questions-2

[plush pelican]

more hip older millennials would be familiar with it, I'm just not keyed into the trendy culture as much

[swift bough]

Fair enough

These kinds of things also exists in German too of course 😅

[fervent kernel]

Sussane ist traurig,______ sie hat keine Freunde. *

Which connector will there be?

[tender panther]

Are there any options?

[weary gulch]

maybe "denn"? @dusty rose
if it were Susanne ist traurig,__ sie keine Freunde hat.
it could be "weil" or "da"

[solid spindle]

denn

Wenn wir "da", " Weil" Benutzen, dann kommt konjugiert Verb am Ende.

[topaz pewter]

He asked and left

[wintry idol]

I am going to pass DSDI exam soon. Could you share phrases for B1 level? :)) Danke!!

[clear condor]

I have some useful phrases for the Schriftliche Kommunikation (on a B1 level) if that's what you meant

[wintry idol]

Yes, could you share? 🙂

[clear condor]

sure

[wintry idol]

I am grateful to you for your help! 🙂

[clear condor]

Einleitung

• Liebe Zeitungsredakteure,

• Das Thema Hausgaben ist für Jugendliche sehr wichtig und aktuell. In der Jugendzeitschrift habe ich vier Aussagen gefunden, die ich euch gerne vorstellen möchte.

• Ich habe in der Jugendzeitschrift eine Diskussion zum Thema Hausaufgaben gefunden. Es gab verschiedene Meinungen, die ich euch vorstellen möchte.

• Ich heiße [Vorname], gehe in [Name deiner Schule] und lese gern die Jugendzeitschrift. Ich möchte heute einen Leserbrief zum Thema Hausaufgaben schreiben.

**„Gib die Meinungen wieder, die du in der Jugendzeitschrift zum Thema Hausaufgaben gefunden hast.“ **

• Timo findet Hausaufgaben wichtig, weil er die Ruhe zuhause braucht, um alles zu verstehen.
  Achtung! Umformulieren!!!

„Wie sieht es an deiner Schule mit Hausaufgaben aus? Erzähle.“

• Nun möchte ich über die Hausaufgaben in meiner eigenen Schule erzählen.
• Ich finde alle Aussagen interessant, und in meiner Schule…

„Wie ist deine Meinung zu dem Thema? Begründe deine Meinung“

• Wenn man mich persönlich fragen würde, sind Hausaufgaben…
• Auch ich bin der Meinung, dass…
• Gerade dieses Argument ich auch für mich wichtig. Auch ich bin der Meinung, dass…
• Wie man gesehen hat, verbringe ich viel Zeit mit Hausaufgaben…
• Meiner Meinung nach sind Hausaufgaben…
• Ich bin der Auffassung, dass Hausaufgaben …
• Für mich steht fest, dass…
• Ich bin dafür/dagegen, dass…
• Ich habe keine klare Meinung zu diesem Thema, weil…
• Ich bin mir nicht sicher, ob…

Schluss

• In Zukunft sollte…
• Zusammenfassend könnte man sagen, dass…
• Am Ende frage ich mich, ob…
• Das war alles, was ich zu diesem Thema sagen möchte. Ich hoffe, ihr veröffentlicht meinen Leserbrief.
• Viele Grüße/[Vorname]

np c:

[wintry idol]

@clear condor Welches Thema hast du gewählt?

Ich weiß nicht, was ich wählen soll. Das Thema soll nicht banal und langweilig sein.. 🙂

[clear condor]

Meinst du für die mündliche Prüfung?

[wintry idol]

Ja

[fervent kernel]

whats the difference between wird and willst?

[wintry idol]

willst -> wollen -> want

Du willst -> you want

[fervent kernel]

thank u, i read it in a textbook and it suggested they were interchangeable "wird/willst" so i thought willst was some weird conjugation but it turns out its a completely different verb lol

[wintry idol]

wird - future tense f.e. er wird sein - he will be

do you understand?

[clear condor]

Ich habe im Moment leider nichts gewählt, sorry

[fervent kernel]

eine Freundin hat mir ihren Stift gegeben

why ihren i thought because her = ihre

[willow socket]

Stift ist maskulin. 'Ihr-' heißt 'her' aber die Endung muss zu dem Nomen passen.

den Stift-->ihren Stift

[fervent kernel]

omg

i never thought of that

yeah that makes sense....

welp revising grammer is great even though its depressing

[heavy stratus]

"Die Gschaider gehen am liebsten gar nicht aus ihrem Tal hinaus".

I'm at a loss as to the meaning here. I would be most grateful if someone could give me an idea as to what this means?

My attempt is: the mountain pass people almost never best go up from their valley (which makes no sense)

[willow socket]

The Gschaider don't like to leave their valley

[heavy stratus]

Thank you Leonie. I would've expected, "Die Gscheider mögen nicht, zu ihrem Tal verlassen" or something. The 'gar nicht', 'am liebsten' anf 'hinaus' seem a tad uneccessary, then?

[willow socket]

eh, no not unnecessary...'am liebsten' basically implies that, given the option, the prefer not to (gar nicht) leave their valley (aus ihrem Tal hinausgehen)

gar nicht is kinda like 'not at all'

[heavy stratus]

Ah, so hinaus has nothing to do with going upwards here? And, gar nicht has always been a point of confusion for me, could you please tell me roughly what this means?

[glossy marsh]

Hinaus simply means "to exit away from the speaker".

That is, you were in the valley and they left it by distancing themselves from you.

[heavy stratus]

So it is reliant on a person? One cannot go 'hinaus' from a location unless another person is there, who they will move away from?

[glossy marsh]

Yes.

Hinaus -> Exiting away from the speaker.

Hinein -> Entering away from the speaker.

Heraus -> Exiting towards the speaker.

Herein -> Entering towards the speaker.

[heavy stratus]

@glossy marsh Dankeschön für die hilfreiche Antwort. und du auch @willow socket

[solid spindle]

Ich sage dir.

Seit "sagen" Akkusativ ist, warum noch wir "dir" anstatt "dich" benutzen?

[long whale]

The verb is "jemandem (Dat) etwas (Akk) sagen" :) @solid spindle

And "Ich sage dir" is not a complete sentence. It needs an object, for example "Ich sage es dir." Or it needs to continue, for example "Ich sage Dir, es ist nicht möglich."

[topaz pewter]

gemäß , laut, zufolge

Sind alle das gleiche Ding?

[long whale]

The meaning is very similar. But usage is not. If you're quoting somebody, Kant, for example, you'd say "Laut Kant ist...". OR "Kant zufolge ist..." not zufolge Kant. And "gemäß" is used more often in the sense of "angemessen" (appropriate, suitable), unless you're writing letters in an administrative capacity. :)

@topaz pewter

[heady mirage]

Hallo! What is the difference between "Tasse" and "Becher"? Some say that the difference relies that one is disposable and the other isn't others say that is the form and size. Vielen Dank! Feel free to ping me :))

[topaz pewter]

Thanks Susana that's a very clear and detailed explanation

[plush pelican]

So, there was a sentence on Duolingo: "Wir werden die Bücher bald gekauft haben." I'm confused as to why the time adverb 'bald' doesn't precede the non-pronoun accusative object 'die Bücher'. Is that a properly neutral-emphasis sentence, or did Duolingo fuck up/emphasize the books more?

[willow socket]

definite object generally comes before time.

[plush pelican]

Here's the order of things I got from a comment:

The default German word order is:

1. subject
2. pronoun accusative object
3. dative object
4. temporal adverbial (When)
5. causal adverbial (Why)
6. modal adverbial (How)
7. locational adverbial (Where)
8. noun accusative object
9. predicate adverbs, a directional adverbial (if any), predicate verbs, ending in the finite verb.

Is 'die Bücher' not a noun accusative object?

If it were 'ein Buch' would it change places?

[willow socket]

The way I learned it, definite object comes before tekamolo, indefinite after.

(again, generally speaking)

[plush pelican]

Google Translate at least seems to agree with you

[sly ferry]

the duo sentence is the neutral version

Wir werden bald die Bücher gekauft haben stresses the object

[plush pelican]

I really need to buy a proper German textbook, I think. Duolingo just doesn't teach actual grammar, so I've mostly cobbled it together from googled sources.

[willow socket]

i'll send you a helpful picture

[plush pelican]

danke

[willow socket]

Np

[near folio]

@willow socket @plush pelican dartmouth hat eine gute Seite über die Wortstellung in einem Hauptsatz, falls ihr mehr darüber lesen möchtet: https://www.dartmouth.edu/~deutsch/Grammatik/WordOrder/MainClauses.html

[plush pelican]

Thanks, but I've actually already seen it, and it actually doesn't make this distinction about definite vs. indefinite objects that would have explained the discrepancy.

Which is incredibly frustrating; it's an incredibly detailed page and even it doesn't get into all the details.

[near folio]

was meinst du genau mit distinction about definite vs. indefinite objects?

[plush pelican]

The original question was why 'bald' came after 'die Bücher' in this sentence: "Wir werden die Bücher bald gekauft haben."

As it turns out, it's because it's an object with a definite article, making it precede the adverbs, whereas if it has been an object with an indefinite article, like ein Buch (or if it had been zwei Bücher), it would have come after like I had initially thought.

[near folio]

hmm, ich glaube, es geht nicht darum, sondern was der Sprecher betonen will. Ich hab etwas dazu in Hammer gefunden, aber ich weiß nicht, ob es genau auf diese Situation zutrifft.

[plush pelican]

I mean, if you look at the textbook page Leonie posted a picture of, it literally specifies definite article objects come before the adverbs, indefinite article objects after.

So unless that textbook is wrong...

[willow socket]

Of course word position can also be determined by betonung. But in the 'most general case' this is what the textbook specifies (without special emphasis)

[near folio]

ich würde es merkwürdig finden, wenn die Determination eines Artikels entscheiden würde, wo sich ein Wort in einem Satz befinden sollte.

aber ich kann natürlich falsch liegen

wie heißt dein Buch?

[willow socket]

Grammatik Aktiv. Es ist ein relativ berühmtes Buch, aber natürlich bedeutet das nicht, dass das Buch nichts Falsches enthalten könnte.

Ich habe's aber auch von einer Lehrerin gehört

[near folio]

okay cool danke. Das ist ziemlich interessant, ich habe das bisher nirgendwo anders gesehen und ich bin mir sicher, dass es mir schon einmal aufgefallen wäre lol

ich gucke später mal in meinem Duden nach, vielleicht steht etwas dazu drin

[plush pelican]

Google Translate/DeepL also seem to agree with this; if you put in "I will buy a book soon." vs. "I will buy the book soon." the words swap places.

[willow socket]

Der Typ hat mir gestern zum Geburtstag eine Schokolade gegeben
Der Typ hat mir die Schokolade gestern zum Geburtstag gegeben.

[near folio]

vielleicht liegt es daran, dass "eine Schokolade" eine neue Information ist und neue Informationen meistens am Ende eines deutschen Satzes gestellt werden, damit sie betont werden?

[willow socket]

Meine Lehrerin hat was ähnliches gesagt

[near folio]

mm, macht Sinn

[solid spindle]

Ach so. Danke für tagging mir.

