questions-2

[scenic drift]

i think that should explain things.

the usage in this case is:

The dative reflexive can be used to indicate that the action takes place for the subject's benefit

[lean canyon]

Just saw the site, and yes it is supposed to be mir. Is there a site that lists all the verbs that takes dativ and akkusativ reflexive pronoun? This should be so helpful!

[lean canyon]

Oh, this is interestin! Thanks again Mikey

[long whale]

Correct. :)

[fervent kernel]

Mein Aufwand ist zu viel.

Ist das richtig?

[long whale]

Grammar's correct, but it doesn't make much sense in German. What are you trying to say?

[fervent kernel]

My expenses are too high.

[scenic drift]

dann eher "Kosten" oder "Ausgaben" würde ich benutzten 🤔

[long whale]

What mikey said. But mind you, neither will work with "zu viel". :)

@fervent kernel

[fervent kernel]

Ist Aufwand hier nicht richtig?

[long whale]

The problem is, "Aufwand" also means what you do in terms of preparations for a meal, for example, or for receiving guests. Therefore, it certainly won't work without context. Also, if it's about money, it's often money you'll be able to recover. So, it's not really a synonym for costs/expenses. :) @fervent kernel

[fervent kernel]

Can you give an example of that?

[long whale]

"Sie treibt immer großen Aufwand, wenn jemand zu Besuch kommt. Sie stellt Blumensträuße auf alle Tische und kauft bei den teuersten Delikatessengeschäften ein." Is that what you meant?

[fervent kernel]

Noch mehr Beispiele.

[scenic drift]

FYI, duden often has example sentences: https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Aufwand

[fathom inlet]

I finally understood. Thank you so much! :D

[summer crystal]

What's the difference between interessieren sich über etwas and interessieren sich für etwas?

[long whale]

You can't use "über". 🤷

[versed brook]

You beat me.....

[summer crystal]

xD

[fervent kernel]

Der Junge dem, vor ihrem Vater stand, gehörte zu den Pionieren
What is "Pionieren"?
and how do you translate the last thing?

[versed brook]

Pi·o·nier, Pionierin
Substantiv, maskulin [der]
1.
MILITÄR
Soldat der Pioniertruppen
2.
BILDUNGSSPRACHLICH
jemand, der auf einem bestimmten Gebiet bahnbrechend ist; Wegbereiter
"er gilt als Pionier der Raumfahrt"
3.
DDR
Mitglied einer Pionierorganisation

oder auch:

Pioniere sind eine Truppengattung eines Heeres. Auftrag der Pioniertruppe ist die Förderung der Bewegung der eigenen Truppe, die Hemmung der Bewegungen des Gegners und die Erhöhung der Überlebensfähigkeit der eigenen Truppe.

Wenn du immer noch nicht weißt was es ist: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pionier_(Militär)#

[fervent kernel]

Danke!

"Es gibt Menschen, mit denen man nicht über Politik reden kann"

I understand it but i'm not sure as i read until i saw "mit denen"

[versed brook]

I'm sorry, but could you say your question a bit different? I can't really understand what you want.

[fervent kernel]

Ok. I can't translate it to english. That's the problem

[scenic drift]

the entire phrase, or just "mit denen"?

[fervent kernel]

mit denen

[scenic drift]

"with whom" :)

[fervent kernel]

Ty!

[tender coral]

how do u know whats a
dative and whats an accusative

[tender panther]

Articles, endings, and most of the pronouns are completely different. What specifically do you need help telling apart?

[fervent veldt]

How do you call someone "silly" in German? Not in an offensive way, but in a friendly meaning.

[long whale]

No friendly way of saying "dumm" 🤷

[fervent veldt]

No, like when you call someone "silly head" you don't mean they're retarded. 😬 You say it in a playful way, right?

[worn bramble]

Hi what does "auf Vorrat halten" mean?

[long whale]

I guess it would be easier to translate if you gave us some context.

Basically, it means you have/keep a supply of something (in case of rising demand, for example).

[fallow ledge]

Würde jemand mir bitte die Verwendung und Bedeutung von „Ach ja“ erklären?

[dapper iron]

guten Tag an alle
i have heard a phrase from a video but I wasn't sure if the phrase is correct or not anyway i cannot find back the video
the phrase is :... von der optisch nach...
is that the right phrase ?

[young hound]

What

[fallow ledge]

Im not sure, i cant make much sense but its seems like its almost something. Optisch is an adjective/adverb so doesn’t work so well with an article

Did you have more context?

We can try and work it out from context

[dapper iron]

like if one was describing the shirt, they he/she would say,
from the physical view/ appearance / ... , this shirt is made up of 100% cotton for instance

[long whale]

If you listened again, you'd probably find they said "von der Optik her" ;)

[dapper iron]

I think that is what I am looking for hahaha

Thanks a lot

But isn’t “nach” means according to something

[long whale]

Yeah, well, you can either have "von" or "nach", but not both - not when they're relating to the same noun. E.g. "ich habe es nur nach der Optik beurteilt" (I only judged it on the way it looked) :)

[long whale]

I'd say it's mostly exactly like "oh yeah", both as in "oops, something I almost forgot" and sarcastically, as in "The earth is flat" - "Oh yeah?/Ach ja?". Can also be used as a resigned "Oh well..." Does that help?

[dapper iron]

I see, thanks Susana

[swift bough]

I want to review something. I know that you say „alle anderen“, but I can’t really remember why. And then why do you say „viele andere“ and not „anderen“? 🤔 I know that’s how these things are just from experience / having seen them so much, but actually I can’t remember why they’re like that. Is it maybe because „alle anderen“ is the rest, whereas „viele andere“ isn‘t?

Because you could theoretically replace „alle anderen“ with „die anderen“ (even though one means „all the others“ and the other is „the others).

[long whale]

Isn't it because "alle" works like a definite article (on this site, they say it's a pronoun and used as an indefinite article, I don't know how they account for the plural then, though 🤔: https://www.verbformen.com/declension/articles/alle.htm ) die schönen Frauen/alle anderen schönen Frauen, while "viele" works like an adjective? (But then I remember having read somewhere that "viel/e" is something of a linguistic conundrum, where linguists can't even agree what kind of word it is, exactly. I may be wrong, though. :) )

[swift bough]

I also think it works like that because even if you say „die anderen“ instead of „alle anderen“, it still refers to the „rest“ of something, wouldn’t you say? Unless of course you said a number with it like „die anderen fünf“.

[scenic drift]

gonna bring up this bad boy again (common problem 2 / 3): https://www.nthuleen.com/teach/grammar/adjektivendungenexpl.html tl;dr "alle" is considered an article but "viele" is not, when it comes to declensions

[swift bough]

I don’t know if that has anything to do with it either

But that’s how it sort of makes sense in my head when I think about it

[long whale]

It's grammar, not meaning, is what mikey and I mean. :)

[long whale]

Do I have to read through this to discover whether they consider alle to work as a definite or as an indefinite article?

[swift bough]

lol

[scenic drift]

oh, they don't really make an explicit definite/indefinite distinction here. the differentiator is which form the article is in (the key one being whether it shows gender)

[swift bough]

You can see them talk about the fact that „alle“ is considered an article near the bottom under „common problem 2“.

And then „viele“ is right underneath that.

Actually that helps me a lot to just kind of think of putting it in the same category as mehrere, wenige, and einige

Viele, I mean

[scenic drift]

aye

[long whale]

Thanks, mikey. :)

[scenic drift]

that page helped me so much, honestly 🙈

i think i had a printout of it on my person for most of my a-level german course

[swift bough]

Yeah thanks bro 👌

[scenic drift]

actually, lemem check if it's in the resource list

[swift bough]

After so much time it’s actually so easy to forget some quite subtle grammar.

And just the „why“

[dapper iron]

Ich freue mich darüber, dass ich dieses tolle Erlaubnis erlebt habe.

Is this correct ?

Erlaubnis erlebt ...

[ember mason]

Ja

[long whale]

What you're saying is you're happy to have experienced this wonderful permission. ;) You don't usually say ein Erlebnis erleben, you'd say "ein Erlebnis haben". :)

"die Erlaubnis" = permission

[dapper iron]

thank you Susana

[fallow ledge]

it helps a bit, i struggle with it because to me (when i try to understand it through english) it always sounds like the sarcastic one

[swift bough]

Really? To me it doesn’t 🤔 strange

[fallow ledge]

Idk it just always sounds like oh really to me

[long whale]

👀 But that isn't always sarcastic, either, is it? [somebody telling me a surprising fact] -> me going "Oh, really?/Ach ja?/Tatsächlich?"

[fallow ledge]

A better understanding of it will probably come with more spoken interaction

[swift bough]

When you say it sarcastically, there’s definitely a different tone of voice that goes along with it and over text that’s just not something you can always efficiently communicate, but when all else fails, context context context!! @fallow ledge

[fallow ledge]

Rn ive only seen it really in text and it comes across as sarcastic without the tone 🤷‍♀️

Yeah context is lovely

[swift bough]

Spoken conversations where you hear it used may help your perception of it for sure

[onyx rain]

um..hi, I took a week off from German learning, I just came back after attending a wedding, I am finding it hard to just restart (I came back today itself). Does anyone have any suggestions?

[ember mason]

faq beginner

[stoic mauve]

How to get started

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

Introduction

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

Part 1 - Simple Sentence

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

See Part 2 on the next page.

