

yeah

💀i used these

like causally

and it was correct

but when i actually try to understand concept

i get lost

like wtf?

[winter kayak]

Some people seem to learn grammar easily and have more trouble with irl language use. Some people learn better by doing and find grammar rules difficult to understand/internalise. The most important thing in the end is that you can use the language comfortably. If you notice you don't get grammar at all but can use the language well in practice, maybe sticking to exercises and going easy on 'theory' would be beneficial. But don't get down, it just takes time

[jade zodiac]

:(( sometimes i get depressed learning Deutsch

[winter kayak]

it seems like you're doing great, and if you're at an intermediate level, you've already surpassed a huge percentage of people who ever try learning German in the first place 😉

Making mistakes is normal. I still make a ton.

[jade zodiac]

Truee i am going to germany in September but before that i really need that a2 Zertifikat

[jade zodiac]

Me too

[tiny hill]

if anyone has done the Goethe A1 exam, please message me i have a few questions :3

[scenic obsidian]

I assume you get depressed because you are comparing yourself to where you think you should be.

One thing I have learned about foreign languages is that it's a much longer process than I had assumed it would be.

So I think it's helpful to recognize that it's not that you're not where you should be in terms of your progress, it's more that it simply takes a very long time and a lot of hard work to master a foreign language, which is to say, it's just a really long process that involves making so many mistakes along the way.

[dawn trellis]

How can I learn more words from German dictionary and not lose my mind learning them

Any help from professional lerners?

[onyx kelp]

so I dont learn german but I learn often with videos or series with caption

[winter kayak]

1. don't learn words straight out of a dictionary. Either find them in context while reading or from curated selections such as textbooks, which thematically organise new vocabulary.

2. use a system -- one great example is Anki, but there are other options as well -- which automatically controls your repetition/drills.

[jade zodiac]

Thanks for the motivation and those kind words that helped me ease my mind

[dawn trellis]

I have a tutor, but I thought it would be nice making like group of words and using them by making sentences/stories

[winter kayak]

that is also good, yeah?

[molten sundial]

In German, is it common to chop off repeated ichs in a context like this

ich bin Erick, ich bin sechsundzwanzig jahre alt

so it's like

ich bin Erick, bin sechsundzwanzig jahre alt

[sleek pebble]

yeah

[onyx kelp]

just on thing whats not a rule but in shool many got told that you must write the numbers from 1-12 out and the rest your allowed to just write as a number

[molten sundial]

so you're saying 13+ is represented numerically typically? I guess that makes sense, I was thinking it would be cumbersome to write out a big number, like 1,548

Appreciate the tip. I think I'm currently just writing numbers out like that to reinforce them while I'm learning (I've only been doing like 15 minutes daily for about a week, so haven't learned a ton yet)

[onyx kelp]

and units of measuerments get written with numbers too

[tranquil granite]

This work only for coordinating conjunction (und, oder, denn, ... or just comma which implies implicit und), but not for subordinate (dass, weil, ob...)

The same goes for the Reflexive Verben

Ich wasche mich und kämme mich ... = Ich wasche, kämme mich ...

But see what happens if I use weil:

Wir streiten uns, weil wir uns hassen. You cannot get rid of uns in the second half

The point is that, in short, it depends on what conjunction you are using

Ich arbeite fleißig, weil Ich ein Haus kaufen will

"Ich" is also problematic in the second half

[tranquil granite]

I would recommend treat this idea as a bad one

Instead I recommend using basic texts taken from school books. While reading them try to memorize the context and prepositions

I am using netzverb dictionary, there are many useful examples for any word if the text is not enough

You memorize new words by context, it is essential

[dawn trellis]

What?

[tranquil granite]

What did you misunderstand?

[dawn trellis]

Which idea would you recommend to treat as bad one

[tranquil granite]

To go through each word in the dictionary and learn them standalone

[main helm]

Hi guys, how would you translate "He founded Buddhism, rejecting riches to devote himself to spiritual research"?