Zudem, warum "Ich rufe dich an" und nicht dir? @long whale

[topaz pewter]

Because anrufen requires an object in the akkusative case

[long whale]

I guess there may be regional differences, but to me, Tasse = cup (with a saucer), Becher = mug (larger, slightly different shape). :)

[glossy marsh]

In manchen Bereichen Deutschlands kommt auf die Form an:
Eine Tasse ist eher breit als hoch und ein Becher eher hoch als breit.

Generally, though, I see them used synonymously.

[long whale]

Hmm... But say your grandmother had set up an elegant tea or coffee table with her very best china - you wouldn't call those cups "Becher", would you?

https://tenor.com/view/tea-cup-of-tea-smile-gif-16064448

This kind of thing?

[heavy stratus]

Is that Mary Poppins?

[glossy marsh]

No, because they're wider than they are tall. ^^

[fervent kernel]

"Seine Trompete trägt er auf dem Rücken."

Why is it 'dem' instead of 'den'? isn't 'tragen' Akkusativ?

[lean totem]

If you use "auf" it becomes Dativ

Ich stehe auf DEM Berg

That was an example

[fallow ledge]

Tragen does takes an akkusative object yes: ich trage eine Jacke.

But here youll see that dem is preceeded by a preposition auf. And since its indicating a location, and not movement to a location, the dative case will follow

Ich stelle (movement) die Trompete auf den Rücken. Jetzt trage die Trompete auf dem Rücken.

Tragen is a bit tricky, since i as the carrier can move about, but my trumpet doesnt move from my back, so there auf will need dativ

@fervent kernel

[fervent kernel]

Thank you!
I think I just got it ^^

so due to 'auf' the verb's case will be cancelled and 'auf' will affect the case. if the verb is indicating a movement like swim, run etc it's going to be dativ if it's not, it's going to be akkusativ. did I get it right?

[fallow ledge]

Hmm its more a case of ich trage die Trompete (akk) case of verb itself will not change

But then i specify where

Auf dem Rücken (dat)

If there is a change of location, lets use gehen, then we actually use the Akkusativ case:

Ich gehe in den Park

But for no change of location we use dativ:

Ich stehe in dem (im) Park.
Ich tanze im Park.

Although tanzen (to dance) has movement, i havent changed location, so the locational preposition, here in, uses the dativ case

[fervent kernel]

Now that's less confusing. thank you again

[fallow ledge]

Bitte schön 😄

[plush pelican]

Eine Tasse ist eher breit als hoch und ein Becher eher hoch als breit.

What if it's the same height and width? It is a Tasscher? xD

[hot anvil]

Hallo, ich habe eine Frage:
Diese Wohnung, die viermal so groß ist wie unsere, wurde gestern verkauft
oder
Diese Wohnung, die viermal so groß wie unsere ist, wurde gestern verkauft

[fervent kernel]

Vielleicht : diese Wohnung, die viermal größer als unsere ist, wurde gestern verkauft.
"So groß wie" spielt darauf an, dass die Größe der beiden Wohnung gleich ist.

[willow socket]

Mmm “diese Wohnung, die viermal so groß wie unsere ist, wurde gestern verkauft” ist okay, glaube ich.

[long whale]

Both are fine, I'd prefer the 1st one, though. :) @hot anvil

@willow socket "verkauft" means "sold", "gekauft" means "bought". So, if you use "gekauft", it begs the question of who the buyer was. :)

[willow socket]

ya was typing on phone

just trying to reproduce the sentence

[heavy stratus]

"Meine Kleider sollen rot sein von deinem Blut!"

I'm curious as to why this isn't "Meine Kleider sollen rot von deinem Blut sein!"?

Shouldn't the other verb 'sein' be at the end of the sentence?

[delicate tiger]

it's more poetic

[heavy stratus]

Makes sense, the line is from a play. Thank you

[ocean canopy]

Is December 24th considered also to be Christmas in Germany? I keep seeing "Frohe Weihnachten" today on my German side of social media. I know here in the USA sometimes we say Merry Christmas around the time of Christmas even if it isn't the exact day, but I really started seeing it today, making me think Germans kind of push Christmas Eve and Christmas Day together and think of it as one

[glossy marsh]

We celebrate on Christmas Eve, so yes.

[ocean canopy]

Interesting. What do you do on December 25th then, if anything?

[glossy marsh]

Enjoy our gifts, have dinner, and spend time with family.

[ocean canopy]

Okay, one more question then. If December 24th is also considered "Weihnachten" does this mean the term "Heiligabend" is outdated or irrelevant?

[sly ferry]

No the 24th is still named Heiligabend, Weihnachten is the day after

[ocean canopy]

But the 24th can also be considered Weihnachten?

[glossy marsh]

Weihnachten in that sense is the season of Christmas, not one particular day.

24th -> Heiligabend
25th -> erster Weihnachtstag

[ocean canopy]

erster Weihnachtstag...

Also es gibt Heiligabend am 24. Dezember, erster Weihnachtstag am 25. Dezember, und zweiter Weihnachtstag am 26. Dezember.

[glossy marsh]

There are twelve days, known as Twelvetide, from the 25th of December until the 5th of January.

[ocean canopy]

How dedicated is the average German family to each of these days? I'm assuming the 25th is considered most important.

[glossy marsh]

Similar to the UK and other places, the 25th is the most important day of Christmas, with each consecutive day becoming less and less interesting.

[ocean canopy]

Okay, thank you for the knowledge. Yeah here in the United States I have only ever known Christmas Eve and day, and then New Years Eve and day. I was kinda familiar with the 12 Days of Christmas thing through the song with that name, but I never knew it was a real thing. Cool 👍

Not trying to speak on behalf of all Americans here, just drawing from my experience

[plush pelican]

25th -> erster Weihnachtstag

But I thought that the days of December leading up to Christmas were "Weihnachtszeit", with the advent calendar doors opening each day, finishing on the 24th?

[glossy marsh]

Christmas Time is all of it, even after the 24th.

[dark swan]

The days leading up to Christmas are called "Vorweihnachtszeit". The days after the Vorweihnachtszeit are called "Weihnachten". "Weihnachtszeit" is everything combined.

[delicate tiger]

I would call the weeks before Christmas "Adventszeit", but that could be a regional thing

[long whale]

Huh? You - what? Heiligabend is when we get to open our presents and go to church (lots of people go, even if they never go on any other day of the year). 25th and 26th are just... sort of an added bonus.

[glossy marsh]

I'm not disagreeing one bit.

[heavy stratus]

25th an added bonus 😮

[twin frost]

Hallo. Heute einen grossen Tag fuer mich / morgen wird es einen grossen Tag.

[fervent kernel]

"In diesem Moment klopft es an die Tür an."

Why es and not er/sie? is it when the pronoun is unknown we put es?

[fallow ledge]

This is a case of a filler es, something it knocking at the door but we dont know what, so you can sub in es in its place

Im not sure if its related but it reminds me of general statements like „es regnet“

@fervent kernel heres a more detailed explanation, the second page covers what you see here

faq impersonal verbs

[stoic mauve]

Impersonal verbs

The conjugation of a verb is derived from the sentence's grammatical subject (e.g. ich, du), and so every sentence in German must contain a grammatical subject. There are, however, some verbs where the subject offers no useful information. These are known as impersonal verbs(unpersönliche Verben).

A common example of this in English is when discussing weather, e.g.: it rains.

In this example, the verb rain is the only element of the sentence containing meaningful information. The pronoun it does not refer to any particular person or thing, but instead serves as a grammatical aid to assist in the creation of a grammatically valid sentence.

Impersonal es

Impersonal verbs are frequently used in German when the agent of an action is unclear or unknown. They are always constructed with the impersonal subject es, which serves as the nominative subject in the sentence. Impersonal verbs are therefore always conjugated in the third person singular. For example:

Es regnet.
Es kracht.

If there are other elements in the clause, the impersonal es may often entirely be omitted and an element can take its position as the first element. It is, however, essentially being hidden by the other element and still affects the conjugation of the verb, for example:

Es ist mir kalt. == Mir ist kalt.

The impersonal es is frequently omitted when an accusative or dative object provides direct information on who/what is experiencingsomething (in this example, being cold). In this case, the accusative or dative object is serving as the logicalsubject of the clause and usually takes precedence over the omitted impersonal es.

Page 1/2

[hollow swallow]

Been doing A1 Nicos weg for a while. (I'm at the point where you do food with Inge.) I also do top 10k german phrases on anki, get around 20 new phrases a day.

It's hard to determine where I should categorise myself. I don't mean that in the sense that progress is measurable but I find myself getting lazy at the things I'm still currently working on yet my motivation to keep learning german hasn't stopped. Duolingo is just a horrible alternative at this point.

In this fear of plateauing so early I realised my issue was not having enough experience in formulating sentences. I've done really well, and I'm really proud of myself! I can read so much A1 content that I consider it too easy, that's great, that's really good, but speak it? That's the issue.

And I guess now I must face that problem. I'm just completely terrified of speaking german. I'm scottish so my english is very attuned to a dialect, but I've had some trauma with other communities learning german because they were really not so supportive. (basically told me to stop trying because i couldnt talk right)

I'm plateauing because I'm not speaking enough German. I need to be able to write and speak (formulate) more german and I just haven't found the right space for that.

I know you guys have an only german channel and do events but, is there a place where I can talk like a baby new to its mother tongue? idk if you guys have that

thank u for reading

[fallow ledge]

Man kann sagen: heute ist ein großer Tag für mich/Heute ist mir ein großer Tag.

Und für deinen Satz mit Morgen, kann man entweder Präsens oder Futur 1 verwenden:
Morgen ist für mich/mir ein großer Tag. (Präsens)
Morgen wird für mich/mir ein großer Tag sein. (Futur 1)

[fallow ledge]

Keep going youre doing great rn! Dont listen to those other communities, here we accept all levels of german and all variants of accents
We have a #beginner-german channel, which although is quite quiet, is also designed for language at the level of whoever want to use it, so if you want to use A2 level stuff, everyone should try and keep their sentences simple so to facilitate your learning. Same goes with the study groups and practice voice chats

Theres no need to worry about plateauing, everyone feels that way at more than one point during their learning journey.

If you want to practice your speaking there are a couple of things you can do, the first is sounding like a manic by voicing your thoughts, but in german of course. The next, less manic option, is to listen to a dialouge and speak along with it, and lastly trying a simple conversation with some people

Viel Erfolg with learning German

[silk kettle]

Hallo Leute, ich kämpfe darum, mir neue Worte auswendig zu lernen. Ich vergesse immer wieder Worte und fühle mich wirklich frustriert. Irgendwelche Ratschläge dort!

[celest frost]

Lerne neue Wörter im Kontext, am besten mit mehreren Beispielsätzen. Wenn du dir die Wörter nicht merken kannst, dann kann es daran liegen, dass du keine Verwendung für die neuen Wörter findest. Je größer dein Vokabular, umso wichtiger ist die Differenzierung von ähnlichen Wörtern. Jedes Wort hat einen Nutzen, manche sieht man aber nur in ganz wenigen Kontexten. @silk kettle

[long whale]

Heute ist ein großer Tag für mich - correct. The other one won't wash. Perhaps you were thinking of "Heute steht mir ein großer Tag bevor"? :)

[fallow ledge]

Thanks susana

[twin frost]

Danke sehr

[mental sparrow]

warum ist es hier "eines" und nicht "einer".
ich denke "Gebaeude" in diesem Satz ist als Plural genutzt
oder ist es optional zwischen "eines" und "einer"?