Tips

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

Page 1/2

[ember mason]

Does this help?

[fervent kernel]

Any help on this one? Where does the haben den Glauben an das come from. I tried looking up anhaben and haben and anglauben doesn't exist.

[scenic drift]

the preposition that goes with "glauben" is "an etw glauben"

and then the "den Glauben" is nominalisation (which i think you don't encounter till like... B2?)

[fervent kernel]

thanks 🙂

[scenic drift]

a bit more detail: https://www.dict.cc/?s=Glauben+an

see particularly the "den Glauben an jdn. verlieren" entry 😉

[fervent kernel]

Hey!

Ich glaube an mich!

[heavy stratus]

I thought I'd do a brief description of chapter 1 of Herr der Diebe since I've been focusing really heavy on input recently. I would appreciate it greatly if you guys could tell me your opinion on the description.

Das erstes Kapitel geht um einen Detektiv, der beauftragt ist, auf den Spuren von zwei Kinder aufzuspüren. Der Detektiv heißt Herr Getz und erscheint, kreativ zu sein, wenn er Aufträge bekommt. In seinem Büro liegen viele Tarnungen, die er benutzt, damit Sachen und Leute, die sich verirren haben, zu finden. Sein Büro befindet sich in Venedig. Das ist eine Stadt in Italien beim Meer, die bekannt für geflügelten Löwen, hoche Spitzen auf Dächern, und solche Sachen ist. Es gibt dort viele Kanäle, die unter steinernen Brücken liegen und Häuser, die auf Beine aus Holtz standen.

[onyx rain]

a lil thanks, was thinking if someone had similar experience with re-starting

[merry plume]

guys if anybody has time, can someone check my essay that i will present in my school.
if so please message me so that i can send you the essay(300 words)

[dawn jackal]

Was schwebt Ihnen konkret vor ? warum steht hier vorschwebt, obwohl das mit Ihnen kommt ?

ich meinte warum nicht was schweben Ihnen konkret vor ?

[ember mason]

**schwebt **bezieht sich auf was

Eine Lösung schwebt mir vor

[hushed fox]

Can the verb "bestehen" be used in the context of "to pass (a test)" if not the case, can whoever who is kind enough to answer please provide an example of how it is normally used in context?

[tulip tiger]

Ich habe die Prüfung bestanden. Yes

[hushed fox]

Thank you for answering, it is quite appreciated.

[tulip tiger]

Bestehen can also mean (it's formed/made of). Der Roman besteht aus zwei Teilen

The novel has 2 parts

[fervent kernel]

how should I say “It’s easy if you know the methods” in german?

i was talking about learning german

[swift bough]

The methods for learning German?

Or something like that

[fervent kernel]

yes

[swift bough]

In German it’s the same word almost

But you can say

Es ist einfach, wenn du die Methoden kennst.

[fervent kernel]

is the comma necessary?

[swift bough]

Methoden is pronounced differently

Yeah

Usually a comma always comes before „wenn“

[fervent kernel]

ohh alright

thanks mate

[full cloak]

Wie sagt man "to demonstrate for sth/against sth"? Nur für/gegenüber etw demonstrieren? Danke im Voraus

[gloomy quest]

Er sagt ebenfalls, in 2 Tagen begännen die Olympischen Spiele.
oder
Er sagt ebenfalls, dass die Olympischen Spiele in 2 Tagen begännen.

oder beides geht, ohne Problem?

[versed brook]

der erste geht nicht, tausch beim zweiten aber "begänne" mit "beginnen" aus

ich glaube "begänne" gibt es nicht im Deutschem

[gloomy quest]

begännen ist die Konjunktiv II form

von beginnen

[versed brook]

Wieder was gelernt, danke!

[gloomy quest]

bitte 😄

[long whale]

Yes, word order's fine for both/either. :)

[glad river]

When talking about a book or w film with an article or adjective or smth else that can be affected by case in the title, will that also change according to case?
So for example if I want to talk about Der Prozess, would I say "ich habe Der Prozess gelesen" or "ich habe Den Prozess gelesen"?

[long whale]

The latter one, yes - although you'll also see/hear the first one (sounds quite awkward to me, but other native speakers will disagree). :)

[glad river]

Well I can see why the first one would happen because then it's implied to say "ich habe das Buch Der Prozess gelesen"

So I was wondering which one was more usual

[stone estuary]

Hi guys I will soon have a speaking exam and need some handy phrases to use during the exam, the subject is Russia, Alexej Nalvany and the democracy that falls apart in Russia

[hushed fox]

I'm unsure if I should be watching German media with German subtitles or English ones, which way is better, if any difference is made?

[long whale]

German ones. Definitely. That is if you want it to be of any use for learning purposes. :)

[scenic drift]

the thing is that you need to choose media at your level. if it's german audio+subs and you don't understand anything, that's not much help to you. if it's german audio+english subs, you'll just end up reading the subs 😉

[hushed fox]

Yeah that was the idea, I have nothing to do for the next 9 hours so I figured I'd indulge in some, but I haven't really watched anything German except for nicos weg and uh...that one marcel davis rap edit.

[long whale]

Try the dubbed version of Peppa Pig. If you haven't watched anything except Nicos Weg, that one should be do-able. :)

[scenic drift]

hint hint: https://www.dw.com/de/deutsch-lernen/s-2055

plenty of stuff depending on your current level

[hushed fox]

I gave up on trying last year and have lurked ever since, but I figure I owe it to myself to finally just learn the language. I just think I hardly surrounded myself in the language enough setting myself up for failure there, if you catch my meaning.

Oh wait, I remember extr@. 🤣

[full cloak]

Danke

[gloomy quest]

what. but @versed brook said something else. so what should i follow?

[versed brook]

Ich bin gerade auch verwirrt, ich glaube auch das man jetzt beide verwenden kann. Tut mir leid, ich mach auch manchmal Fehler 😅

[gloomy quest]

Das ist ganz okay! Deine Hilfe wird immer geschätzt 😄

[versed brook]

Danke! ❤️

[gloomy quest]

Gerne!

[slim yew]

what do verbs with ge- mean
like macht —> gemacht

[fallow ledge]

If you pair it with haben or sein (depends on the verb) you can use it to build a sentence in past tense

[slim yew]

oh

are there irregular verbs in german

for past tense

[fallow ledge]

Ich habe etwas gestern gemacht (i did something yesterday)

Yes

[slim yew]

:(

[fallow ledge]

Many of the common ones are irregular

[slim yew]

no wonde why trnses are nightmare

common: irregular
uncommon: regular

same in english

[fallow ledge]

Lucky german uses the present for a lot of things

[slim yew]

amd there are no continous

[fallow ledge]

And prefers the perfect tense (the one with the ge- words) as its main past tense form

[slim yew]

so past = percfect

[fallow ledge]

So as far as tenses go, german is quite nice

There are three past tense forms,

perfect:
Ich habe gestern meine Mutter besucht
(i visited my mum yesterday)

Präteritum:
Ich besuchte gestern meine Mutter
(I visisted my mum yesterday)

Präteritum has the same meaning as perfekt, but its mostly only used with a few Common verbs, such as haben and sein and in books/when telling a story

And finally the Plusquamperfekt
The past of the past
Nachdem ich eingekauft hatte, habe Ich meine Mutter besucht. (After i went shopping, i visited my mum)

This tense is mostly used when the past is referenced, but you need to specify something that happened before it, its usually used with nachdem and bevor

At this point you can pretty much ignore it, and focus solely on the perfekt, since its the most common

[slim yew]

im still struggling with present tense verb endings :(

[fallow ledge]

Just focus on that then

[slim yew]

oof

[fallow ledge]

Present is THE most important, it does a lot of stuff

And is used the most often!

[slim yew]

yay

[swift bough]

You forgot the e after besucht

[slim yew]

things i hate the most in german:
adjective endings and pronoun endings (are they the same)
upside down sentences (eg Apfelsaft trinke ich, which misleads me to think that in a story the apple juice drinks me)
dative case (which i never use it right)
conjunctions (sometimes it pushes the verb to the end, it often have very weird sentence patterns)

[fallow ledge]

Also im sorry, i didnt mean to do a big i formation dump, for now its perfect to just focus on the present tense

[swift bough]

Pronouns don’t really have „endings“

[fallow ledge]

This is what happens when you get too used to dropping that e ;-;

[swift bough]

Well no I lied

You have sein and ihr

[swift bough]

I think it helps to only focus on one of those concepts at a time

[slim yew]

we have dein and deine

so it is technically pronoun endings

[swift bough]

Yeah I didn’t think very hard about that

[fallow ledge]

Adjective endings is always really confusing

[swift bough]

Once you get it it’s like second nature though.

[slim yew]

the only thing i can remember about adjective endings is guten Morgen and gute Nacht

[swift bough]

To better understand adjective endings you have to actually understand the cases in German and also grammatical gender

[slim yew]

and duolingo literally hides the reality of german adjectives

[swift bough]

Lmaooo „just a biiiiiit different“ yeah that is a really helpful explanation

I suggest you learn the German cases. Imo YouTube is a really easy way to learn them. @slim yew

[slim yew]

in fact it is the first question i asked about german

[swift bough]

Like I said if you know cases then you know pronoun/adjective endings (kinda sorta)

[slim yew]

listen more —> automatically learn

[worn edge]

What is "What is there?"? Like in a conversation:
A: There is nothing.
B: What is there?
Is it "Was gibt es?"