[surreal ocean]

I would recommend using the website called DeepL. We aren't a translation service

It provides very accurate translations

[main helm]

I did. I'm asking because I'm not sure that it's a good translation for my text🙂

[surreal ocean]

Can I see the translation

[main helm]

Er gründete den Buddhismus und lehnte Reichtum ab, um sich der sprituellen Suche zu widmen

I'm just not sure about the "rejecting"

[vast flame]

Er hat Buddhismus gegründet, die Reichen abgewiesen und sich der spirituellen Forschung gewidmet

[surreal ocean]

Yeah I dont think ablehnen is quite right

[vast flame]

I would translate it like that idk

[surreal ocean]

Little bit of a different context

Yeah abweisen sounds better to me too

[vast flame]

riches are rich people no?

[surreal ocean]

No

Riches means money

[vast flame]

Then Reichtum is right

[surreal ocean]

Yes

[main helm]

Thank you very much to both of you 😊

[vast flame]

@main helm is the research meant like scientific?

[main helm]

What about "verzichtete"? In which context would that be fine?

[main helm]

Nah, not really. It's a text for middle school

Literally 9 sentences 💀

[vast flame]

Well, if someone wants to give up something

Ich verzichte auf Alkohol

[surreal ocean]

Pretty advanced German class for just middle school wtf

[livid steeple]

@strong tinsel, please read the Roles section in #getting-started for info on how to join VC and more.

[surreal ocean]

That is different. That's like when you want to say you avoid something, not reject something

[main helm]

Thank you! Now I get it

[main helm]

Yep... In italy it's like that😂

[tranquil granite]

Forschung is more about science doesn't it?

[vast flame]

Yes

[tranquil granite]

Btw, it's very interesting. I believe this word might have to do something with Latin (it ends with -um), but it is masculine for some reason

[hollow umbra]

Weird. Der Reichtum, but das Brauchtum, das Altertum

[tranquil granite]

Ah, I see, it is a german word with -tum, not latin with -um
But your examples are more interesting now, I agree

[lucid roost]

What does auf mean?? Cause I see it used a lot in a whole bunch of different ways

[tranquil granite]

Preposition, standalone definition is "on something". However if this is used with a certain verb it has its own meaning

For example, ich warte auf jemanden. Here the original definition has nothing to do with the location

[scenic obsidian]

It has a whole lot of different meanings. Prepositions are slippery like that, in every language.

[frigid tinsel]

Horizontal on. Auf der Straße. But different. Spreche auf Deutsch.

[tawny fractal]

Deutsch*

[frigid tinsel]

In general, physical or temporal meanings are easy to learn for prepositions (A1 or A2 level). But the rest of the meanings / abstract meanings are really hard, basically vocabulary you need to learn.

Ughhh, just messed this one up in my Anki

Appetit haben auf

I thought it was Appetit haben für. Uuggghhhh. This is the memorization stuff that pains me. Just a seemingly infinite list of "for in English but auf in German" or "with in English but bei in German".

[stiff kraken]

lernst du auch den fall der damit geht

[obtuse dagger]

Hi, I just joined the server. Im a native german speaker. Can someone pls show me around.

[indigo bear]

Check out #getting-started and #info .

[copper storm]

Kan mir da einer helfen ?

Was habe ich getan ?

[grizzled fiber]

exploits

[grizzled fiber]

Hier lernen Leute deutsch

Damit kann dir niemand helfen lwk

[dense fox]

hallo hallo
apologies if this is a commonly asked and answered question, but
ive found myself struggling quite a bit when it comes to using der, die and das. how do i know which is correct and best to use?

[lunar lynx]

.

[idle oar]

what does schaft mean ?

[winter kayak]

-schaft is a suffix (nouns with this suffix are feminine)
der Schaft is basically 'shaft'

You should check dictionaries (bilingual are fine) for meanings of individual words you don't know. Then here only if there is ambiguity

[thin pollen]

What's the difference between Kleingeld and Wechselgeld?

[winter kayak]

Kleingeld is coins
Wechselgeld is 'change', the money you get back when you pay for something with a bigger bill

[thin pollen]

Can they be interchangable sometimes?

If i get my change in coins

[tranquil granite]

Most likely no, I guess you met a sentence that confuses you?

[thin pollen]

Havent really met one but the English translation in the example sentences on the dictionary I'm using is change for both of them

[teal schooner]

Hat jemand zufällig ein gedrucktes deutsches Wörterbuch bei sich und kann mir kurz einen Gefallen tun?