[fervent kernel]

eines (one of)

[mental sparrow]

aber "einer" ist auch "one of"
und in diesem Satz scheint "einer" besser zu passen,weil "Gebeade" plural ist

[fervent kernel]

Ja, aber...

Wie kann ich es gut erklären...

Du hast ''eines'' zunächst (also one of), aber einer würder wir als (the) übersetzen

Wir brauchen den Artikel

Aber auf Deutsch wird den Artikel so auch wie den ersten Teil uns mit dem Genitiv nötig

[minor obsidian]

Hello, is there a reason why Passport is "er" instead of "es"?

[fervent kernel]

Der Pass

-->Er

[minor obsidian]

Oh, so er and sie can be applied to inanimate objects too?

[proven sphinx]

Yep.

[minor obsidian]

Thank you

Oh, and one thing too

Why is "do you work here" become "arbeiten sie hier"?

[proven sphinx]

Well, why shouldn't it be? What confuses you? The word order?

[minor obsidian]

Since sie is for feminine right

[proven sphinx]

No, "Sie" written in capital letters is the formal form.

It doesn't matter what the person's gender is.

[minor obsidian]

Ah

Gotcha

Thank you very much

[queen ruin]

Hello guys I wanted to ask how do you write in German in your to do list, in other words what verbs do u use? For instance, how do I write ( finish my homework) —> do u use this form (meine Hausaufgaben beenden)

[fervent kernel]

You use the infinitive, yeah

[queen ruin]

Danke Feliz

[fallow ledge]

Ich hätte nur ein paar Fragen zu „erschrecken“ und seinem unregelmäßigen Vetter „erschrecken“

Sagte ich „Ich habe den Hund mir meiner Anwesenheit erschreckt“, bedeutet das denn, dass ich ihm einen Schreck eingejagt habe, ohne dass ich etwas aktiv getan habe?

Und zum anderen „Erschrecken“: sagte ich „Der Hund erschrak (ist erschrocken?) vor meiner Anwesenheit“, deutet diese Aussage denn daraufhin, dass er sich selbst Angst eingejagt hat, und ich war nur da als dies geschieht?

Und letzte Frage: wäre es „er hat sich selber erschrocken oder erschreckt?“

Danke im Voraus!

[surreal lantern]

any simple way to make it easier to identify the words Artikel?

ik how it works with Akkusativ and Dativ
but i just stop mid sentence just to remember if the word's Artikel is der die or das :(

[fallow ledge]

Sadly thats just how it goes for quite while. There are some rules for knowing the gender without looking up the word, but there are always exceptions, and its best to learn every new noun with it gender and plural either way.

Here are some quick rules of thumb:
Die
-ung (sorry theres lots of them im just drawing a blank)
-keit (die Wahrscheinlichkeit -en Probability)
-heit (die Wahrheit -en truth)

Das
Ge- (das Gebirge - mountain range)
-lein
-chen (two diminutive endings das Mädchen das Vögellein)

Der

• drinks are often der
  Der Tee, Der Saft but das Bier
• months and days
  Der Januar, der Montag
• weather is often der too
  Der Wind, der Regen, der Hagel
  There are some exceptions
• compass directions
  Der Norden, der Süden

@surreal lantern

There are many more, but theres a lot of rules and a lot of exceptions, and its often better to learn each word individually as needed

[surreal lantern]

thank you so much sir that's actually helpful :D

now since i have to learn every word with it's gender
would i get better at it by looking up the ones i don't know or is there a better way to learn them ? (sorry if my english is bad btw)

[fallow ledge]

Yes you unfortunately need to look them up, plural form are also irregular so you need to look them up too

[fervent kernel]

@surreal lantern , you have to learn them. Loads of people make the mistake, and just learn the word without its determiner. It's very bad.

However, there are some rules

Mahrlx, what's your native language ? I could find a tutorial or something explaining the rules with determiners (one example : words ending with -keit are always used with "die")

[surreal lantern]

it's arabic , i already study it in school but it's mostly grammar not words , i know some decent amount of grammar that i can hold a conversation with but unfortunately i don't know enough words

[fervent kernel]

Do you speak French better than English ? I want to find you the proper tutorial aha

[surreal lantern]

like is there something like a plan or something to follow that can help me learn the important words that are used every day but in more orderly way

like hmmm 30 words by 30 words or something like that

[plain umbra]

There are lists of the most common words.

[plain umbra]

But the best way to learn vocab is just by knowing what kind of vocab you personally think you will use, and learning that.

[surreal lantern]

i can understand English and speak it well
but somehow I'm so bad at typing xD

[plain umbra]

Like maybe you decide your first topic you want to learn is the weather, and someone else might decide they first want to talk about food. Even though you will learn them all eventually, it makes sense to learn ones that you will use a lot first.

[fervent kernel]

you're not aha

[fervent kernel]

Couldn't agree more. Topics are great to create links and associations

Speak the vocabulary out loud

Even if you're visual 🙂

[fallow ledge]

I like the memrise word lists as a beginner, theyre split into topics and have a mix of words and Phrases

All with audio too

[plain umbra]

Btw, just as a tip, one thing to be wary of if you decide to use a list like "top 100 words" or something is that some common words are related to a type of grammar that maybe you didn't learn yet. So just keep that in mind - you may have to skip some if your grammar isn't there yet.

e.g. prepositions

[surreal lantern]

that's a pretty good idea !
i never tried that actually , i always learned random words that I'll probably never use most of the time

[heavy stratus]

I find graded readers / short stories engaging. They have themes like nature / relationships / crimes etc (like any literature, really), so you can pick one around a specific subject and learn related vocab

[surreal lantern]

that's really great :D
I'm so thankful for your help guys/girls
I'll start with the words from simple topics and work hard on memorizing them
that should be good for starting
thank you all once again
:smiley:

[plain umbra]

No problem. Enjoy.

[fervent kernel]

now this question may seem stupid but

how would the verb vibing be in german?

[fallow ledge]

Viben lol ive heard people say that

@fervent kernel

[fervent kernel]

ah so i've guessed it correctly

[fallow ledge]

You could also do a work around with something like: ich genieße die Stimmung hier. Im enjoying the mood/tone here

[fervent kernel]

thanks but its for a playlist name

sooo thats kinda long

also how do you pronounce it

vaiben or veeben

[fallow ledge]

Like in english id say

Ive seen a meme spelling once of: weiben

[fervent kernel]

ok, thanks a ton!

[quiet hearth]

hey everyone, im taking German 1 for one of my classes in Uni, so im a total beginner at it

currently working on a vlog for one of the requirements
was wondering if its correct to say "du bist zusehenst <insert my channel name>?"

zusehenst, for "watching?"

[plain umbra]

@quiet hearth Are you trying to say "you are watching ... " ?

[quiet hearth]

yup

haha

forgot to say, my bad

[plain umbra]

The most important thing to learn here is that German doesn't use that kind of continuous structure like English uses.

For example:
I am eating / I eat = Ich esse

[quiet hearth]

hmm okay

so what would it be instead?

[plain umbra]

In this case, I'm not sure what the most common / natural thing to say is in this context, but you could say, for example:
Du siehst gerade [channel name].

Gerade just means "right now" as in "Right now you're watching ..."

That phrasing is fine but there may be a better way, so when a native speaker is around, hopefully they can add their comment too.

[quiet hearth]

interesting

thankyou for this

[plain umbra]

No problem. It's just a bit tricky because German has a lot of ways to talk about "watching" something with small nuances to each way.

[quiet hearth]

online classes and my teacher arent exactly helpful, so physical classes wouldve been.. lmao 😫

yeah, its

the way ive been taught, it can be simple and complicated at the same time

so its been funky ngl

[hollow swallow]

[a1 retard speaker]

ich will deutsch spricht mit jemand. hier, jetzt

macht euch wollen sie sprechen

doch nein, err

möchte jemand

uhhhh

deutch sprechen

[a1 retard speaker]

ich spreche kein wort aus gut deutsch

aber

[[I would really like someone to talk with, it will be super simple german

kannst du hilfe

bitte...

[plain umbra]

@hollow swallow Sorry, what is your question?

[minor obsidian]

I think he just wants a speaking partner

[plain umbra]

Oh, I see. Then you can use the General Discussion channels or #beginner-german .

#questions and #questions-2 are for asking questions about the German language.

But please try to avoid using words like "retard" as it's not very appropriate.

[fallow ledge]

Wie nennt man ein „knitting shop“ auf Deutsch?
Ein Strickgeschäft
Einen Strickladen
einen Strickhandel
Die Strickerei? (Das letzte ist eher industriell gerichtet, oder?)

[long whale]

Strickgeschäft would work if it's a shop selling things for knitting stuff yourself, yes. @fallow ledge

[fallow ledge]

das ist genau das, wonach ich gesucht habe! Danke

[fervent kernel]

Does "ihren" only mean "their" or also "her"?

My guess ihren also means her as accusative

[celest frost]

Yes, but only if her possession has the male gender

Sie verschenkte ihren Stift

Sie verschenkte ihre Tasche

Sie verschenkte ihr Haus

Hope that helps

[fervent kernel]

“Seine Predigt muss warten”

Ist ‘seine’ Akkusativ?

[near lake]

ich denke es ist nominativ

[dusty dirge]

hello guys
i just wanted to ask if i can use Coronavirus sein for being corona
anyone can help?

[proven sphinx]

You can't usually be a virus. You have a virus.

Coronavirus haben
eine Grippe haben
eine Erkältung haben
usw.

[dusty dirge]

hmm thanks

[proven sphinx]

Or just "unter etwas leiden".

Unter einer Grippe leiden.

Meaning "to suffer from".

[cloud breach]

You can't really use sein for "I" (Ich)

I am - Ich bin
You are - Du bist
We are - Wir sind
They are - Sie sind
He/She/It is - Er/Sie/Es ist

[proven sphinx]

Not sure if that's what they were asking, but I guess it can't hurt.

[dusty dirge]

yeah thanks guys

[blissful pecan]

Hi, it's My first time here, what is the first step to learn a languague?

[cloud breach]

I would start learning I/You/He/She/It/We/They

[blissful pecan]

Nice, ty

[fervent kernel]

Wie ist das? Ich dachte es ist immer Akkusativ mit Modalverben. (Mit ‘werden’ als einem Ausnahme)

[long whale]

"Seine Predigt" = Subjekt @fervent kernel

[fervent kernel]

Ach stimmt. jeztz frage ich mich wieso könnte ich das nicht merken. danke ^^

[fervent kernel]

"dieses mal"

ist dieses Genetiv hier?

[near folio]

nein. dieser wird so dekliniert, wenn es im Nominativ oder Akkusativ steht

[fervent kernel]

"Aber dieses Mal ist nicht Nele bei ihm" also hier Nominativ ist und hat 'dieses' genimmt weil Mal Neuter ist. stimmt das?