[slim yew]

i wonder how do you tell whether i am paying for your drink or in a story the drink becomes alive magically and pays for you

this is what i call upside down sentences

[mystic loom]

"Was gibt's?" - if in a casual conversation, but yeah "was gibt es" is right

[mystic loom]

You mean whether the Drink or you are the subject of the sentence?

[worn edge]

ahh, so contractions makes things casual. Danke schoen

[swift bough]

Yeah you can say that but in some contexts it may sound weird if you don’t add something else on. Like if you ask „what’s there to eat“ you would also add „zum Essen“ at the end.

[mystic loom]

not always, but sometimes

[slim yew]

because dein getrank comes first which mislead me to think your drink is the subject

[swift bough]

@slim yew keep in mind that „bezahle“ can only be connected to „ich“

[worn edge]

Yeah, I just learned "es gibt" so i got curious.

[slim yew]

ah

[swift bough]

Er/sie/es bezahlt

[slim yew]

no wonder why

[swift bough]

A drink couldn’t conjugate it to end with -e

[swift bough]

Yeah German does this a ton and you’ll get used to it

Actually in Präteritum this does happen sometimes like there’s the same conjugations for ich/er/sie/es

Ich bezahlte
Er/sie/es bezahlte

[slim yew]

another example i have seen is:
Sie mögen kein Wasser
Wasser mögen sie nicht

[swift bough]

But you will always be able to tell what it is based on context (which duolingo gives little of)

[slim yew]

this time kein becomes nicht (which i think where trap grammar questions are from)

[mystic loom]

"Wasser mögen sie nicht" schouldnt that be: "Wasser mag sie nicht"?

[slim yew]

oof

[fallow ledge]

Sie (they)

[swift bough]

Jein

[swift bough]

Yeah

[mystic loom]

Yeah okay

[swift bough]

What exactly was your question about it though

[long whale]

Why? Wasser mögen sie nicht = They don't like water 🤷

[mystic loom]

Yeah, noticed it afterwards

[summer crystal]

What does "d.h." means in this sentence? "Ich kümmere mich um den Haushalt, d.h. ich putze, wasche, koche etc."

[scenic drift]

it's being used in the same way as "i.e." would be in english

"I take care of the household, that is, I clean, wash, cook, etc"

[summer crystal]

I see. And what does it stands for?

[rain kernel]

das heisst

[desert olive]

Gibt es einen unterschied zwischen (sprechen und reden)?

[ember mason]

Sprechen - to speak
Reden - to talk, to chat, indicates a conversation is happening

[fathom inlet]

Laura hat gern Fotos von sich machen lassen

Why is "hat" there and why not "gemacht" if it is past?

[knotty adder]

haben is an auxiliary verb here

and machen is infinitive, because lassen is already in its partizip II form

[fathom inlet]

i have got more questions now

[knotty adder]

rip i forgot to say that lassen here is a modal verb

think können

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~deutsch/Grammatik/Lassen/Lassen.html

hope this helps

[fervent kernel]

Is this sentence wrong?
"In meiner Freitzeit, ich mage mit Aquarellfarben zeichnen und Tennis spielen."

I think it is wrong but not sure where.

Im not entirely sure about my verbs order

[fallow ledge]

• In German you don’t need a comma if you invert the order, German just lets you do it.
• The verb however must always be in the second position of the sentence
• Mögen is a Modal verb and is conjugated a little more irregularly, here it should be ich mag
• using mögen to describe activities is quite awkward in German, usually you’d use gern(e) to express that you do something gladly

@fervent kernel

[fervent kernel]

ahh i see

[fallow ledge]

So using mögen:

In meiner Freizeit mag ich es, mit Aquarellfarben zu malen (paint) und Tennis zu spielen

[fervent kernel]

ohh right i keep forgetting about the verb in the 2nd place

[fallow ledge]

Using gern:

In meiner Freizeit male ich gerne mit Aquarellfarben und ich spiele gern Tennis.

[fervent kernel]

oh yeah i think i've seen gern more often

in those cases

I had no idea about the preposition zu

[fallow ledge]

Gern and gerne have the same meaning, pick whichever you feel like

Yes that’s because gern is the more common one and is much preferred

[fervent kernel]

oo thats good to know

also

[fallow ledge]

In short, if you like an object, then mögen is fine
If you like to do something, then you should use the adverb gern(e)

[fervent kernel]

why does "zu" go there?

[fervent kernel]

Got it

[fallow ledge]

It’s a new sentence construction, called a Finalsatz, you won’t see it till B1 so feel free to ignore it

[fervent kernel]

yay

[fallow ledge]

Just stick to gern

[fervent kernel]

alrighty

ill keep practicing that then

huge thanks

[fallow ledge]

No worries

Oh wait @fervent kernel

Opps should have fact checked

[fervent kernel]

yea?

[fallow ledge]

In an Infinitive clause

It’s a different construction to the one I mentioned before

It’s still an A2-B1 topic though

[fervent kernel]

oh so im fine for now

[fallow ledge]

Yeah all g

[fervent kernel]

thx again

[nimble willow]

Hello, I’d like to ask if the preposition Wegen only uses the dative case?

[plain umbra]

Wegen is a genitive preposition, but it's often used with dative colloquially and in spoken language.

I recommend to read this as it explains the details pretty well: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wegen#Usage_notes

[nimble willow]

Okay thank you! Does this mean when I write I should use it in dative?

Or should I write it with genitive?

Okay thanks, the article was perfect!

[plain umbra]

Np.

[summer crystal]

What's the difference between gering and wenig? "Wenn Sie ein geringes Einkommen haben, zahlen Sie nur wenig Steuern."

[onyx rain]

Hey could you still tell under what topic using zu with verbs fall under? (I have seen far too often to ignore it)

[hidden nebula]

infinitivsatz

also finalsatz, but in that case it uses um zu

[fathom roost]

hello friends,
is this sentence grammatically correct?
"Ich bedanke mich bei Ihnen, dass Sie mir bei dieser Angelegenheit geholfen haben."

thank youu

[fervent kernel]

Last sentence is interesting,

I thought one would say: Ich denke, ich werde die Polizei rufen

[scenic drift]

you can use the present tense in german to express future events :)

[proven sphinx]

It's even more common, really. Using "werden" often sounds a bit cumbersome.

[onyx rain]

Wer sollte ich die Bewerbung zu addressieren ?
Is this sentence correct, I want to ask "Who should I address my application to?"

[sly ferry]

Not quite

wer an wen sollte.. zu adressieren

[onyx rain]

as in To whom?

[sly ferry]

Yup

Also note that sollte is past tense

[onyx rain]

yes, I think soll ich would do a good job too as well

Also since almost all nouns and verbs share the same roots. Are these sentences natural oder?
Ich mochte Fragen fragen.
Ich mochte Essen essen.

Or is there a better way to phrase them (I would like to ask questions/eat food)?

[scenic drift]

sollte can also work as the Konjunktiv II, oder?

[sly ferry]

Yeah

[rain kernel]

Ich moechte Fragen stellen. Ich moechte essen is fine. i dont think there is any need to specify that u want to eat food 😄

[onyx rain]

😆 right, thanks

[icy flax]

@onyx rain, maybe go with "ich möchte einige Fragen stellen" and "ich möchte etwas essen" so the sentences are a bit more complete and perhaps more idiomatic. (:

[fathom inlet]

Lol

[granite spade]

Wiederkehr an etwas oder zu etwas? Oder Wiederkehr + genitive?

[near folio]

Es scheint ausschließlich mit dem Genitiv vorzukommen.
https://www.linguee.de/deutsch-englisch/search?source=auto&query=Wiederkehr+

[proven sphinx]

Don't confuse Wiederkehr with Rückkehr. Those two words aren't used the same way.

"return to normality" would be "Rückkehr zur Normalität", for example. Not "Wiederkehr".

[long whale]

@near folio Please - any idea why we say "mangels Geld" instead of "mangels Geldes"? Even though it's a Genitiv-Präposition? (Just came up in one of my LP's course books.)

[proven sphinx]

Ist wohl das Dritte.

[near folio]

ich hab leider keine Ahnung, vielleicht ist es einfacher so auszusprechen oder es hört sich für die Ohren besser an?

[scenic drift]

"Die Frau Haas sagt so was einfach, weil das ist ihr Temperament" <- warum ist es nicht "weil das ihr Temperament ist" hier?

[quasi bear]

In formal situations, only ‘weil das ihr Temperament ist’ would be used. But when speaking colloquially some people say ‘weil das ist ihr Temperament’.

[swift bough]

I don’t think that’s considered formal

At least, it’s never taught to us learners as being considered „formal“.

If anything it’s taught as being „correct“.

[quasi bear]

By formal, I mean books or newspapers

[swift bough]

But yeah in Germany I always heard that version

Like spoken

But I also heard both versions tbh

It would definitely be a bit strange if they used that version in a newspaper too

[night dagger]

why does the verb changing places indicate formality then?

in that context

i've never come across this before

weil is a subjunction which i always thought sent the verb to the end of the sentence.

[fallow ledge]

Its just a colloquial thing, sometimes in speaking weil is used with the verb in 2nd position

Its like thinking of denn, then saying weil

Its not correct so you wont see it in anything written (except maybe a text) but speaking is fine

Unless its an exam lol -> fail

[night dagger]

yeahhhhh

does any other subjunction function this way?