[tranquil granite]

Coins are sometimes also called 'change' (we are still using them because it is difficult to get rif of them in the circulation and now using them only for the purpose of change bigger notes), in some contexts it might be a synonym for it

This is a specific of English, in German these 2 are different

[warm dagger]

Hey guys, I have a quick question. Does German have linked speech or reduced sounds when words are strung together?

For example, in this sentence: Er ist heute auf der Post, um ein Paket abzuholen.

It sounds to me like the "t" in "ist" connects directly to "heute" (making it sound like "teute"), and the "h" is dropped entirely. Would it sound weird or unnatural if you actually pronounced the "h" there?

[winter kayak]

it's not uncommon for sounds to get collapsed. And the 'h' might be subtle, though I do think it is usually still pronounced a bit. Completely dropping it sounds off to me.

[warm dagger]

Thanks for your explanation

[tranquil granite]

As I am aware 'h' is pronounced as it is if it is at the beginning of the word or if the next letter is a vowel

Although not sure what did you mean by "teute"

[tawny fractal]

It's more like the t completely gets left out tbh, is heute

[scenic obsidian]

What about leaving off the -e at the end of "heute"? Do people ever say "heut"?

[tawny fractal]

yea, but I feel like thats more like a person to person thing or maybe even regional?

I personally never shorten heute to heut

it might sound like heut tho now that I think about it 🤔

yea nvm I said it outloud and I do say heut XD but only with friends and family

I wouldnt talk like that in other settings

[scenic obsidian]

Ich hab doch ein Sprachgefühl! Von daher wusste ich das, 😄

(Manchmal bezweifle ich, ob ich je ein Sprachgefühl entwickeln werde)

[digital needle]

Not sure, but I could see that in fast casual speech. But in any case, it's not weird to pronounce the h.

[tawny fractal]

"Er ist heute auf der Post, um ein Paket abzuholen." in this example though its kinda weird, I dont say heut here, its more like the e and a almost merge into one

idk

[digital needle]

Das hat heute nicht geklappt
might be a better example. Here the t is pronounced

[tawny fractal]

IDK

I feel like there are a lot of different ways to say it 💀

[scenic obsidian]

@warm dagger
There's a YouTube channel where a guy talks about reductions in speech in German, if you're interested in that kind of thing.

But note that this is more of an advanced thing, for like people who are B2+, so it's not something you need to focus on as an A-level learner right now.

https://youtu.be/5AIJs8Beq9U?si=PzymHvdXDXhV-yO5
https://www.youtube.com/@DeutschMitBenjamin/search?query=reduktion

[digital needle]

idk, learning about common reductions seems like a worthwhile thing even early on, especially if you are interested in that kinda stuff

I think I'd pronounce the original sentence something like this

ers heut auf däa Post, um m Paket abzuholn

[scenic obsidian]

Well, the entire channel is in German, and I think most channels that talk about the topic are entirely in German, so it's going to be kind of difficult for a beginner to even follow what is being said 😅

[digital needle]

oooooh good point

didn't think about that

xd

[scenic obsidian]

Honestly, I think the main way to learn about reductions is to learn it subconsciously by listening to Germans speak in real conversations and the like

[digital needle]

I think that way you can learn about a lot of them, but some still escape you

or at least a good ammount

in swedish you often drop the g at the end of adjectives and adverbs. With all the listening I did, I still didn't pick up on that on my own, but had to be told that that's a thing, for example

I think the way we expect things to be majorly shapes our perception. So me expecting the g, made me hear it even if it wasn't there, I assume

[scenic obsidian]

So what you're saying is, if you simply never learn to read the language, you might be better off? 😄

[digital needle]

seems like it

[winter kayak]

this is the way. Imitation

[pliant scarab]

Hi Zusammen. Könnte mir jemand bei der 9. dieser Aufgabe helfen? Laut Onlineressourcen soll ,,bedienen" in ,,bedienbar" verwandeln, aber die Erklärung da oben erläutert was anderes

[winter kayak]

die Aufgabe ist es, ein Adjektiv aus einer der Partizip-Formen zu bilden. In diesem Fall solltest du das 1. Partizip nehmen, glaube ich.