[boreal pewter]

Das Pferd

[near folio]

fast korrekt. Nele ist das Subjekt, also muss es im Nominativ stehen (auch wenn man das nicht deutlich sehen kann). dieses Mal steht in deinem Beispiel im Akkusativ als Zeitadverb (glaube ich)

[boreal pewter]

Dieses Pferd

[steel walrus]

Hallo leute 👋 quick question (hopefully) In my excersices i got the phrase "Magst du Baume nicht?" and i'm a bit confused about the placement of nicht. Like i understand why "Magst" is at the beginning but it seems to me like nicht could be at the end of the question/sentence or somewhere between the middle or end of it.

[snow remnant]

Isn't it Magst du keine Bäume?

Just to add on to that with my own question here

[steel walrus]

come to think of it. I don't know that either haha when do we use keine or nicht?

[icy flax]

Bc it is negating the verb, it is possible too.

kein negates the noun (thing)
nicht negates the verb (action)

[steel walrus]

oh nice!, that's easy enough to remember. But is there a rule that says where the nicht must be at? it seems to me like its not always at the end

[left garden]

Ich habe eine Frage...was ist der Unterschied zwischen erleben und unternehmen? In meinem Buch steht, dass wir etwas mit der Familie unternehmen können, aber nicht erleben. Ebenfalls können wir sagen ein Abendteuer erleben aber nicht ein Abendteuer unternehmen. Warum ist das so? Wann nutzt man welche?

Danke im Voraus..

Abenteuer*

[long whale]

etwas unternehmen = to become active, to do something involving at least a little planning. etwas erleben = to be actively or passively present while something is happening. Does that help?

[celest frost]

unternehmen is a planned action.

[normal kindle]

When to use schenken und schicken?

When to use von and aus?

[left garden]

@long whale yes..danke!

[glossy marsh]

To send vs to gift.

[fervent kernel]

“Sie hat viel Zeit”

Wieso ‘viel’ nicht ‘viele’?

[glossy marsh]

Because while Zeit is feminine, its uncountable.

Same applies to other uncountable nouns, such as das Wasser: Viel Wasser.

[fervent kernel]

So it declines based on countability and uncountability?

For uncountable nouns ‘viel’ and countable ‘viele’?

[glossy marsh]

Yes, for plural.

[fervent kernel]

And when do we say ‘vieles’?

https://m.korrekturen.de/flexion/adjektive/viel/ hab ich gefunden danke ^^

[scenic drift]

Warum gibt es hier "mal"? Welchen Zweck erfüllt es?

"Dass die Seniorin mal Stoff einer Eilmeldung würde, hätte sie sich in ihrem 102. Lebensjahr vermutlich nicht träumen lassen."

Und abgesehen davon, habe ich Recht, wenn ich denke, dass dieser Artikel ein bisschen mehr, äh, voller Floskel ist, als Zeitungsartikel normalerweise sind? https://www.rnd.de/politik/jetzt-krempelt-deutschland-die-armel-hoch-2E6E4GJ5XRHX3D3A6US65MCQEI.html

Weiß nicht, ob Floskel das richtige Wort ist... "flowery prose", so zu sagen.

Normalerweise lese ich nur die SZ. Vielleicht ist meine Beurteilung darüber nicht so gut...

[tulip nova]

What's the difference between bekommst and bekömmst?

[scenic drift]

bekömmst isn't a word as far as i know 🤔

[tulip nova]

huh

this is why i was asking

[summer crystal]

⁷ Outdated / obsolete use

[clever matrix]

Which is better, or do both work?

Ich bin verzweifelt.
Ich verzweifele mich.

[delicate tiger]

only the first

[clever matrix]

Ah I had it confused with bezweifle 😂

[untold bough]

guten Abend

[calm anvil]

Do you guys know any streamers/youtubers that speak a dialect spoken in Mainz? Or is it just standard German there? 🤔

[summer crystal]

2 questions.

What does Ein- and Ver- mean when they serve as suffixes? Saw them in words like Einsteigen and Vermieter.

What does "ja" means or what function does it play in these sentences?: "Es gibt ja keinen Treuern" and "Da kommt er ja gerade".

[fallow ledge]

Ver- is a tricky one, for this ill refer you to this excellent source: https://yourdailygerman.com/german-prefix-ver-meaning/

Sorry i cant answet your ein-question properly rn, but in essance it means in and on (like switch on)

Einsteigen means to get into transport (car, train, bus)

Einschalten to turn on, or engage, einen Anwalt, einen Detektiv einschalten (to engage a lawyer a detective)

Eine Lampe einschalten (to turn on a lamp)

Eintreten also comes to mind:
To step in/enter
Eintritt kostet 5 euro. (Entry costs 5 euros)
Ich öffne die Tür und er tritt ein (i open the door an he enters)

Also to occur, i think of it as like it stepped into play.
Solch ein Ereignis wird nie eintreten. (Such an event will never happen)

Sorry for the short response, im sure there are some more detailed responses online and someone else in the server might have some more insight. Good luck with german!

[summer crystal]

Unfortunately I've reached my limit of two articles per week :P but I'll save this link for later, danke!

[fallow ledge]

Its irritating that it does that, but its a really good explanation

[summer crystal]

Yeah, I've noticed that when comparing words like "ausgang" and "eingang"

[summer crystal]

No problem at all, thanks again!

[icy flax]

Just a "nerdy correction": I am sure you meant prefixes (Vorsilben) bc suffixes are Nachsilben. And you dont get ein- and ver- after the roots.
steigen-ein and mieter-ver aint actual words, right?

Blu answered with the exact ref I would point you to. Hahaha. Ein- means into/inside sth and sometimes carries the meaning of "on" (although the main player here is an-), whereas aus would mean "off".

Another place I used to look at more often was the wiki for Vorsilben: https://de.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/ein-

[subtle valley]

when "Ja" is used in the middle of the sentence it does not mean "yes". Germans use it to signify the obviousness of something or to signify that the conversational partner already knows about what is being stated

so when someone says "Da kommt er ja", the "ja" is being used because it is obvious for everyone else who may hear that sentence, that he is arriving because they can also visually see him arriving

it is not something that has to be used but a lot of germans do it, i will try to find an article on it

https://www.deutsch-perfekt.com/deutsch-lesen/was-bedeuten-die-modalpartikeln this is an article which also includes other similar words other than "ja"

[rigid geyser]

It’s probably closer to “indeed” then “yes” (I’m not native)

[subtle valley]

hmm no not really. The "Modalpartikel" word type is special to the german language and doesn’t really exist in other languages and is not very translatable

[celest frost]

'ja' in that context is affirming a piece of information.
It can mean 'it that's the case': '(Wenn du jetzt einkaufen gehst), dann kannst du ja (gleich) Milch mitbringen' - If you're doing the groceries now, you might as well bring milk (while you're at it)'
You can use it as 'speak of the devil'
"Tom wollte auch kommen. Ah, da ist er ja.'
It can be used to signal surprise:
"Wow, das ist ja schlau, wie du diese Aufgabe gelöst hast"
"Wow, dieses Essen schmeckt ja schlecht"

[summer crystal]

Oh, yeah, prefixes, of course :P
I'll look into this wikipedia article, thanks

[vagrant gorge]

Is schemil some sort of pun?

[delicate tiger]

Schnee-Emil? Emil is a male name

[slim yew]

why is it not
water does not like they

water comes first

then they

[scenic drift]

@slim yew because you want to translate it into english, which requires english word order

there's lots of instances in german where you can write a phrase with slightly variant word order but it would still translate to the same thing in english

[fervent kernel]

Then it would be "Wasser mag sie nicht"
The "mögen" in your example is a hint that the subject here is "sie"

[fervent kernel]

It sounds more natural in English to have it in a different word order

[ivory flame]

Ist diese rightig:
"Heute habe ich mehr deutsch gelernen"?

[glossy marsh]

*Deutsch gelernt.

[ivory flame]

Ah danke schön

[heavy stratus]

Still, ihr Kinder der Götter. Hört meine Geschichte über den Anfang der Zeit. Es gab keinen Sand und es gab kein Meer. Keine Erde und keinen Himmel. Kein Gras und keinen Wind. Bis das Feuer auf Eis traf im Weiten Nichts. Und aus diesem Schrei enstand der Riese Ymir, das erste aller Wesen. Der stolze Ymir, grausam getötet. Doch aus seinem Knochen und seinem Blut und seinem Hirn ward die Welt erschaffen. Die Welt, in der ihr lebt und Kreige führt.
I have a couple of questions about this passage that I would appreciate help understanding.
(1) Why does the accusative apply to "es gab keinen Sand und es gab kein Meer" when there is no subject?
(2) are names always given a masculine declension, "Der stolze Ymir", and shouldn't it be stolzer if Ymir is masculine?
(3) is it safe to assume that preposition cases always follow through into other clauses, like in "aus seinem Knochen und seinem Blut", even when a conjunction is used?

[astral fable]

1. There is a subject ( Es). You need to ask" Wer oder was gab keinen Sand und kein Meer " Answer: es
2. no so it is right,. In first case singular you do not need a r
3. yes

[heavy stratus]

Vielen, vielen dank!

[winter hamlet]

(1)..'Es gibt' describes an impersonal verb (unpersönliches Verb). 'Es' in 'Es gibt' is a formal subject without meaning. It expresses that something exists ...or rather in this case doesn't exist.
(2) The 'r' ending you would be using for a posessive pronoun, in sentence that describes what Emir posesses or is aligned to.
(3) shrug

[heavy stratus]

@winter hamlet thank you also. I had always related 'es gibt' to there is/there are in my head and so didn't consider it to be a subject at first glance

[winter hamlet]

As I said it's purely formal. It doesn't really have subject quality beyond its grammatical position.

[fervent kernel]

Was für ein Bild hast du von Japan? why is the für ein Bild part in 2nd position?

isnt the verb supposed to be there?

[topaz pewter]

Was für ein Bild = What kind of picture

It's not Was ...

It is was für (object) ...

It's like,
"Welche Sprachen sprichst du"

The verb is in the 2nd position in both sentences

[fervent kernel]

ok that makes sense

thanks!

[topaz pewter]

Kein Ding

[fervent kernel]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEdW2bObyYQ
I'm having a bit of problems understanding, so:
What do you guys hear from 1:21-1:25; 2:04 (the word after sie); 2:22 (the word/words after nickte); 3:46-3:50 (also before that I hear ,,Ich sagte 'Goodbye, denn es ist vorbei'', but I'm not at all sure)

[fervent kernel]

1:21-1:25: meine Tränenflut trocknet, die langsam erstarrt(?)
2:04: sie gibt
2:22 nickte in Ruhe

I can't understand the last bit though

thanks a lot, hope we can figure it out, because I have no idea what he says either 🤔

[delicate tiger]

3:46: "Ich beugte mich zu ihr herunter"

[summer crystal]

In "Die Jeans ist zu lang", why is the adjective not conjugated? Is it because it is not besides the noun (as in "die lange Jeans")?

[plain umbra]

Yeah, exactly.