[long whale]

No.

[fallow ledge]

🤷‍♀️ ive only heard it with weil

[long whale]

And I think the origin is more like, you're saying something, realize you need a reason, so you go "Ich will das nicht. Weil... (oh heck, think fast, think fast) [Ach] Ich habe einfach keine Lust!" (I don't want this. Because.... Oh, I just don't feel like it.) ;)

[night dagger]

interesting

yeah i've caught myself speaking that way i guess, but i usually try to correct myself

similarly with "also"

"also, ich habe eine Idee"

instead of "also habe ich eine Idee"

[long whale]

It's a good idea, I think (correcting yourself, I mean), because it's much harder to remember to do it one way in speaking and another way in writing. ;)

Hmm... I'd say, that's quite common. You're using "also" more as an interjection, in the way of "Anyway", not so much as a causal conjunction, aren't you?

[night dagger]

yeah

[long whale]

Then "Also... Ich habe da eine Idee" is fine. :)

[heavy stratus]

Wir sind viel mehr unterwegs, auch im Winter, weil ich komme aus Australien ursprünglich when I heard this, I thought the lady just got grammar wrong, apparently not :p

[night dagger]

yeah definitely, i just am trying to think of other circumstances that maybe go against standard german grammar like this

with verb placement

are there any others?

[long whale]

She did get it wrong. "urspünglich" would have to come before "aus Australien". But of course, shit happens when you speak without thinking first. ;)

[long whale]

Well, in speaking, we don't really do the Satzklammer thing, either.

[heavy stratus]

I thought weil would be the issue haha

[long whale]

Well, yeah, as was pointed out before, it's casual speaking. Think of it as something like "aint gonna happen". Not a good idea in any kind of formal context, is it? ;)

[night dagger]

i don't know what you mean about Satzklammer

with modal verbs?

[heavy stratus]

Das stimmt

[long whale]

Wann ist deine Freundin mit dem Umbau ihres alten Hauses fertig? (correct German, necessary in writing) as opposed to Wann ist deine Freundin fertig mit dem Umbau ihres alten Hauses? (common in spoken German)

[night dagger]

interesting

so besides the Satzklammer thing and weil subjunction acting as a conjunction, are there any other situations where we might contradict standard german grammar rules?

[long whale]

Lots of dialectal peculiarities about, but you'll learn about those soon enough, once you've started living here (if that's what you're going to do). ;)

[night dagger]

perfect lol thank you

[near folio]

@fallow ledge @night dagger hier ist eine mögliche Erklärung dafür, warum sich das konjugierte Verb nicht immer an seiner richtigen Stelle in Weil-Sätzen befindet: https://www.mpg.de/10419803/weil-satz-fehler

ich bin nicht ganz davon überzeugt, aber es ist interessant

[night dagger]

sehr interessant, danke

[fervent kernel]

"ich kann es nicht mal sprechen"
question : why is "es" there?

i've seen it a lot but i have no idea how to use it

i mean if i said "ich kann nicht mal sprechen" would it be wrong?

[fallow ledge]

@fervent kernel i saw the context for this, the es ist referring to Englisch

The conversation was something like:

Du hast dir doch eingebildet, dass ich Englisch gesprochen habe. Ich kann es (Englisch) nicht mal sprechen
(you imagined me speaking English. i cant even speak it.)

explain unpersönliche Verben

[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.

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[fallow ledge]

@fervent kernel this might help too for some other usages of es

Ich kann nicht mal sprechen would be „i cant even speak“

Ich kann Englisch nicht mal sprechen. (I cant even speak english)

[fervent kernel]

Ohh that makes it so clear now

Sorry for answering late

And thx you so much ^^

[woeful quail]

Is this a common idiom or something? "Nur wenige können ihm im Kampf das Wasser reichen" I thought said something like Only a few can reach him to fight in the water. But apparently its "Only a few can hold a candle to him in battle" and I have no idea where candle came from

[ember mason]

Well, you can't translate idioms, so what they did was show the English equivalent to the German sentence instead of literally translating it. And the English equivalent uses a candle, not water.

If you want to translate it literally, then it'd be "only a few can hand him the water during the fight". Jemandem etwas reichen = to hand out something to someone.

[alpine zealot]

Guys i wanna know if this sentence makes sense in german

Ich habe mein Vertrauen in dich verloren

Is this correct ?

[long whale]

Yes, it is.

[alpine zealot]

Thank you

[fervent kernel]

Hey guys

Any verb like "schneben"?

Or perhaps a word like "schneba"

[delicate tiger]

full sentence?

[fervent kernel]

Do hier han mir keene Face. Mir schnebe di Nochbar Leit am Fensta.

with an image of a grandmother looking through the window 😆

I suppose it means something like "to spy", "to look at"

[long whale]

"Face"?

[fervent kernel]

Facebook, I guess

[delicate tiger]

"schnöbern" probably

[long whale]

Except that doesn't exist. Not in Standard German, anyway. 😹

"schnobern" is more like "to smell", "to snuffle", so...

[fervent kernel]

Ohhhh searching for "schnobern" I've found "schnuppern"

[long whale]

I've only ever heard/read "schnobern" with what horses do. 🤷

[delicate tiger]

"schöven/schnüven" - Rhineland dialect for durchsuchen/spionieren/nachschnüffeln

[reef surge]

Gleis = Bahnsteig?

[long whale]

Well, yes. Except "Gleis" also means "track", as in the tracks a train runs on. :)

[reef surge]

Okay, thx :)

[fervent kernel]

Thank you all very much 💕

[sturdy salmon]

Hi, is this a correct sentence in German? :)

Es ist wichtig man sich zu merken, dass...

[ember mason]

Es ist wichtig zu merken oder es ist wichtig, dass man sich merkt, dass

[rugged ore]

Ausdruck (verbracht) was es bedeutet

[sturdy salmon]

@ember mason Danke schön!

[ember mason]

Do you mean verbraucht? Because then this would mean the expression isn't used anymore

[forest scarab]

Hello i've got a question-
could i say either "das weiß ich leider nicht" or "ich weiß das leider nicht"?

[ember mason]

Yeah

The only difference is where you place your emphasis. It's placed in whatever you say first.

[forest scarab]

ahh okay thanks!

[long whale]

Es ist wichtig, sich zu merken... ;)

[ember mason]

Whoops I forgot

@sturdy salmon 👆

[sturdy salmon]

Danke @long whale @ember mason :))

[long whale]

spent (the infinitive is "verbringen")

[sturdy salmon]

I have this sentence, which I hope is correct: Je länger Urlaube dauern, desto teurer wird die Rechnung, but I've added a 'dass' before it and I don't know if it's still right?

Es ist wichtig, dass man sich merkt, dass je länger Urlaube dauern, desto teurer wird die Rechnung

[long whale]

This is an extremely awkward sentence. Plus, word order doesn't work in the last part - not with the added "dass", that is. I suggest you re-phrase it. :)

You could start with your je/desto-sentence, then put a comma and say "you have to remember this". ;)

[sturdy salmon]

Thank you!! Is this any better? Es ist wichtig, dass man diese Wahrheit sich merkt: je länger Urlaube dauern, desto teurer wird die Rechnung

[long whale]

word order: *dass man sich diese Wahrheit merkt

Much better, yes. :)

[sturdy salmon]

Yay! Vielen Dank für deine Hilfe :)

[fervent kernel]

De Haan hod aarich scheene Fettre.

Can you guys recognize this word?

It means "very", as far as I know.

"Sie hod aarich gebrilld" ("she cried a lot")

Looks like it can mean "dififcult" or "bad" too.

[sly ferry]

maybe ordentlich ?

[fervent kernel]

Maybe 🤔

[onyx rain]

Sie sang von Liebe und an ihrem Blick sah er, dass sie an ihn dachte.
Here is my translation, "She sang of love and he saw (in) to her eyes that she thought about him

Is this correct?

[long whale]

She was singing of love, and her look told him she was thinking of him would be my attempt, but yes, I think you got the idea. ;)

[fervent kernel]

"Venn es nicht so veid väre denn täten vir immer Telephoniren"

Is it common to say the conditional like that in day to day speech?

With "tät", "täten"...

[knotty adder]

"Gewinner im Kampf um die Verkehrssprache sein" does this mean to win in the fight of the common language?

[long whale]

To be the winner, yes. :)

[knotty adder]

Nicee thank you Susana!

I'm guessing you could say, English is the winner in the fight of the common language, when it comes to the business world, or tech?

Does that translate correctly to mean that?

[long whale]

In Swabian dialect (and maybe in others, too, I'm not sure), they use "tun/täten" instead of "würden". :)

[long whale]

Yup. :)

[onyx rain]

Thanks, you are using past continuous to give the sentence a better feel or is there something I might have missed?

[lean canyon]

Hello i have a question about reflexive pronouns.
As how my logic goes, I always think that reflexive pronouns will only be used if I want to say something like "I pinch myself." Because there is "myself" in that sentence.

But something got me confused when I see the translation for "I don't remember that." Because the translation would be " Ich erinnere mich nicht daran" and I couldn't even see something like "myself" in that sentence. So how can I tell when to use the reflexive pronouns properly?

[plain umbra]

@lean canyon In this case specifically, you can think of erinnern as more like "remind" so to remember something is "to remind myself".

[lean canyon]

Is there any other similar cases that also has the same concept? I mean like daily sentences that might be spoken regularly and has the same concept like this

[plain umbra]

Good question. I'm not very good at coming up with examples off the top of my head.