[pliant scarab]

entweder mithilfe des Partizip I oder Partizip II, ja, und in dem Fall, da im 9. Satz um eine nicht abgeschlossene Handlung geht, muss man Partizip I verwenden. Trotzdem klingt mir der Satz komisch und bin nicht sicher wie es wäre

[winter kayak]

das leicht zu bedienende Gerät

[pliant scarab]

okay das war blöd ahahah danke lolo 💪

[blazing jetty]

hallo,ich brauch Hilfe
wie kann man mit diesem Satz linksattribute machen? "die Regel,die man beachten darf"

[torn urchin]

ich glaub', ich geh' heut nicht mehr tanzen

[oblique snow]

Meist du "Die zu beachtende Regel"?

[timid ether]

Yes

[oblique snow]

<@&305455824174710787>

[loud locust]

warum kann ich nicht in die sprach chats?

[light lake]

if i say gefahren hatte that implies he has been driving the car correct?

[oblique snow]

faq limited permissions

[livid steeple]

How to join Voice Chat

Please read the [Roles section](#getting-started message) in #getting-started for info on how to join VC and more!

[scenic obsidian]

Das ist wohl genau woher ich das kenne 😅

[scenic obsidian]

no, not exactly. You can use "sein" and still be the drive: Ich bin gestern gefahren.

https://deutsch.lingolia.com/en/grammar/verbs/sein-haben

"haben" is often used to be able to have a transitive verb, aka, "to have the verb take an object"

Ich habe ihn nach Berlin gefahren.
I drove him to Berlin.

But if I leave out the object, I can still be the driver:

Ich bin nach Berlin gefahren.
I drove to Berlin.

[plush locust]

I actually don't get your question '_'

[scenic obsidian]

A common example of "fahren" with haben is the sentence, "Ich habe ihn nach Berlin gefahren", which implies that you are the person driving the car.

On the other hand, "fahren" with sein includes example sentences like, "Ich bin mit dem Bus gefahren", which normally you aren't the person driving the bus.

"fahren" is confusing for English speakers, because "drive" necessarily implies you are the person controlling the vehicle, but "fahren" doesn't, so it's hard sometimes for us to know when "fahren" means "drive" and when it means "ride/take" (I took the bus vs I drove the car).

Probably because of examples such as above, he has confused what sein vs. haben means and think it implies something about whether someone is the driver or a passenger. He thinks he can use sein vs. haben to solve the problem of whether "fahren" means "drive" or "ride/take".

[plush locust]

I see. I wouldn't even see this as an issue 😮 (I see a different one, though, all the time, when we talk about having gone to a place)

[short elm]

Halo, I have a question on the arrangement of words in a German sentence. There is one thing im struggling with which is the position of locations and the object. Can anyone tell me if this is the correct structure?

Subject + verb + time + location + object

Example:
ich spiele am Sontag im Park Tennis

[scenic obsidian]

You're not alone. This turns out to be a complicated question, because a lot of German "rules" about word order in a sentence are more like "tendencies" that compete with one another, and if one tendency is strong enough, it can override other tendencies.

There are attempts to describe a sort of "generic word order" that will be more or less correct in most cases. But even these attempts do not all agree, because the reality underneath is quite complicated and defies simplicity.

Nevertheless, I think the following is a good general starting point:

#questions message

Now comes the annoying part: "Tennis" is not an object in your sentence

It's actually sort of a part of the verb

This is a whole thing all on its own, these "verb complements". In the linked word order, these are named as "Verbgefährte", verb companions

The easiest way to describe it is to say that it's kind of like a separable verb, except instead of having a prefix at the end that is attached to the verb (einschlafen, ich schlafe jeden Tag gegen 20 Uhr ein), you have a whole noun that's attached to the verb (Tennis spielen, ich spiele heute im Park Tennis.)

Btw, if you'll notice in the linked word order, there isn't a single spot for "object"

It's split up amongst pronouns, definite nouns, indefinite nouns, plus whether they are in accusative or dative case. That changes where an "object" appears in the sentence.

[short elm]

Thank you so much you have been so helpful and thank you for all the little details I appreciate it🥹🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[scenic obsidian]

This is actually a hidden result of one tendency in German word order: old before new

[indigo bear]

As a beginner, you should just start by learning where the verbs go. You can gradually learn more about it from there, over time.

[scenic obsidian]

In German, generally speaking, old information (which is therefore also not important) goes near the start of a sentence.

New information (which is therefore likely also important) goes near the end of a sentence.