[fervent kernel]

I just have a question about the plural for Volk
I've seen it be Völker, Volke, and Völks/Volks
if all are these are right, what's a good rule of thumb?
if not, which one(s) is/are wrong

[fallow ledge]

@fervent kernel das Volk die Völker

Just one is right there

You might however come across something like des Volk(e)s but dont be fooled, this is the Genitive form of the singular noun

Something like: „die Kultur des Volkes“ means „the culture of the people“

[fervent kernel]

ah! i read something about the Reichstag and it had something like "dem Deutschem Volke" so that's where my confusion arose from

[fallow ledge]

Ahh thats an outdated dative form

Dative nouns used to have an -e added, this can still be seen in some common expressions such as zu Hause (at home) and nach Hause (to home)

[fervent kernel]

outdated by how long? i thought the Reichstag burnt down in '36

[fallow ledge]

Its outdated now, you wont see it in anything written today

I couldn’t tell you when it stopped being used tho

[fervent kernel]

okay
well thanks for the correction!

[fallow ledge]

Bitte schön

[stoic quiver]

If you had two nouns with different genders, but wanted to use the same adjective for them both, which adjectival ending would you use? or would you just repeat the adjective for both nouns? e.g. if I wanted to say 'mutual love and respect' in the dative, would it be 'gegenseitige Lieber und Respekt', or would I say 'gegenseitige Lieber und gegenseitigem Respekt'?

[celest frost]

Liebe, not Lieber

and you indeed let the first noun determine the adjective's conjugation

"gegenseitige Liebe und Respekt"

or "gegenseitigen Respekt und Liebe"

[fervent kernel]

Nach den letzten Tagen möchten wir nun noch die Perspektive von Menschen kennenlernen, die Japan etwas besser kennenlernen konnten, als wir das innerhalb von ein paar Tagen überhaupt können

why is the last sentence ... als wir das innerhalb von ein paar Tagen überhaupt können structured like that?

isn't als a coordinating conjunction?

[golden kestrel]

"als" in that context translates to "than"

as in "I am taller than my little brother"

[scenic drift]

als is a subordinating conjunction, it sends the verb to the end of the clause

[fervent kernel]

ah

[fervent kernel]

a)In meiner Schule sind das Gebäude sehr modern
b)Die Essen von meiner Schule ist sehr fettig
c)Es kann das Geschenck nicht kauft da er arm sind
d)es ist sehr leicht zu köchen
e)Den Souffle das ich mache war sehr flach

are those correct ^^

[topaz pewter]

Whats die Bild

das Bild -> die Bilder (image/images)

[fervent kernel]

building?

wait

gebaude?

[topaz pewter]

Das Gebäude is building

I think bilden is a verb

[fervent kernel]

yh ur right i mixed those up

what about the cases... im prtty bad with differentiating accusative and datives correctly

[topaz pewter]

There are a few other mistakes but im waiting for mikey to fix them lol

[fervent kernel]

lol

[scenic drift]

(a) Check the plural of Bild (= picture)
(b) Check the gender of Essen. You want "in meiner Schule", not "von meiner Schule", probably
(c) Check "Es", should be "Er". Check spelling of Geschenk. Check conjugation of "kauft". Comma after kauft. Check conjugation of "sind"
(d) You probably want "einfach" here, ie. "Es ist sehr einfach zu kochen. " (this implies the item is easy to cook - is that what you're going for?)
(e) Check gender and case of Souffle. Comma to mark the new clause (<> Souffle, das ich mache, war sehr flach). Check tense of mache to match the tense of 'war'.

[scenic drift]

thanks buddy :)

i didn't want to just give the answer so it takes a bit of time to point out which bits need fixing haha

[fervent kernel]

fixed?:
a)In meiner Schule sind die Gebäude sehr modern
b)Das Essen in meiner Schule ist sehr fittig
c)Er kann das Geschenck nicht kaufen, da er arm ist.
d)es ist sehr einfach zu kochen
e)das Souffle, das ich machte, war sehr flach

[restive moth]

I suspect the verb in A is conjugated wrong

[fervent kernel]

hmm what would the right conjugation of sind be?

[restive moth]

I think ist

But I mean I'm still a beginner

So I dont want to say anything definitive

But sind is for plural

Das is singular

[fervent kernel]

yh i thought gebäude was plural cuz it sounded plural-ish lol but ur right

[restive moth]

The plural of Gebäude is Gebäude

So you're not wrong

[fervent kernel]

in that case i would prob change it to die Gebäude.. i see

thanks i completly forgot that lol

[scenic drift]

check your spelling of Geschenk

and can i double check - what is your intended meaning for (d)? Are you pointing to an item and saying it is easy to cook that item? Or are you trying to say that cooking in general is easy?

[fervent kernel]

yup i was saying its easy to cook

a specific item @scenic drift

[scenic drift]

cool cool

also you've typoed fettig in (b)

but otherwise looks good now :)

[fervent kernel]

ahh i see

[fervent kernel]

Hey

[quaint holly]

Hello, I have a question.
What is the correct translation for
You and I walk
Is it
Du und ich gehen
Or
Du und ich laufen

[scenic drift]

imo 'gehen' is a slower pace than 'laufen', i'd probably default to 'gehen'

[quaint holly]

Danke schön

[summer crystal]

Between weil and denn, which is more commonly used? And, if it exists, does the preference changes between spoken and written language?

[swift bough]

One isn’t more commonly used over the other, at least not in my experience.

But if you write an essay or something it’s usually better to go with weil

I believe

[swift bough]

Some people will use them totally interchangeably though, just depends on the speaker

Though laufen is the only one that means running

Obviously

[icy flax]

Agreed! They definitely have a intersection in meaning. Despite this intersection, laufen can mean to go faster than gehen and slower than rennen. But then again gehen can be that general "to go" movement verb, sometimes even used in the sense of "does it work?". Ive witnessed germans arguing about this very Laufen vs Gehen topix hahaha.

[icy flax]

tldr: denn is more formal, weil more emphatic

Man kann „denn“ statt „weil“ verwenden, wenn man etwas Formelles sagen möchte:

„Diese Frau hat gewonnen, denn sie hat eine sehr schöne Stimme.“

Für eine Betonung der Ursache ist „weil“ besser, klingt aber viel direkter und sachlicher:

„Sie hat gewonnen, weil sie die Jury von ihrem Talent überzeugt hat.“

Source: https://www.leemeta-uebersetzungen.de/blog/grammatik/das-ewige-dilemma-mit-weil-und-denn

[humble mauve]

Ich habe eine Frage, nicht um die Spräche selber, doch um die Kultur; was besteht (composes, makes up, not sure about that one) die meistens der Medien? Es gibt wenige Deutche Filme, Youtube Channels, und so weiter. Vielleicht eine merkwürdige Frage, aber möchte Ich was typische Deutche Medien ist weißen, seit nicht alles geht wie so in die Anglosphäre.

[fervent kernel]

Hey

I just learned the word for game

Spiel

[dire niche]

spiel?

[fervent kernel]

And the word for chocolate is

Chokolade

Or somthing like that

[humble mauve]

schokolade*

[fervent kernel]

No

Oh yes

Sorry

I was close tho xD

Also I did some learning on genders

Der mann

[dire niche]

maybe in #general

[fervent kernel]

Ok

I’m done anyways

I just wanted to say

[plain umbra]

@humble mauve It's fine to ask here, but you might find that you will more easily get some responses in #archived-culture-study-visa since that's our channel about "living in German speaking countries" and stuff like that.

[humble mauve]

oh ok, thanks

[fervent kernel]

I geben der mann Schokolade

Did that sentence work

I gave the man chocolate

[plain umbra]

Not quite.

[fervent kernel]

Oof

[plain umbra]

Do you know how to say "I" in German?

[fervent kernel]

Yes

[plain umbra]

How?

[fervent kernel]

Ich i think

[plain umbra]

Yes.

And do you know about verb conjugation?

[fervent kernel]

No xD

[plain umbra]

Okay, so that's the next thing you need to learn.

Before making sentences, you must learn present tense verb conjugation.

[fervent kernel]

I’m just tryna learn the basic

[plain umbra]

This is the basics.

[deep breach]

That is the basic

[fervent kernel]

So what would the sentence translate to in English

[fervent kernel]

Snickles hahahah

[plain umbra]

Basically, the order you learn stuff if you're a total beginner is:

1. Noun gender
2. Pronouns (for subjects)
3. Present tense verb conjugation

Those are the first things you learn. Then you can make your first sentence.

[fervent kernel]

Ok thanks

H

[plain umbra]

So let's try a simpler sentence instead.

[fervent kernel]

G

[deep breach]

There's a chart describing present tense verb conjugation

[fervent kernel]

I saved it to my notes

[deep breach]

For the most part, verbs will follow this. There are, of course, irregular verbs.

But when you get to those, they aren't so complex

[fervent kernel]

I’m trying to focus but I can’t get over your pfp

[deep breach]

Probably the most irregular verb I can readily think of is "sein"

[fervent kernel]

What’s that

[deep breach]

Which is, conveniently, one of the first verbs you learn

To be

[fervent kernel]

Oh

[deep breach]

Ich bin, Du bist

Er/sie/es ist

[fervent kernel]

Can you answer my other question

Please

[deep breach]

Ich gebe dem Mann Schokolade

[fervent kernel]

I use

I said der Mann

[deep breach]

Right

Another thing that you will learn down the line is that some verbs invoke a different case

[fervent kernel]

Please have patience with me, my Brain is square and I’m often confused

[deep breach]

Don't worry! You're doing well so far

So, you have the gender right

[fervent kernel]

Patience*

[deep breach]

Now, for a good portion of verbs, the accusative case will be used

All definitive articles remain the same except for the masculine

Instead of der, it becomes den

[fervent kernel]

Why

I thought masculine could only be der and ein

[deep breach]

While there is probably a root cause for it, the simple answer is because that's how it is

Nope

[fervent kernel]

🤦‍♂️

[deep breach]

For the nominative case, which is the basic case and the first one you learn, that is correct

But when dealing with verbs and objects, the nominative case isn't used

[fervent kernel]

Ok

[deep breach]

Typically, it will be the accusative case

[fervent kernel]

So the verb would be giben?

Geben*

[deep breach]

That is the base verb. Depending on the subject, you must conjugate

In the case of your sentence, "ich" is the subject

[fervent kernel]

And the noun is Schokolade?

[plain umbra]

@humble mauve A correction for your question earlier btw:
Ich habe eine Frage, nicht über die Sprache selbst, sondern über die Kultur; woraus bestehen die meisten Medien? Es gibt wenige deutsche Filme, Youtube-Kanäle, und so weiter. Vielleicht eine merkwürdige Frage, aber ich möchte wissen, was typische deutsche Medien sind, weil nicht alles so geht wie in der Anglosphäre.

I'm not a native speaker so it may not be the ideal wording(feel free to ask a native speaker for a second opinion), but I just wanted to point out some grammar mistakes for you.

[fervent kernel]

I’m forgetting basic English

[deep breach]

One of the two nouns, yes

[fervent kernel]

The nouns are mann and Schokolade

[deep breach]

In your sentence, it is the direct object

Correct

[fervent kernel]

So what would I have to change to make that grammatically correct

[deep breach]

Also, capitalize Mann. In German, all nouns are capitalized.