I guess one is that "to bathe" is "to wash oneself".

But I can't think of any others.

[lean canyon]

Thanks! I may find the others later and I'll get back to ask and make sure if it has the same concept.

[tender panther]

"sich fragen" comes to mind. fragen by itself means "ask", and making it reflexive changes the meaning to "wonder", which is similar to asking yourself something

[lean canyon]

This is getting more interesting. So is it possible to say that if we make a verb to be "reflexive," it becomes somehow like "another new word" that means different?

[plain umbra]

It essentially comes down to a linguistic difference between German and English. You can't guarantee that this pattern will hold, but probably what happened (I'm just making assumptions here) is that English originally had the same thing as German - a normal verb and a reflexive verb - and then English replaced some of the reflexive verbs with verbs from other languages.

Well, it might not be just that. But my main point is just that they're two different languages and, even though they were once the same, they diverged at some point.

So some things connect and some don't.

[lean canyon]

Important point that I should keep in mind. Thanks @plain umbra

[long whale]

No, no, nothing you missed. :)

[rugged ore]

Mann muss sich nich auf schlechten dinge im leben beschränken , (sich beschränken) was es bedeutet

[onyx rain]

One must not limit the bad things in life (probably wrong)
If I were to go non-literal
One must not let bad things limit themselves in life

[ember mason]

One must not limit oneself to the bad things in life

You're right

[rugged ore]

Ich möchte eine Kurzlich Geschicht zu lesen wer von euch mir helfen, danke in voraus

[long whale]

Ich möchte eine Kurzgeschichte zu lesen. Wer von euch kann mir helfen*?** Danke im Voraus. - Duolingo has short stories I hear good things about: https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/36647418 :)

[young spear]

@rugged ore Versuch mal auch "Wettpad"

[rugged ore]

Es ist ein App wettpad

[young spear]

Ja das ist eine App

Mit Kurzgeschichten

[fervent kernel]

Do all past these verbs start with ge- like getrunken or gegessen

[swift bough]

No not all of them

[fervent kernel]

also not all verbs starting with ge- are in the past tense

[swift bough]

^

But when you’re familiar with the grammar then you won’t get it confused.

[heavy stratus]

What does a dative plural relative pronoun look like?

Ich will den, den verletzt sind, helfen?
Ich will die, die verletzt sind, helfen?
Ich will den, die verletzt sind, helfen?

[hearty blaze]

@fervent kernel Nope. Only verbs in Past Participle form using a helping verb adds the ge- prefix:
Ich habe gebacken- I baked

and not all verbs do this even in Past Participle form:
ich habe befohlen - I ordered

verbs can also be in simple past tense which generally don't add the ge- prefix:
Ich backte - I baked
ich befahl - I ordered

Here are more examples: https://www.vistawide.com/german/grammar/strong_and_irregular_german_verbs.htm

[swift bough]

denen

Ich will denen, die verletzt sind, helfen.

[heavy stratus]

Thank you!

[swift bough]

np

[carmine cairn]

it's "ich habe gebacken" and "ich habe befohlen" by the way

[hearty blaze]

@carmine cairn Thanks! fixed! 🙂

[short violet]

What does "anstellen" means? For example in this context,
P1 : "er hat plötzlich einen Streit mit mir angezettelt."
P2 : "hast du wieder etwas angestellt?"

[fallow ledge]

its kinda like: did you get up to something again/did you do something again??

theres an example in the DWDS page for anstellen

Was hast du nun wieder angestellt? -: What have you done now

i think it falls under the same meaning

@short violet

[hearty blaze]

Why isn't it "Wir brauchen Menschen die diese Eigenschaften unangenehm finden"? Isn't it conjugated for the plural word 'Menschen'? As in "they [people] who find..." or "die [Menschen], die finden..."?

[fallow ledge]

yeah it should be finden

[hearty blaze]

so this grammar checker is also wrong?

[fallow ledge]

put a comma in before die

[hearty blaze]

Thank you good sir

x)

[fallow ledge]

its parseing the sentensce as one block, where brauchen + infinitv without nicht and zu is wrong

[hearty blaze]

Thank you, it was driving me crazy! Those dang commas

[fallow ledge]

does it still think the grammar is wrong?

[hearty blaze]

no, now the grammar checker says it's correct

x)

[fallow ledge]

ez

[short violet]

thank you very much

[onyx rain]

Ich verstehe nicht was es bedeutet, können Sie bitte mir helfen?

Ich denke es ist "He, who otherwise had always believed, right good in tactic to dance?, noticed now, how the tactic felt him?"

But the last two clauses don't seem right...

[tepid swan]

I think here “im Takt zu tanzen” means dancing to the beat/rhythm

And fehlen is to miss or lack something, not to feel something (that’s fühlen)

So I think it’s like “He, who had always thought he danced well to the beat, noticed now how off-beat he really was”

Someone better at German than me please correct if that’s wrong

[onyx rain]

Thanks, it makes much more sense

Also recht looks like a verb here but don't how to use it, I got the overall meaning

[tepid swan]

recht gut is "fairly good"

it's an adverb here

[sudden oasis]

Can someone explain to me about reflexive verb?

I got little bit confused in how to use it

[swift bough]

Weiß irgendjemand ob‘s einen klaren Unterschied zwischen wütend und angepisst gibt? Meines Erachtens ist ihr Gebrauch meistens gleich, würd mich aber trotzdem interessieren zu wissen worin der Unterschied liegt (falls es einen überhaupt gibt).

[swift bough]

Reflexive verbs are attached to a pronoun „sich“ which can turn into various other pronouns depending on the sentence.

[sudden oasis]

Could you give me an example, please? @swift bough

[swift bough]

Ich fühle mich beleidigt. (sich fühlen)
Ich ziehe mich an/aus. (sich anziehen/ausziehen)
Ich habe mich verlesen. (sich verlesen)

[sudden oasis]

So can I say this also " Er langweilt der film" ? @swift bough

Sry. Er langweilt sich der film

[swift bough]

No, that doesn’t work

In that case you don’t need the reflexive pronoun

Ihn langweilt der Film.

You can say: Ich langweile mich / mir ist langweilig

[sudden oasis]

Ok thank you for the correction @swift bough , but I am really still confused about the condition using the reflexive verb.

Could you enlighten me again, please? @swift bough

[swift bough]

Well, if the pronoun is in accusative (so if it’s dich/mich, and sometimes sich, but not always sich, because sich can also be dative), then that means that the pronoun is the „direct object“ in the sentence.

This is really hard to explain and I‘m also tired

Ok so

A portion of reflexive verbs can only ever have „sich“ in accusative. This means that there can only be a direct object, there can’t be an indirect one.

Which means first of all it has to either be sich/dich/mich (dative reflexive pronouns are sich/dir/mir).

You don’t need to use this reflexive pronoun with a verb that only uses that reflexive pronoun in accusative, if you already have some other direct object.

Like with „Ihn langweilt der Film“, „ihn“ is a direct object.

So you can‘t have it be reflexive if the role of the direct object is already being occupied.

I don’t know if I explained that well enough though.

[scenic drift]

@sudden oasis just gonna drop this here 👀 https://www.dartmouth.edu/~deutsch/Grammatik/Reflexives/Reflexive.html

[swift bough]

Mikey this is how one really puts themself to sleep really quickly, explaining complex grammar at ungodly hours

[scenic drift]

sounds like great fun to me 😌

also it's 9am for me hehe

[sudden oasis]

Oh I see. I think I get it now.

Thank you for your help. Both of you @scenic drift and @swift bough

sorry for the trouble @swift bough 😆 😆 😆

[swift bough]

You’re welcome and it’s no problem. I usually enjoy helping people anyway and usually it’s no trouble but my tiredness really clashed with me trying to pull these grammar concepts out the back of my brain.

Actually just randomly occurred to me there is some exceptions to the rule of what I said, like „Ich lehre dich Deutsch“ for example, just thought I‘d mention it so I don’t her flamed for it later

I‘m aware of that

[rugged ore]

(Anspruch ) was es bedeutet

Auch ausdruck (Erschrecken )

[steel walrus]

Hello guys, quick question. How do you say the english word "also" in german? i thought it was just "auch" but it seems to me that that's used the same way "too" is used english. Like "i like this too" but what if i want to say "also, there is a plate on the table".

[fallow ledge]

You could use außerdem, but auch works too

Es gibt auch/außerdem einen Teller auf dem Tisch
Ein Teller steht auch/außerdem auf dem Tisch.

For this placement at the start of the sentence außerdem sounds much better than auch

Außerdem gibt es einen Teller auf dem Tisch
Außerdem steht ein Teller auf dem Tisch.

^ this is due to außerdem also functioning as „moreover“, „furthermore“ or „additionally“

[long whale]

wütend = enraged; angepisst (rude and extremely colloquial/slangy) = pissed off ;)

[long whale]

I'm sure you're already aware of this, but you don't use "es gibt" for relatively small objects you tend to move around. You'd use "stehen" for a plate. ;)

[fallow ledge]

Cool!

So rather ein Teller steht auch auf dem Tisch

[long whale]

Exactly. :)

[heavy stratus]

Was ist mit einer Servierplatte, die wie das aussieht?