Why are pronouns closer to the start than full nouns? Because you only use a pronoun to refer back to something you've already mentioned before

Hast du den Hund gesehen?

Nein, ich habe ihn nicht gesehen.

The very fact that you're using a pronoun to talk about the dog means that it's older information, so therefore not as important, and therefore it goes towards the start of the sentence.

Idk, it's quite complicated, so maybe this is too much information relative to your level.

I just wanted to say that it turns out that word order in German is rather complicated and it's normal to have trouble mastering it, especially because German learning courses don't fully describe word order properly, probably precisely because it's so complex.

[glacial oak]

This is so random but the Study Tasks channel hasn't been used since 2023
Do you still host that kind of learning, or no?

Or am I just looking in the wrong place 😭

[indigo bear]

It's not retired or anything. There just hasn't been anyone making study tasks recently.

If someone wanted to volunteer to make more, they could.

[glacial oak]

OHHH I see I see
thank you 🙏

[indigo bear]

Everything here is hosted by volunteers so it's just up to people to put their hand up to run things or not.

[stuck glen]

Sein und nicht seinem?

[winter kayak]

etwas verschwindet irgendwohin

[sleek pebble]

„in sein“ means „into its“ while „in seinem“ means „inside its room“ — meaning „it“ (i’m assuming mädchen) is already in its room and gets lost there

which is not what the author wants to say

[empty gorge]

whats the best way to start because i have like zero knowledge of german i only know some words

[thin pollen]

Does erreichen use the dativ or the accusative here: "Deine Nachricht hat mir/mich nicht erreicht"?

[winter kayak]

mich

[tawny fractal]

faq beginner

[livid steeple]

How to get started

The simplest way to learn German is to find topics you don’t understand yet and search for explanations of them. This list provides you with a guide for which topics to learn if you are completely new to German. Type the topic into Google (or YouTube) and start learning!

Introduction

1: Alphabet (especially ä, ü, ö and ß)
2: Basic greetings (hello, goodbye, etc.)

Part 1 - Simple Sentence

1: Noun gender & plurals
2: Nominative case (What are cases?)
3: Nominative pronouns (I, you, he, she, etc.)
4: Verbs in present tense
5: Definite/indefinite articles
6: Accusative case (for nouns)
7: Accusative pronouns
8: Word order of simple sentences
9: How to ask questions

See Part 2 on the next page.

Tips

• Always learn the gender of a noun when you learn a new noun
• Learn to use a translation dictionary (e.g. dict.cc, leo.org)
• Use >faq resources to see our list of German learning resources
• For listening and pronunciation practice, try watching movies or videos (incl. YouTube)
• You can listen to pronunciation for words on websites like dict.cc, forvo.com, and others
• Practice writing sentences every day (and asking people to correct them)
• Ask as many questions as possible
• Don’t be scared to make mistakes!!!! If you don’t let yourself make mistakes, you will never be able to learn German

Page 1/2

[tawny fractal]

you can also try nicos weg, its a rlly good resource for beginners

faq nicos weg

[livid steeple]

Nicos

Nicos Weg is a free online program aimed at helping people learn German. It includes video, audio, text, grammar explanations, notes, vocabulary, and exercises. It also includes very useful cultural and bureaucratic information, such as how to open a bank account, while teaching you the relevant grammar and vocabulary.

It’s fairly popular and well-recommended, but keep in mind that you can’t learn a language with only one resource, even if it’s a good one!

You can find the program here: https://learngerman.dw.com/en/nicos-weg/c-36519789

You can also see various other courses for learners by dw.com here: https://learngerman.dw.com/en/overview/

[halcyon wren]

Hallo zusammen! Ich mache nächsten Monat die telc A2·B1 Prüfung und suche noch Übungsthemen. Falls ihr die Prüfung schon gemacht habt: Welche Aufgaben hattet ihr beim Schreiben (E-Mail/Kurznachricht) und Sprechen? Danke! 🙏

[vale grove]

do people usually speak formally or informally to their parents?

[scenic obsidian]

Apparently, this is something that has changed over the past 100 years.