[fervent kernel]

That’s different

Would that mean Schokolade is capitalized or not because that is the direct noun

[dire niche]

it is

[deep breach]

Well, your sentence invokes what is called the dative case. Since it uses the verb geben, an indirect object must be present to recieve the direct object.

[humble mauve]

@plain umbra A lot of that is word choice, which I think just comes with practice / exposure

what you wrote certainly seems to flow nicer

and just be better

[plain umbra]

@humble mauve Nuh, I corrected a few grammatical things too. Did you want me to specifically point out which ones?

[humble mauve]

Sure, if you don't mind

[deep breach]

@fervent kernel Would we be able to continue this in DMs? I dont want to clog up the traffic here.

[fervent kernel]

So It would be “ich (subject) geben (Action, Verb) den Mann (noun, object) Schokolade (noun, direct)

[plain umbra]

@deep breach It's fine. I don't mind moving to the other channel.

[fervent kernel]

K

[plain umbra]

@humble mauve

• "eine Frage um"-> I don't think you can say this, but feel free to double check that, but there is a different expression with a different meaning "um etw fragen" which means the same as "um etw bitten" so maybe you mixed that up with "eine Frage über/nach etw"
• "doch" is like "however", whereas "sondern" is "but rather", but perhaps you can use doch in this context, so that's also worth double checking
• die Medien is plural
• "meistens" is an adverb meaning "most of the time" or "mostly", whereas you're looking for the adjective "meist" for "most of the media"
• Deutche -> deutsche
• "aber möchte Ich was typische Deutche Medien ist weißen" is the main one I wanted to correct, because the word order isn't correct here, "weißen" should be "wissen", and it should be two clauses, as well as some of the things I mentioned already
• "seit" here I think you're mixing up "since" as in "because" and "since" as in "since that time"; seit is only for the time one, not for "because"
• "so" is in the wrong place in the last clause

Hopefully that helps.

[humble mauve]

Yes, a lot of this was stuff I wasn't sure of

So, is it that wissen is the verb, but weißen means white, weiß is the 3p singular form?

Seit doesn't mean because, I noticed that a bit later

And the word order was kind of awkward but I couldn't figure it out

[plain umbra]

Yeah, wissen is the infinitive of "to know".

But for singular forms, the stem is "weiß".

[humble mauve]

well thanks

[plain umbra]

For word order for more complicated sentences, if you're trying to write something and you're a bit stuck, it can help to think about it in English first.

I would like to know what typical German media is.
Clause 1: "I would like to know" -> ich möchte wissen
Clause 2: "what typical German media is" -> "was typische deutsche Medien sind"

Might not work 100% of the time, but most of the time, it will help you get a better sense of what's going on.

[humble mauve]

yeah there's two full clauses there

Something to look out for

[summer crystal]

Viele Dank!

[icy flax]

Hey, Fraud! Ich hab dir einige Vorschläge darunter gegeben. Diese Struktur "ich möchte etwas typische Deutsche Medien finden" hat mich aufgebracht. Vllt könnte ein Nativer uns helfen, wie es in der Standardsprache zu schreiben. Was die deutschen Medien angeht, empfehle ich deinen Ort auf YouTube zu ändern. Stelle den zu Deutschland ein. Click mal auf "Trends" und viel Glück damit. Das ist was die typischen Deutsche anschauen. Diese hier gefallen mir auch sehr:
(1) Mailab: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyHDQ5C6z1NDmJ4g6SerW8g (darfst du dich gerne unter "maiFriends" anschaut. Da sind ähnliche Kanäle zu finden)
(2) Dinge erklärt: https://www.youtube.com/user/KurzgesagtDE

Was Zeitungen angeht, gibt es einfache und aus der Ansicht einiger Leute super scheiße Zeitungen wie "bild.de". Eher herausfordernd versuchst du "sz.de" und "faz.de".

Ich habe eine Frage, nicht um die Sprache selber¹, doch um die Kultur; woraus² besteht (composes, makes up, not sure about that one) die Mehrheit² der Medien? Es gibt wenige deutsche⁴ Filme, YouTube Channels, und so weiter. Vielleicht eine merkwürdige Frage, aber ich möchte was typisch Deutsches finden, da nicht alles so geht, wie in der Anglosphäre.

¹ Ich weiß nicht, ob es absichtlich war, aber "selber" ist keine Standardsprache, wie "selbst" z.B.
² Wenn "A consists of B" gemeint wird, sagt man "aus etw. bestehen". Wenn du bloß "bestehen" ohne irgendeine Präposition verwendest, bedeutet es soviel wie "existieren" oder dass man in etw. erfolgreich gewesen ist (eine Krankheit/Prüfung bestehen).
³ meistens ist ein Adverb und deswegen gibt es nicht sowas wie "die meistens der/s etw./s"
⁴ bin mir nicht ganz sicher, aber ich glaube, es soll ein Adjektiv sein, oder?
weißen beudeutet "to whiten", ich glaube du meintest "finden".

[dawn jackal]

ist schlummern genauso wie schlafen ?

[scenic drift]

i think it's got the implication of sleeping more lightly than schlafen

so dozing or napping

[jolly dragon]

Es kommt auch bestimmt aufm Kontext an. z.B. Die legendärsten mathematischen Kniffe, die übelsten Stolpersteine der Physikgeschichte und allerhand Formeln, denen kaum einer ansieht, welche Bedeutung in ihnen schlummert...

@scenic drift unter deepl sagt es "er schlummerte fest und tief". Das sagt mir also dass es bestimmt genau das Gegenteil davon ist. Da bin ich mir aber nicht so sicher.

es steht auch: "lie dormant"

[scenic drift]

Ach ja, zwei Bedeutungen: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/schlummern

[jolly dragon]

slumber, sleep

[scenic drift]

Ich habe es als "slumber, sleep, doze" gelernt

und so steht es in leo:

[jolly dragon]

Ich glaube eher nicht dass "doze" wirklich so funktioniert

weil "doze" == "nap"

meistens, oder?

Ich habe das Gefühl als wenn ich jetzt weder Deutsch noch Englisch richtig kenne.

nap ist doch eher ein Nickerchen

doze ist doch eher eine Form von einschlafen

doze ist doch eingepennt

"Shit, I dozed off" == "Scheiße, ich bin eingepennt"

@past juniper @fierce idol @vagrant fern @sly ferry @plain umbra ^

[scenic drift]

<@&305455824174710787> please thanks

[jolly dragon]

danke

[sly ferry]

Thanks for reporting it

[humble mauve]

@icy flax danke

[quartz radish]

Ganz meinerseits. Was bedeutet diese Phrase? Und wann mann die sagt?

[long whale]

X: Es hat mich sehr gefreut, Sie kennenzulernen. Y: Ganz meinerseits (= Mich hat es auch sehr gefreut, Sie kennenzulernen) @quartz radish

[fallen wren]

what do people do in voice chat study group ?

are they just random people turning in ? or organized things ?

[deep breach]

It could be either

Some just tune in and join the conversation, while others may have scheduled a voice chat for a specific purpose

But I find that the former is more common

[ivory flame]

What doe the auf mean in this sentence and why do I need it there?

[fierce idol]

it belongs to the word aufschreiben, which is a separable verb

[fervent kernel]

Es gibt Situationen, da ist es ganz klar

I'm confused with da. Is it supposed to be a conjunction? And if so is it not a subjunction (i.e. why isn't ist at the end)?

for instance in this context: Diese Frage ist einfach für mich, da Deutsch meine Muttersprache ist.

[fervent kernel]

https://youtu.be/s38Ss4uZCuA?t=16

here's where I got it from

[scenic drift]

i think da is being used as an adverb, not a conjunction here. as a conjunction (in the sense of "because"), it's subordinating. as an adverb (in the sense of "there,", "here", etc) it doesn't affect the position of the verb.

[fervent kernel]

that would make sense

[summer crystal]

Wow. This article was fantastic! Thanks for the recommendation! 😁

So mieten is to rent, vermieten is to rent with the "away" idea, and Vermieter is someone who rents away something! Makes perfect sense!

[fervent kernel]

Hi, super beginner here. I read the sentence "Was ist denn los", which was translated as "what's going on?". But I don't undertsnad the "denn los" part. Could someone explain this for me? Thanks!

[heavy stratus]

"Was ist denn los" --> what's wrong, then?

[shell anchor]

Was ist los - what is wrong, and then denn is an added expression meaning then in this case 👍

[fervent kernel]

Is there an explanation for why some verbs take Dativ and some Akkusativ?

That question arose from ‘’Vertrauen’, I can’t make grasp why is it indirect?

You love someone.
You trust someone.

How love is direct and trust is not?

I appreciate a good explanation

[plain umbra]

@fervent kernel There are probably some historic reasons and there are different ways people think about them to help them remember (for example, a lot of dative verbs are ones where you're giving something to someone). But the most practical answer is: there aren't many dative verbs and most people just memorize them from a list, such as this one. http://germanforenglishspeakers.com/reference/dative-verbs/

Just pick verbs from that list which you think are important to know and memorize that they're dative.

Not all of them are very useful, so it's fine to not learn them all (until you're more like Level C or so).

[worthy igloo]

which is more common, Radierer or Radiergummi?

[deep breach]

I surmise that maybe vertrauen could be best translated as "entrust in" or "put trust in"

Hence why the dative is used. But that is merely trying to simplify the reason

[deep breach]

Radiergummi

[worthy igloo]

dankeschön!

[deep breach]

Bitte bitte!

[broken coral]

Wie sagt man „She turned 2“? Sie wurde 2?

[eternal night]

Yes

[broken coral]

@eternal night danke!

[fervent kernel]

Thanks!

[clever matrix]

Are words like denkste and schickste, other ways to say denkst du, schickst du, etc.? This is sort of the context they were used in but it wasn't making sense to my brain

in one case it was a question about the past, in another case they were talking in subjunctive

[delicate tiger]

yes, but colloquial/regional

[grand vapor]

Hallo guten Abend. Im looking for a mate to practice speaking I’m in a low level A1.2. Anybody knows?

[fervent kernel]

You're free to join the ongoing voice chats and ask about it

[grand vapor]

Ok thanks

[prime belfry]

My translator keeps telling me ‘was hast du?’ means ‘what’s wrong?’ is this actually how you ask what’s wrong? And if so how do I ask what do you have

[scenic drift]

I would use "Was ist los?" to ask what is wrong with someone

what translator are you using?

deepl is (imo) the best for german translation

[prime belfry]

An app called iTranslate

I’ll check out deepl

Thanks

[eternal night]

literally "Was hast du" is "what do you have" or "whats in your mind" but I think I would use it (mostly, or very often) in conversations like "whats wrong with you" so, the translation isint that bad

[barren blade]

Yeah.

It reminds me of

In ordnung

Literally in order.

But it means all right.

[eternal night]

or "its all right"

ye

[twilit citrus]

What does weg mean? It's getting me a bit confused because:

• I know weg means way = Nicos Weg
• I don't know what weg means here = Nicos Tasche ist Weg

[glossy marsh]

It means gone here.

The pronunciation differs between the two.

[delicate tiger]

Nicos Tasche ist weg

[glossy marsh]

The e is elongated when it means way.