[long whale]

wie das so (at most: wie die [hier])

I'd probably say the buffet consisted of 1 huge plate, well, board/Brett, actually - Das kalte Büffet bestand aus einem einzigen, riesigen Servierbrett. Several other possibilities occur, but I definitely wouldn't say "auf dem Tisch gibt/gab es...", because that's simply unidiomatic. 🤷

[heavy stratus]

Okay, danke!

[ocean canopy]

Big question about noun gender: would a native speaker know the gender of a noun that they have never heard before? I am guessing the answer is yes, so, if so, how?

[sly ferry]

Intuition

There are a few words natives can't agree on though, so that can happen too

[ocean canopy]

But how is that even possible? Yeah there are some rules, but how can you know the gender of a noun you have NEVER HEARD before?

[sly ferry]

Well that's kinda how intuition works ? You just go with your gut

[ocean canopy]

And get it right 100% of the time...

[sly ferry]

It's not a 100% chance

[ocean canopy]

But you are most likely going to get it right despite having never heard it

Sorry if I am being difficult/annoying about this, but it all just perplexes me being an English native speaker

[scenic drift]

Nutella

[ocean canopy]

Of course

[night dagger]

as an English native speaker as well, i hear plenty of english natives pronounce english words incorrectly all of the time (even when they're reading the word in front of them). sometimes we take a guess and we're right and other times we're not so right. maybe we can consider the phenomena of german natives guessing a noun's gender relatively similar?

[delicate tiger]

there are also regional variations (DE: die E-Mail; CH: das E-Mail...)

[ocean canopy]

@Bebe Maybe. Especially considering English pronunciation doesn't follow many rules, or, at least, there are a ridiculous number of exceptions to rules, causing us to simply have a feel for it. So yeah, perhaps it is similar in that way

[proven sphinx]

English pronunciation does actually follow quite a few rules. It's just that there are always some exceptions.

[near folio]

Sie haben unbewusst als Kind viele Muster (z.B -ung Endung = feminin) verinnerlicht und übertragen sie, wenn sie ein neues Wort hören. Außerdem könnte ein Wort ein Geschlecht von einem Wort kriegen, das eine sehr ähnliche Bedeutung hat.

[proven sphinx]

einen Geschlecht
das Geschlecht

[near folio]

w00ps

[ocean canopy]

Raven I mean that there seem to be so many exceptions to English pronunciation rules and that native English speakers don't remember many of the rules anyway

[proven sphinx]

Yeah, but many of those rules aren't things you learn, but things that English speakers do intuitively.

For example, if you read the sentence "uvable psylog" and assume that those are somehow English words, almost all native English speakers will pronounce "uvable" as "youvable" and "psylog" as "sigh-log", just because those are the usual pronunciation rules of English.

[ocean canopy]

Indeed that's how I pronounced it

[proven sphinx]

It's easy to say that English has "no pronunciation rules", but reality is quite different.

[ocean canopy]

So it does in fact seem like English pronunciation and German noun gender are similar in a a respective native speaker's intuition for them

[proven sphinx]

Yeah, I guess so.

Generally, foreign words will get a neuter gender, unless there's a very good reason for them to get a different gender, such as a related word in German having that gender.

For example, it's "die Website" because "site" sounds like "die Seite" in German.

[ocean canopy]

That makes sense

[proven sphinx]

It's not technically related, but it sounds related to many speakers, which is all it takes.

That must also be the reason why it's "die Homepage", since "page" is "die Seite" in German.

[summer crystal]

Do you know if there's a list of those English pronunciation rules somewhere online?

[ocean canopy]

As for English pronunciation, I just have to give props to German for being more phonetically consistent and seeming to have fewer rules with regard to pronunciation

[summer crystal]

Thank God xD

[ocean canopy]

As an American, I kinda feel bad for non native speakers trying to learn English pronunciation

[proven sphinx]

Another pronunciation rule that is generally followed is the pronunciation for short vowels vs long vowels.

Mat vs mate
cat vs Kate
sat vs sate
not vs note
dot vs dote

There are many exceptions, but these rules are generally followed.

The E at the end indicates a long vowel.

[near folio]

tfw du unbewusst englische Wörter mit deutscher Aussprache sagst

musste mich korrigieren

[proven sphinx]

So if I wrote "zot" and "zote" as fictional English words, most English speakers would pronounce them with a short and long vowel respectively.

[ocean canopy]

Mhm. I actually do remember learning those rules in first grade, BUT something tells me I would know how to pronounce those words even without being taught 😉

[proven sphinx]

Or just think of the Jabberwocky poem! Most people would pronounce the fictional words in there the same way.

``'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"``

Like, basically everyone will pronounce "slithy" as "sly-thy" and not "sleethy". They will say "outgrayb" and not "out-grahb". They'll say "frumious" as "froomy-us" and not "frummy-us", and so on and so forth...

Fun fact: Lewis Carroll made up the word "chortle" for this poem, but it became a real English word eventually.

[ocean canopy]

Haha that's awesome

[fervent kernel]

what’s the difference between all the past tenses?

[night dagger]

Kind of a loaded question but to start, it may help to think about what the difference is between the past tenses in your native language.

There are tenses better suited for everyday conversation and then there are tenses better suited for literature.

[bright sorrel]

"Ich lade Maria zu meinem Geburstag ein" In this sentence, Maria is the beneficiary right? not Geburstag, so why is dativ case used on Geburstag not Maria?

[ember mason]

Because you invite someone using the accusative case. And you invite someone TO (zu) something with Dativ because zu asks for the dative case

[bright sorrel]

but then akkusativ of lade is laden right?

[ember mason]

Einladen is the verb here

I'm not sure I understand your question

[bright sorrel]

got it. thanks

[plain umbra]

faq past tense

[stoic mauve]

Past Tense

German has two basic past tenses: Perfekt and Präteritum.

What’s the difference? Which one should I use?

To put it simply: Perfekt is used for spoken and casual German, and Präteritum is used for formal writing such as novels. For anything in between or if you’re unsure, it’s best to simply ask a native speaker. But most of the time, you will be using Perfekt, so it’s recommended that you learn that first!

However, even when you are using the Perfekt tense, a few verbs are often still used in Präteritum. This varies by region! Some native speakers use 100% Perfekt tense when they speak, but most people use at least a few words with Präteritum in their speech.

The main verbs commonly used in Präteritum form even when using Perfekt are:
• haben (e.g. ich hatte instead of ich habe gehabt)
• sein (e.g. ich war instead of ich bin gewesen)
• modal verbs
• wissen, denken (e.g. ich wusste, ich dachte)

The following are sometimes also used in Präteritum form but not as pervasively:
• bleiben, brauchen, finden, geben, gehen, laufen, liegen, rufen, sehen, sitzen, stehen, tun

Page 1/2

[plain umbra]

@fervent kernel

[fathom inlet]

hi

what's the difference zwischen "vertrauen auf" und "vertrauen zu" ?

[plain umbra]

dict.cc says:
auf jdn. vertrauen
zu jdm. Vertrauen haben

[night dagger]

so maybe vertrauen auf can be used to trust in people and things while vertrauen zu is to trust in people

ich hab Vertrauen zu meinem Bruder. - i have faith in my brother
ich vertraue auf das Auto. - i trust the car

[plain umbra]

I don't really know the difference in meaning, but yeah, it's important to keep in mind the grammar difference.

[plain umbra]

Here in the first sentence, the Vertrauen is a noun so should be capitalized.

[night dagger]

oops

[fervent kernel]

vielen dank!

[fervent kernel]

so does that mean “Hast du Deutsch gelernt?” and “Lerntest du Deutsch?” mean the same thing, but one is more formal?

[plain umbra]

Yeah. I wouldn't say "more formal" exactly, because formality does often have a place in spoken language. The thing with Präteritum is that (aside from a few words mentioned), using it in speech sounds kinda silly and out of place, rather than just formal.

I can't think of any scenario off the top of my head where you would need to use 2nd person with Präteritum.

But the meaning is the same, that is correct.

[fervent kernel]

awesome, thanks

[fallow ledge]

Ich hätte eine Frage, und zwar wenn man „etwas zu benennen wissen“ sagt, wird‘s damit gemeint, dass der Sprecher den Namen/die Bezeichnung für etwas weiß.

Beispielsweise:

Pflanzen und Tiere zu benennen wissen: den Namen der Art wissen

Gibt es andere Bedeutungen dazu? Vielleicht ein Beispiel, in dem es nicht nur um Namen geht

[pulsar yarrow]

Zu benennen wissen ist sehr gehobenes Deutsch, but it Sounds Hella advanced

Its means exactly how you phrased it

[long whale]

No, how could there be? "etwas zu benennen wissen" = to be able to/to know how to give a name to something ;) But Simonsen is right, it's not a verb/an expression you'd be expected to actively use. It's kind of "textbook German". :)

[fallow ledge]

Was just wondering, i saw an example that was something like die Regeln des Spiels zu benennen wissen, it sounded a bit dubious so i was wondering if there were more options

Ah i had no idea it was textbooky, i listen to some science podcasts and hear it surprisingly often

@long whale thanks 🙏

[long whale]

Okay, let me correct myself: you will need to use it when you write your thesis - in German. ;)

[slim yew]

faq past tense 2

[stoic mauve]

FAQ not found. I found the following similar entry: Past Tense.