It used to be formal, but now it's usually informal

[tulip meteor]

Little Amadeus saying Herr Papa will always be hilarious

But yes 100 % absolutely informal, anything else is very weird (and would make me think there's some psychological abuse going on ngl)

[sharp bolt]

''Und dieser Sternenregen auf der Leinwand im Hintergrund tut noch sein übriges dazu.''

i don't understand anything in the last 5 words

tut = tun, 3rd person singular
noch = still
sein = ???
übriges = from übrig = left/leftover
dazu = to that

[lunar lynx]

sein is the possessive adjective pertaining to the subject dieser Sternenregen auf der Leinwand im Hintergrund

übrig here is the rest rather than leftover

[sharp bolt]

i still don't quite get how it's all put together

''sein Übriges tun'' here is a phrase meaning ''to add something''?

so the Sternenregen is adding something more to that, whatever that is?

[lunar lynx]

it adds to that; it contributes its share

works to create an additional effect to something

[sharp bolt]

danke

[lunar lynx]

Also I wouldn't say that noch here is still. Rather this (or meaning 3 in DWDS https://www.dwds.de/wb/noch#1)

[sharp bolt]

So like auch but not auch

[lunar lynx]

Yeah. A bit of an außerdem vibe too

[scarlet wagon]

How does the letter Yy get pronounced

[wind sleet]

Hey, does anyone know any alternatives to saying "weil" when answering a question?

[winter stream]

Ypsilon is pronounced like ü in the vast majority of cases.
together with another vowel it's read like j (ey = ej etc.) but otherwise it's by default like ü, only that we sometimes say it like i instead when we'd find ü awkward for some reason (i think this happens when it's unstressed sometimes. also Libyen, which has such an unstressed y, is typically said as "Lübijen" in analogy to Syrien and -ien place names in general)

[winter stream]

like um (in order to) and da (something like 'since')?
learn what sorts of sentences these form (because um goes with an infinitive)

[winter kayak]

da and denn are the other two common ways to say because.

[heady swallow]

Ich habe eine Frage, was bedeuten eigentlich diese bunten Kreise neben den Voice Chat Namen?

[tranquil granite]

Deutsch Niveau

[heady swallow]

Danke

[uneven vine]

Greetings, all.

Why is the following sentence
"Man darf nicht vergessen,dass sie früher unter schlechteren Bedingungen** arbeiten musste** als ihre männlichen Kollegen" rather than
"Man darf nicht vergessen,dass sie früher unter schlechteren Bedingungen als ihre männlichen Kollegen arbeiten musste" ?

I assume this is a "both ways are correct" thing but I thought the verb position was very strict?

[glacial crag]

when you're comparing 2 things (with the words als and wie) and there's a 2nd verb in the sentence, you can place the 2nd object right after the 2nd verb, like this:

Er hat genauso viel wie ich gegessen (correct)
Er hat genauso viel gegessen wie ich (also correct)

so yeah your assumption is correct, both are right

[uneven vine]

hmm gotcha

thanks
have never encountered this structure before

which is odd considering it was during a b2 course

[glacial crag]

whoops, forgot to add the "hat" here lol

[uneven vine]

https://klipy.com/gifs/dog-416

[molten basin]

Ich möchte das englische 'to be gay for XY' ins Deutsche übersetzen. Welche der unten genannten Übersetzungen kommt dem Original am nächsten?

"schwul nach XY sein"
"schwul für XY sein"
"schwul auf XY sein"

[glacial crag]

you'll most likely hear the 2nd variant more when the sentence is long

[tawny fractal]

für, aber man sagt das hier so eigentlich nicht

[ruby flint]

wieso ist Discord so gut?

[molten basin]

Das soll eher als Witz dienen. Ich wollte nur wissen welche eher grammatikalisch möglich ist.

[tawny fractal]

ah oke, ja dann eher für

[molten basin]

Vielen Dank.

Ich dachte da an "hungrig nach XY sein" und "geil auf XY sein", und kam zu dem Schluss dass vielleicht auch rein theoretisch bei "schwul" funktionieren könnte.

Aber im Grunde sind das sehr unterschiedliche Adjektive. Also eher nicht.

[tawny fractal]

hm 🤔 Sprachgefühl sagt mir für, aber vielleicht lieg ich auch falsch

[tiny hill]

If anyone has taken the GOETHE A1 test, what did they ask??

[shell siren]

Random question, but, why do they not give straws in German McDonald's for soft drinks

[grizzled fiber]

less waste probably

[tulip patrol]

They do