[long whale]

Yes, "Was hast du?" or "Was hast du denn?" is often used to ask "What's wrong?" For how to ask "What do you have?" I'd need some context. For example, if you were at my place, I'd asked if you're hungry or wanted a drink, and you'd like to know what's on offer/in my fridge, you'd probably ask "Was hast du [denn] da?" :)

[twilit citrus]

What does denn mean?

[deep breach]

Then

[long whale]

Uh... modal particle. Kind of like "then", as in "What's wrong with you, then?"

[twilit citrus]

Thanks

[deep breach]

Just to make sure, dann is "because", right?

[long whale]

Uh, no. "dann" = then (in a temporal sense, like afterwards or following this)

@deep breach

You're thinking of "denn" as a synonym for "weil" (just with different word order, plus, "denn" can't be used to start a sentence).

[deep breach]

Darnit. I thought denn was also because initially, but I had to second guess myself

Danke Schön!

[prime belfry]

Viele dank Susana!

[twilit citrus]

What's the difference between Im or In? I tried searching it but it's a bit hard to understand

[near folio]

ex contractions

[stoic mauve]

Contractions

A contraction (Verschmelzung or Schmelzwort) is a shortened form of a word or group of words created by omitting letters and sounds. Common examples of contractions in English are:

I'm = I am
won't = will not
let's = let us
-'re = are (e.g. we're walking home)

Contractions are often used in German, especially with prepositions and definite articles that take the accusative or dative (never the genitive). For example, zu dem is often shortened to zum, as seen here:

Pferd geht zum Zahnarzt.

Some contractions with prepositions are so common (see below) that they are effectively manadatory in normal speech. Writing the full form has the effect of emphasising the definite article, indicating that you are referring to a specific object. For example:

Pferd geht zu dem Zahnarzt, der ihm gestern empfohlen wurde.

Common contractions in German

These contractions are used very often and are acceptable in formal German.

ans = an das
am = an dem
beim = bei dem
im = in dem
ins = in das
vom = von dem
zum = zu dem
zur = zu der

Additionally, the pronoun es is often contracted when it comes directly after the verb in certain set phrases. For example, the greeting Wie geht es dir? is often contracted to Wie geht's dir?

Contractions in informal German

Contracting the article das to -s in prepositions is very commonly used in informal, spoken German, and sometimes appears in formal German in set phrases.

aufs = auf das
durchs = durch das
fürs = für das
übers = über das
ums = um das
unters = um das

Contracting the articles dem to -m is relatively common in spoken German with almost all prepositions. For example:

hinterm = hinter dem
überm = über dem
unterm = unter dem

Contracting the other articles can also occur, but this is relatively rare.

[near folio]

@twilit citrus

[twilit citrus]

Danke

[topaz pewter]

@near folio Unters unter das?

its written um das

[near folio]

oh woops, danke

ich korrigiere das jetzt

[topaz pewter]

Okay no problem

[twilit citrus]

@near folio So I can say "Ich wohne im haus" which would mean "I live in that house" ?

Actually nevermind I'm getting das and dem/der mixed up

Sorry

[fallow ledge]

Would a phrase such as: and you call yourself an artist, use nennen or bennen

Und du nennst dich Künstler?

[sly ferry]

bennen is not a word you probably mean benennen ?

[proven sphinx]

bennen?

[fallow ledge]

Yes i mean benennen

[sly ferry]

It's nennen either way though, schimpfen also works

Du schimpfst dich einen Künstler ?

[fallow ledge]

I dont think i know schimpfen

I thought it a bit like to complain

Or call a name

Like meanly tho

Ahh it has an entry in a dictionary that looks like it fits i had no clue you could use it like that

Thanks for the answer ❤️

[swift bough]

benennen is when you actually give someone/something a name that they will always go by @fallow ledge

Like naming your pet or child

Also never knew that schimpfen works that way, also only knew it as like to curse

[fallow ledge]

Cool i was always a little confused with the distinction there

So something like:
Meine Eltern benannten mich Blu

Is for my parents named me blu

What about a title

[sly ferry]

benannten* if anything
I'm not sure if it works though, I'd most certainly use nannten 🤔

[fallow ledge]

When would you use benennen?

[glossy marsh]

Nennen is general, like listing things:
Name three animals/Nenne drei Tiere.

Benennen is giving something specific a name:
Name that animal/Benenne das Tier -> Dies ist eine Eule.

[sly ferry]

Uh weird example but it's the first one that popped up in my mind
An exam task saying list all noble gases could say Benenne alle Edelgase

[fallow ledge]

Ahh okay thats cool

What about for this one:

In America wird das „candy“ benannt

[sly ferry]

Nope 😅

[fallow ledge]

;-; darn

Would nennen fit better?

[sly ferry]

On second thought you could also use nenne in my example, it's really hard to explain lol

[fallow ledge]

Ive pulled up a dictionary definition (its not helping very much lol) but is it more common to use benennen in the case of to name sth after sth

Etw nach etw benennen

[sly ferry]

Oh yeah that one is pretty clear

In this case it's also not interchangeable with nennen

[swift bough]

benennen is often used with „nach“. Like to name someone after something/somebody. Like I have the same middle name and last name as my great grandfather so I you could say „Nate wurde nach seinem Urgroßvater benannt“ @fallow ledge

[fervent kernel]

So as i sit here and listen in Nur Deutsche or read in Nur Deutsche and have no idea whats happening, what should i do? should i translate some of it to figure out or?

[plush pelican]

Idk what level you are, but I at least often find nur-deutsche confusing and more advanced than I can follow

On the other hand, there are some shows that are easier to follow

For example, "Home for Christmas" on Netflix, or as it's called in German "Weihnachten zu Hause"

And of course there's Easy German videos on Youtube

I think basically any sort of rom-com movie will be easier to follow, as they tend to use a lot of more basic words

[fervent kernel]

rom com?

[plush pelican]

romantic comedy

any movie about a guy and a girl getting together

[fervent kernel]

well i dont know if i should learm vocabulary as what it means in my native language, or what it means in german

[plush pelican]

What level would you say you're at right now?

How long have you been studying?

[fervent kernel]

I dont know much but i can have small talk, and the studying is a.. well idk what im doing

like i will learn some new vocab here and there

[plush pelican]

You don't have any websites or resources that you're following?

any structured learning?

[fervent kernel]

Deepl is a big one,

[plush pelican]

I mean something that goes through material at least partially like a class would. Even Duolingo goes through stuff in a structured way, even if it doesn't teach you all that you need to know.

[fervent kernel]

i was using Duolingo but i gave that up because i was told, its not good in the long run

[plush pelican]

So you're just like...translating individual words?

You've got to learn about German grammar to know how to understand and construct sentences

[fervent kernel]

both yes and no

[plush pelican]

Duolingo is useful, it just shouldn't be the only thing you use

[fervent kernel]

Is there a better option other than duolingo?

[plush pelican]

Right now I use a variety of things

Duolingo, Deutsche Welle "Nico's Weg", Anki flashcard app, Ouino, and I watch youtube videos and watch shows in German

Hold on a sec, and I think I can find a free textbook for you

[fervent kernel]

Do the shows help?

Like im down to watch that rom com you were talking about

[plush pelican]

https://www.learngermanonline.org/free-downloadable-pdfs/

That has a lot of options; not sure about all of them, but anything that will teach you grammar will be very necessary and useful

Shows help, but not if you don't have at least a basic foundation in German first

Like around level A2

How long have you been studying?

[fervent kernel]

On and off id say a month

but not the right things

[plush pelican]

Yeah, I'd say it's too early for shows, then

[fervent kernel]

so i need to learn, structre correct?

[plush pelican]

yes

[fervent kernel]

can you give me a list?

ill write that down

[plush pelican]

A list of grammatical concepts?

[fervent kernel]

What things i need to learn

but yes that would help

[plush pelican]

ok, give me a sec

[fervent kernel]

ight

[plush pelican]

How nouns become plural, question words, when to use kein/nicht, where to place nicht in a sentence, cases (including all cases for definite and indefinite articles), prepositions and what case they cause the respective noun to be, adjective declension, conjunctions and dependent clauses (they change the word order), how to have multiple verbs in a sentence, relative pronouns, numbers/days of the week/months of the year, simple past tense including when to use haben and when to use sein, Präteritum (note: you only need some of the more common verbs for this, as otherwise it isn't much used in spoken language), future tense

[fervent kernel]

holy shit

[plush pelican]

separable prefix verbs and how they work, reflexive pronouns, how to form superlatives (and the words that are irregular in this), how to determine gender of compound nouns (this is actually pretty easy)

This is why you need like a free textbook or something to properly structure your learning

Keep in mind, I'm like high A2 at best, and this is just stuff that I've already learned about

[fervent kernel]

Do you think they would have german textbooks at library?

[plush pelican]

I already linked you a site with multiple free textbooks

https://www.learngermanonline.org/free-downloadable-pdfs/

This one looks good: https://mercaba.org/SANLUIS/IDIOMAS/Alemán/Basic german.pdf

That looks like it covers almost everything I listed

[fervent kernel]

Oh so i dont have to download?

[plush pelican]

you do have to download, but it is free to download

[fervent kernel]

what about that link?

that one is showing up

[fervent kernel]

.

[plush pelican]

Yeah that's the one I said looks like it would be good for you to download

[swift bough]

I think it can be a bit misleading to just say that Präteritum is only used with some verbs anymore. It becomes actually relatively common and more practical as soon as you start telling stories about your past for example. I have heard plenty of Germans use it without hesitation if they were telling of some part of their earlier life.

[plush pelican]

Alright, well, I'm still a beginner, and I'm just relaying what I've been told 😄

How much Präteritum does someone need before level B1?

I'm just trying to make sure he has something other than DeepL to learn from

[fervent kernel]

But what about the stuff already therew?

there?

[plush pelican]

What do you mean?

[fervent kernel]

when i click the link, there is 200 something pages

[plush pelican]

Yeah, that's the book

You can open it in your browser every time with that link, or you can just download it and have it saved

usually when PDFs are that long, it's easier to just download it and save it

[fervent kernel]

i aint lazy

[swift bough]

What you said is accurate to what beginners are told @plush pelican though I think it’s a bit misleading, it’s still mostly true and a good way to not overwhelm beginners.

Or if someone ever talks about like a past historical event

It is very common to use it

No matter the verb

If it happened like yesterday then usually it’s not gonna be used

Unless it’s some of those verbs it’s commonly used with no matter what

It’s also kind of a stylistic thing

You don’t have to use it when you’re talking about something which is long over just because someone else does, it’s a style thing. It almost always sounds fancier but is nonetheless sometimes more fitting than Perfekt.

And it is by no means a very black-and-white thing.

[swift bough]

Oh yeah also I have no clue. I didn’t even know what CEFR levels were until I was B1-B2

But probably not very much

I have actually just been listening to a German podcast for the past few days and the guy is using Präteritum a lot, because it was sort of necessary but also like I said his stylistic choice.

[plush pelican]

Is it like, "History of Rome" but "History of Germany"?

[swift bough]

Wym

[plush pelican]

Oh, there's a famous podcast that talks about history, specifically about the history of the Roman Empire, that's called "The History of Rome." So something like that would probably require a lot of Präteritum. But since it's in German, I assume it'd be about Germany itself or something.