[slim yew]

oof

[fallow ledge]

What topic do you want to know about @slim yew

[slim yew]

i just want to turn to the second page

[fallow ledge]

Oh just load it and click the arrow react

faq past tense

[stoic mauve]

Perfekt

How to form the Perfekt tense

The Perfekt tense is formed by combining an auxiliary verb (haben or sein) with the past participle form of the main verb.

For example, if I want to write the past tense of “essen”/“to eat”, such as in the English sentence “I ate”, I first need to know the auxiliary verb that goes with essen (which happens to be haben), and the past participle form of essen (which is gegessen).

I can then combine them with the usual verb conjugation and word order rules, as such:
Ich habe gegessen. -> I ate. / I have eaten.
Ich habe das Brot gegessen. -> I ate the bread. / I have eaten the bread.

How to determine the past participle?

Just look it up in the dictionary! There are a few general patterns you can also learn about, but a dictionary will pretty much always list the past participle somewhere near the verb itself.

When to use haben and when to use sein as the auxiliary verb?

The basic rules are:
• Transitive verbs (verbs which take an accusative object) use haben
• Intransitive verbs which describe a change of location or change of state use sein
• Other intransitive verbs use haben

This may not be a 100% reliable set of rules, so if in doubt, you can always use a dictionary to verify the correct auxiliary. Also note that there are a few regional variations.

Page 2/2

[slim yew]

oh

[last dirge]

I have a test due 2 hours and i could use some help

[long whale]

faq homework

[stoic mauve]

How to ask a question

If you want something corrected, you can put it in a Google Doc and share a link with permission level »can suggest« in #writing .

Don't ask us to translate something for you outright: that takes professional time and effort and we're not here for that. You can try your luck with deepl.com.
For single words, use dict.cc or another dictionary, it'll be quicker.

If you want to know if/how a word can be used, provide some context to help us understand the situation.

Don't ask us to do your homework or exams for you! Show us your best attempt at something and try to pinpoint what exactly you don't understand.

[onyx rain]

I am having trouble getting the pronunciation of groß right, whatever I try it just doesn't match : (

Sometimes its sounding like a kh, and sometimes like gh

[plain umbra]

You're welcome to make a recording and post it in #pronunciation. That's a channel where you can get some pronunciation feedback. Or maybe ask there and see if someone will go into VC with you to help.

[rugged ore]

Wortsatz erschrecken was es bedeutet

[long whale]

Nothing. Please check spelling and then give us the whole sentence. :)

[night hedge]

In a sentence, does it matter where the time goes in relation to the object?
E.g: "Ich kann den Zauberwürfel in zehn Sekunden lösen"
or "Ich kann in zehn Sekunden den Zauberwürfel lösen"

Which of these is correct and why?

[long whale]

They're both fine, the difference is minimal. I'd say the first one puts the emphasis rather on the rubicube, the 2nd one puts it on the seconds, but if you were speaking, you could change that round by stressing different words. :)

[night hedge]

Ah alright. Vielen Dank! :)

And is this the same case if it was a pronoun? E.g "Ich kann ihn in zehn Sekunden lösen" versus "Ich kann in zehn Sekunden ihn lösen"?

[long whale]

No. Rules for pronouns are a bit different, unfortunately. Here, only the 1st one works at all, the 2nd one is gibberish (to us). :)

[night hedge]

Okay. I've been trying to find a solution online for like an hour but couldn't lol. Thank you so much for the help!

[opal cove]

Was ist die richtige Übersetzung von "Local"?

Z.b

Ich habe einen Raum in der örtlichen Jungenherdberge gemietet
Ich habe einen Raum in der hiesigen Jungendherbege gemietet

und warum? Gibt es einen Unterschied zwischen "örtlich" und "hiesig"?

[rugged ore]

Aber als sein freund (vorbeikam) musste er sich schnell was (einfallen lassen ) was sie bedeuten

Einfallen lassen
Vorbeikam

[long whale]

"örtlich" = local (for whichever place you happen to be talking about); "hiesig" = specifically here; local for wherever you happen to be - think of "hie..." being the root syllable of "hier/here". Does that help?

[hot anvil]

Bist du schon einmal in Berlin gewesen?
und
Warst du schon einmal in Berlin?
Which one is more common in spoken German?

[heavy stratus]

I think the first

[topaz pewter]

Hm have u ever heard it

Warst du is used but ive never heard of the first one

[heavy stratus]

Just went with my gut. Don't take my word for it though

[noble pollen]

I would say the second one

Imo

Depending on

you can use both

There is no more common there

[tulip nova]

How is "ig" pronounced? I have heard the g pronounced both like regular "g" and also the german "ch" sound

[scenic drift]

i'm fairly sure it's a regional thing

aha, the atlas has a picture: https://www.atlas-alltagssprache.de/runde-1/f14a-c/

[solemn helm]

My question: I've recently been running across words like this in my reading: hinzuschauen

When I look them up, I find entries for hinschauen

[topaz pewter]

zu hinschauen => hinzuschauen

[solemn helm]

What purpose does the zu serve? Can it be added to any seperarable verb?

[topaz pewter]

prefix + zu + the rest

[solemn helm]

So similar construction as past tense.

[topaz pewter]

Tippe hier um das Bild hochzuladen = Tap here, in order to upload the picture

[solemn helm]

Is zu hinshauen also allowed, or is it required?

[scenic drift]

in fact it must go between the prefix and the 'main' verb in a separable verb (in 'zu' constructions)

[scenic drift]

not allowed.

[topaz pewter]

No zu hinshauen is wrong

[solemn helm]

My native girlfriend couldn't answer me this question 😆

I think sometimes its hard to answer grammar questions without studying grammar.

Thanks all. Makes a lot of sense 🙂

[arctic cosmos]

ich lasse es mir immer gut gehen..was ist die richtige übersetzung von diesem satz auf English?

[long whale]

Interesting question. There definitely is no more or less literal translation which would make any sense, I'd say. Perhaps... "I always live the high life"?

[arctic cosmos]

Das war der ganze satz :
Heute ist mein freier Tag, da lasse ich es mir immer gut gehen.

(Es) bezieht sich auf den tag?

[ember mason]

I think it's in the sense of... I always make sure to enjoy myself

Well Susana can probably explain better but this "es" is the same as "wie geht es dir?" - "mir geht es gut"

It doesn't refer to anything in particular, it's part of how one says how they're feeling

[long whale]

Nah, nothing wrong with your explanation. ;)

[arctic cosmos]

Alles klar
Danke♥️

[teal badge]

Welche Verben benutze ich mit Akkusativ?

Gibt es ein Liste?

[plain umbra]

Fast alle. Man lernt die, die nicht mit Akkusativ verwendet werden, statt die, die mit Akkusativ verwendet werden.

http://germanforenglishspeakers.com/reference/dative-verbs/

Es gibt auch Genitivverben, aber die sind nicht so üblich und man muss sie nicht lernen.

Zumindest nicht vor C1. 😄

[teal badge]

Ich verstehe nichts, warum Dativ oder genetiv. Ich lerne nur den die das

👀

[plain umbra]

Basically nearly every verb goes with accusative. Only a small amount go with dative or genitive. So it doesn't make sense to learn a list of accusative ones, when you can just learn the dative and genitive ones.

There are also verbs which have two objects like geben. They have accusative for the direct object and dative for the indirect object.

[teal badge]

Thank you

[opal cove]

Thank you!

[tawdry talon]

Hello! I have a few questions again, it's about the words order in my sentences. I want to know if these sentences make any sense, I had a task to put the words in the right order

1. Hier -England-ist-genauso-in-es-kalt-wie-bei-uns
   Hier bei uns ist es genauso kalt wie in England.
2. Das-Schulsystem-anders-amerikanische-uns-als-bei-ganz -ist
   Das amerikanische Schulsystem ist ganz anders als bei uns
3. aus-die-New York-wie-sehen-so-Bei-Parks-uns-in
   Bei die Parks sehen uns so wie in New York aus
   4.in Liverpool-mehr-als-hier-Es-Discos-bei-gibt-uns
   Es gibt hier bei uns mehr Discos als in Liverpool
4. nicht -viele-gibt-wie-In New York-Fahrräder-Amsterdam-so-es-in
   In New York gibt es nicht so viele Fahrräder wie in Amsterdam
   6 sehen-USA-anders-als-ganz-die-aus-Städte-den-In Europa-in
   In Europa sehen die Städte ganz anders als in den USA aus.

[celest frost]

1. ✅
2. ✅
3. Bei uns sehen die Parks so aus wie in New York
4. ✅
5. ✅
6. ✅
   auch möglich: In Europa sehen die Städte ganz anders aus als in den USA.

[celest frost]

ping

[tawdry talon]

Oh, thank you very much for your help 😄

[ocean canopy]

Does the noun "Deutsch" only receive a dative -en declinsion when it is paired with an article?

Or perhaps, is this a general rule with declinsion? That it doesn't change its ending in the dative if there is no article..

[lone sand]

what does level A mean?

[ocean canopy]

That I am in the A1-A2 range of German abilities.

[scenic drift]

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:About_German#Declension_of_language_names

there's explanations of the declination there :)

[heavy stratus]

Die Ente ist weg 😭

[hardy seal]

Ehhhhh when do I use wann seit wann and wie lange

[ocean canopy]

Ok. So I see the difference between "das Deutsche" and "das Deutsch". So the reason one would say "Ich bin schlecht in Deutsch" and not "Ich bin schlecht im Deutschen" has to do with the usage of an article (in this case combined with the preposition)?