[swift bough]

No it’s a podcast by a German Rapper actually. He talks about his past life and what he did to get to where he is now, and how anyone listening can improve their life, that sort of thing

Nothing to do with Germany itself

But he is not sparing at all with his usage of it in that podcast

For the majority of the situations that you will find yourself in, for most verbs, you don’t really need to use it.

I just wanted to kind of clear up the misconception because I feel like that isn’t often talked about much

[fallow ledge]

Danke Nate

[swift bough]

np

I have a question regarding the case system. Doesn't the fact that the nominative and accusative declensions of neutral, feminine and plural nouns are the same kinda ruin its purpose?
Can you give an example or something because I’m not quite sure what you mean @still latch (sometimes general chat isn’t the best place to post a question like this, it may get lost)

Like where would this be confusing for you I guess

I mean I think I know what you mean actually, but it’s purpose is actually not ruined.

[still latch]

Well, in case of the famous

Der Mann streichelt den Hund. (The man pets the dog.)
Den Hund streichelt der Mann. (The man pets the dog.)
if it weren't Hund and Mann, which are masculine nouns, and nouns with some other genders, wouldn't it have been impossible to distinguish who's petting whom?

[swift bough]

In both nominative and accusative, you say, „mein Auto“.

If you say „Das ist mein Auto“, which one is it and why? It’s nominative because „sein“ can‘t cause accusative. Ever. And there’s no dative or genitive declensions so those are also out of the picture.

Essentially it can’t be accusative because nothing is being directly affected

[long whale]

I think OP meant a sentence like "Die Frau beißt die Schlange", in which case of course you can't tell who's biting whom - at least in theory.

[swift bough]

Ah

Yeah I see what you mean now

Well usually there’s more context than just one sentence by itself.

Also, you go by OP?

[still latch]

Original Poster

[swift bough]

I have never seen that before hahaha

[long whale]

The thing is, we say 'Look! Isn't it neat, the way you can switch things around in German and still not get lost, because, yay!, case markers', but that's, um, more of a side effect. Not being an expert on linguistics, I can't really tell you where case markers come from, but, uh, I'm afraid their basic purpose was not to make learning a language easier, precisely. :)

[still latch]

lol That's kinda sad but it was what I wanted to know. Thanks :D

[swift bough]

It’s an interesting question for sure

In my personal experience, this has never really been a problem though, because you always are going to have more context that helps you understand what the speaker means.

Whether it’s more sentences, something you saw happen, etc

[still latch]

Hmm

In that case, I have another question. Are you more inclined to think that it's the woman who's biting the snake when you see "Die Frau beißt die Schlange" than "Die Schlange beißt die Frau", or does the order not matter that much?

[long whale]

As a general rule of thumb, the subject either comes before the verb or directly afterwards (if there's an adverb of time before the verb, for example). It's only in exceptional cases where you start a sentence with the direct object. :)

For instance, if you see a "Wanted!" poster and you go: Wow! That's the man I saw yesterday!, you might say "Den Mann hab' ich gestern gesehen!", because it's very much about the man, and not so much about you seeing someone, right?

[swift bough]

The thing is that it actually doesn’t matter which order it’s in, it could mean either thing...like I said...additional context is very helpful.

And also with Susana‘s example there

The reason you say it first is because you want to emphasize who it is you saw

[long whale]

True. But we do have a kind of default word order. And that dictates not starting the sentence with the direct or indirect object. :)

[swift bough]

It wouldn’t come across the same if you said instead „Gestern hab ich den Mann gesehen“

It puts less emphasis on the man

And more on gestern

[still latch]

Den Mann hab' ich gestern gesehen!
This made me realize that the verb conjugations also play a role at helping identify the subject and the object of a sentence

Maybe that's why one might not come across ambiguities I mentioned without any other contexts that often

Well, that cleared many things up. Thanks Susana and Nate!

[long whale]

Small side note, because I'm curious: what did you think OP stood for? @swift bough

[swift bough]

I thought you were calling @still latch „OP“ (that’s why I said „do you go by OP“)

Like as a nickname

I’ve never come across „OP“ before

[still latch]

The term is widely used in online communities such as reddit and 4chan :)

[swift bough]

I don’t even know what 4chan is

And I use Reddit....sometimes? But still never seen it xD

[proven sphinx]

That's probably for the best...

[fervent veldt]

Difference between etwa and ungefähr in use?

[fervent kernel]

Almost always interchangeable, and etwa can also mean 'perhaps'.

[broken coral]

Wie sagt man „finish + (Verb in Gerundium)“ auf Deutsch?

z.B. Finish writing your message!

[eternal night]

You mean Imperativ?
Schreib deine Nachricht fertig!

[prime belfry]

How do you say point in numbers

Like 13.8

[fervent kernel]

How do you say point in numbers
Punkt. So dreizehn Punkt acht.

But commas are used as decimal points in German. And in that case you'd say Komma

@prime belfry

[ruby plinth]

What is the female version of Herr?

Like saying "Danke Herr"

[topaz pewter]

Frau

[heavy stratus]

Wouldn't that be like saying 'thanks, woman'?

[topaz pewter]

I thought they wanted to say "Danke Frau (Surname)"

[heavy stratus]

Ah gotcha, I was thinking Mr./Ms.

[ruby plinth]

How would you translate
"Thank you sir"

"thank you ma'am"

[swift bough]

Danke Ihnen

For both that’s all you have to say

[tawny pollen]

Why do you say ein Mädchen instead of eine Mädchen?

[ruby plinth]

Dankee :)

[swift bough]

because it’s not „die Mädchen“ (unless it’s Plural), it’s „das Mädchen“

[tawny pollen]

I'm just starting German so I don't really know what that means. I just started using duolingo. Does that mean that Madchen is masculine or neurtal instead of femenine?

[swift bough]

It is neuter

Not feminine

It has to do with the ending, „-chen“. Any word in German which ends with -chen is always neuter.

[tawny pollen]

Oh ok thank you

[plush pelican]

Remember that grammatical gender (der/die/das) has little relationship to the meaning of the word; you must simply memorize the gender of each word as you learn it.

[tawny pollen]

👌

[broken coral]

Ja, danke!

[misty moat]

Hallo, Könnte ich euch fragen, was " für umgerechnet " eigentlich heißt ?

[fervent kernel]

Wäre einfacher, wenn du den Kontext auch angibst. Vielleicht den ganzen Satz?

[misty moat]

hier ist der Satz " Ein Essen mit Getränk gibt es hier** für umgerechnet **deutlich weniger als 5,- €"

[fervent kernel]

Also das "für" bezieht sich auf die 5€

Und der Kontext sagt mir dass man im Ausland ist, und rechnet das Geld in Euro um

[scenic drift]

"for the equivalent of much less than 5 EUR", so würde ich das übersetzen

[fervent kernel]

oder anders formuliert: das Essen kostet weniger als 5€, nach der Umrechnung

[misty moat]

ahhh Dankeschön ❤️

[fervent kernel]

I know only blau,hallo and hot

:D

[icy cove]

Chen ending is used for something small

[glossy marsh]

Or cute.

[fervent kernel]

I came across Mannchen earlier when reading

err Männchen?

Männchen

[delicate tiger]

Männeken

[prime belfry]

Are “Zwanzig ist zu hoch” and “Zwanzig sind zu hoch” both grammatically correct?

And are their meanings the same or is there maybe an emphasis in one of them

[swift bough]

„Zwanzig ist zu hoch“ - this emphasizes the number itself, 20, but not the count of something. Like it emphasizes the number 20 by itself as one thing. @prime belfry

„Zwanzig sind zu hoch“ is emphasizing all 20 things

Whatever they are

Or people

[prime belfry]

That makes sense

Danke

[lusty quiver]

Wie kann man „Januarloch“ in einem Satz verwenden?

Es ist ein geiles Wort, das ich verwenden möchte, aber ich weiß nicht, wie ich es könnte

Vllt „im Januarloch stecken“?

[fallow ledge]

In diesem neuen Jahr geht das Geschäft des Buchladens nicht nur wegen des üblichen Januarlochs schlecht.

[lusty quiver]

Das macht natürlich Sinn, danke :3

[fallow ledge]

Das ist aber natürlich nur ein Beispiel, im Januarloch stecken klingt auch sinnvoll, wenigsten aus meiner Sicht als lernender 😄

[summer crystal]

Why is "der" used if Rezeption is feminine?: "Fragen Sie bitte im Hotel an der Rezeption."

[delicate tiger]

because it needs to be changed to match the case

[swift bough]

The preposition „an“ there caused the dative

[summer crystal]

Oh, I'm not that familiar with the Dative case. And why is it in the Dative case, in the first place?

[lusty quiver]

"an" is a preposition, and as a preposition it changes the case of the noun that follows it. "an" can take either the dative or the accusative case, but in this case "die Rezeption" takes the dative case turning into "an der Rezeption"

[summer crystal]

Danke!

[lusty quiver]

Im sure that opens up a lot more questions than it answered

some of which I still dont know the answers to

[swift bough]

Such as?

[lusty quiver]

such as why the hell are there so many rules

xD

[swift bough]

Try finding a language without so many rules and report back to me when you do

Oh wait

That’s impossible

[lusty quiver]

also, how would ,,Fragen Sie bitte im Hotel an der Rezeption" be translated

i can come up with two ways but i think only one fits

[summer crystal]

Here it says "Please ask at the hotel reception.", and it's manually translated

[lusty quiver]

thats what I thought

[swift bough]

Please ask at the reception desk at the hotel

Ye same thing

[lusty quiver]

I was confusing an with nach

[swift bough]

Prepositions are never 1-to-1 with prepositions from another language

[lusty quiver]

exactly

and I hate it lol

[swift bough]

You get used to it

[lusty quiver]

and then there was anfragen

but i had to rule that one out

my biggest weaknesses are prepositions and verb prefixes

[swift bough]

You shouldn’t approach it as learning what each preposition means individually, you should instead just learn which prepositions are used in which scenarios and slowly but surely memorize them.

[summer crystal]

Actually, in an image I found it says that "an" is dativ when it answers the "wo?" question and akkusativ when it answers the "wohin?" question, so all my questions are answered (for now xD)

[lusty quiver]

thats exactly it

the small words kill me

[swift bough]

Wym exactly

[swift bough]

Yep

[lusty quiver]

an.fragen wouldnt inflect like that, I dont think

it would send the prefix to the end

[swift bough]

Because the idea of accusative is that something literally moves

[lusty quiver]

am i right in that assumption nate?

[swift bough]

It depends on the sentence

If you have a conjunction, no

So for example

[lusty quiver]

you couldnt use the separable prefix as a preposition

well I know that

[swift bough]

Weil ich sie angefragt habe

[lusty quiver]

but in this sentence

[swift bough]

Which sentence

[lusty quiver]

the initial one

"Fragen Sie bitte im Hotel an der Rezeption"

[swift bough]

Oh that

[lusty quiver]

that isnt using anfragen because thats not how it inflects

[swift bough]

That has literally nothing to do with „Anfragen“

[lusty quiver]

i know

thus i had to rule it out