[scenic drift]

it's the same as the difference between "since when" and "[for] how long"

[hardy seal]

Okok that helps

Unrelated but when should I use dürfen können wollen

[dense ice]

dürfen = should
können = can
wollen = to want

[solid hull]

dürfen = should

Are ya sure about that bruder

[scenic drift]

@hardy seal
dürfen = to be allowed
können = to be able
wollen = to want

[hardy seal]

Yeah the thing is to be allowed and to be able are not that different

[scenic drift]

they are

[solid hull]

They have their own contexts but yeah generally you can use them interchangeably and this happens in German too

[hidden nebula]

they are

as the age old joke goes, 'can I go to the toilet?' 'I don't know, can you?'

[solid hull]

lol

[scenic drift]

"Darf ich nach Hause gehen?" -> do you give me permission to go home?
"Kann ich nach Hause gehen?" -> am i able to go home (ie. is there something stopping me)?

[solid hull]

Hate ppl who respond like that

[scenic drift]

like yeah you can use them interchangeably, but there is a grammatical difference

[heavy stratus]

1. Sie wollten, dass er stirbt. 2. Sie wollten ihn zu stirben. 3. Sie wollten ihn sterben (which one is correct or are they all wrong?)

[solid hull]

1st one

[still lantern]

*tot sehen

[long whale]

How did you make that out? Do you mean "ihn töten"?

[onyx rain]

Why is 3rd one not correct?

[long whale]

Won't wash. 🤷 Not in German.

[long whale]

Which 3rd one?

[onyx rain]

Sie wollten ihn sterben

They wanted him to die

[scenic drift]

mm, it's not quite the same thing as in english

[heavy stratus]

two subjects 😉

[long whale]

Can't be done, unfortunately. :)

[scenic drift]

ah, that's tot, not Tot 👀

[hidden nebula]

that’s ‘I want him dead’

[long whale]

So? It's not German. 🤷

[long whale]

No, it isn't.

[hidden nebula]

why is this tot sehen?

or do you use sehen with tot?

[long whale]

What do you mean, why? Because ich will ihn tot is gibberish. 🤷

[hidden nebula]

no I mean

just asking why the verb of choice is sehen

is it like, I want to see him dead?

[long whale]

Well, ich will ihn tot sehen = I want to see him dead (not: die), vs. ich will ihn töten = I want to kill him

[hidden nebula]

ah got it

[still lantern]

Yes, it's gibberish. But sometimes people leave out the verbs so that there is just a modal verb. Example:

Kann ich einen Keks?
Saturn - so muss Technik.
It's wrong but it's a common mistake Germans make in everyday live.

[long whale]

Yeah. Why are you telling me this? But which verb is supposed to go with ich will ihn tot? "haben"? It's still gibberish, isn't it?

[still lantern]

Yes. I just wanted to point out there's a bit more behind that. This mistake is so popular that even slogans of big companies or subtitles of famous movies have them.

[ocean canopy]

So perhaps it's more acceptable when the implied verb is obvious? z.B. "Ich will nach Deutschland"

[solid hull]

Why would that be a mistake

Do I really have to say ich möchte eine Pizza essen
Is the essen necessary to speak in proper Deutsch

[solid hull]

I’d say if the verb is obvious it’s more natural sounding if you leave out the main verb

[long whale]

That's fine, yes. Not just "more acceptable". :)

[ocean canopy]

Okay 🙂 so the gibberish refers to omitting the second verb when it's not obvious?

[long whale]

Well, I can't really see anyone ever saying either ich will ihn tot or ich will ihn tot haben. Unless you wanted to say "I want him. Dead." or "I want him - dead, that is", in which case you'd need to say "Ich will ihn, und zwar tot" - IMO, that is. :)

[desert olive]

Was ist die übersetzung von diesem satz besonders das verb (näherliegen) auf English?
was also liegt näher,als ihm ein großartiges musik geschenk zu machen?

[night dagger]

so was wie "what could be more natural?" @desert olive

[onyx rain]

Hey @long whale I was just curious...on Nancy Thuleen's website, a person called Susan is mentioned, a long time friend, I was just wondering..is that you, but now I see it is Susana not Susan, will just ask for my curiosity. (Sorry if its personal)

[long whale]

Thanks for the compliment. :) Nothing to do with me, though.

[opal cove]

Wann soll/kann ich "allein" als "aber" verwenden?

Ich kann es gar nicht begreifen - beim Lesen des Buches "Hammer's German Grammar" habe ich diese Bedeutung gesehen - eine Beispiel dafür:

Ich hatte gehofft, ihn nach der Sitzung zu sprechen, allein er war nicht zugegen

Gibt es einen Unterschied? Warum würdest du "allein" ggn "aber" verwenden?

[solid hull]

Wo hast du gesehen, dass es sich als “aber” übersetzen lässt?

Soweit ich weiß ist “allein” da mit “nur~bloß” synonym und dazu literarisch/formell

[opal cove]

In dem Grammatikbuch "Hammer's German Grammar" habe ich sie gesehen - es hat mich auch verwirrt, aber auf irgendeine Weise macht es mir Sinn? lmao

Aber nun wenn ich darüber nachdenke, passt "allein" als "nur/bloß" zu diesem Satz auch gut: "I'd hoped to talk to him after the meeting, only (but) he wasn't present (any longer)"

[long whale]

Fornoughting is right: never. Or at least, definitely not before you start writing that literary novel - in German. ;)

[icy flax]

"Der deutsche Weg ist erschreckend, eiskalt und verdreht; immer wenn Ihr in die Dunkelheit der Unsicherheit tretet, greift Euch nach DWDS, dem heiligen Erlöser."
🤣 🤣
@solid hull, ich glaub, @opal cove hat es nicht gesehen, aber hier stehts -> https://www.dwds.de/wb/allein
komisch, dass sogar @long whale sagt, sowas ist nie zu sehen. Vllt ist dieses "aber-bedeutende" allein nicht nur gehoben sondern auch rar... Hätten wir nur die Häufigkeit per Bedeutungsarten

[long whale]

*greift Euch nach... ;) @icy flax

Well, if you'd like to go spouting German quotations, the one mentioned in DWDS is quite common: "Die Botschaft hör ich wohl, allein mir fehlt der Glaube" [Goethe, Faust] (I hear you/them, it's just that I don't believe what you/they're saying) IMO, this particular quotation is the sole reason this meaning of "allein" hasn't become completely obsolete by now. ;)

@icy flax

[fallow flint]

Can someone tell me a order to learn german in? Like Grammar first? or vocab?

[plain umbra]

You don't learn grammar and vocab totally separately. You need to learn them both together as you develop your skill.

As a beginner, you will have a bit more focus on grammar than vocab, but you should still learn vocab as you go.

Type >faq beginner in #botchannel for a list of recommended grammar topics to go through as a beginner.

[sudden cloud]

what is verbs with two objects

this?

[plain umbra]

Yes.

[sudden cloud]

ok

[summer crystal]

What does "ne" means, as in A: "Ach, wie einfach!" B: "Ja, ne."

[plain umbra]

Ne is like a bit more casual way to say nein.

Though I don't know for sure if that's what it's being used as here.

[topaz pewter]

Wait a sec

[plain umbra]

Yes, "ne?" can be used also to mean "nicht wahr?", that's true.

[summer crystal]

@topaz pewter No, I think you were right.

[topaz pewter]

Am not sure better a native answer

[summer crystal]

Ah ok, no worries :)

[topaz pewter]

dict.cc has an example

"Ja ne, is klar" = I see!

[ugs.] [mündlich][regional]

[summer crystal]

Danke ihr zwei! :)

[pearl acorn]

die artikel von " bauernhof " ist " die " oder " der "

[plain umbra]

Do you know how to look up articles in the dictionary?

[fallow flint]

Vielen Dank! @plain umbra

[plain umbra]

No problem.

[pearl acorn]

i found it with die, the other time found it with der artikel

[plain umbra]

I see. Where did you find it with die?

[pearl acorn]

i guess i saw it before in one of the lessons in menschen book

[topaz pewter]

I think it has an fixed artikel which is der

[pearl acorn]

i am doing a revision over the words of the a2 lvl

[fervent kernel]

Der Bahnhof, so very likely der Bauernhof

[plain umbra]

Which dictionary do you use?

[pearl acorn]

meschen dictionary

menschen *

[plain umbra]

Is that a dictionary?

[pearl acorn]

but i wrote all those words with their artikel in another paper

[pearl acorn]

ah thanks gran

[pearl acorn]

well its a glossar

[plain umbra]

Ah, I see.

It's a very important skill to learn how to look up word genders on your own.

And for that, it's best to use a proper dictionary.

[pearl acorn]

yea yea i know

[pearl acorn]

what dictionary u suggest

but for beginners i guess

since i am only finished a2

[plain umbra]

I like to use dict.cc. Wiktionary is also good.

You can check out a list of dictionaries and check them out in the resource list.

I recommend it to make sure you find one you like.

faq resources

[stoic mauve]

Resources

https://bit.ly/gladresources

[pearl acorn]

aha got it

gonna check that thanks for the help !

[topaz pewter]

I just type the word in deepL and it shows the artikel haha

[plain umbra]

The dictionary will either say the article or it will say m/f/n/pl for the gender.

[pearl acorn]

aha i see

well i am tired of google being retard when it comes to translation and word's artikels thats why i asked

[plain umbra]

Yeah, I totally understand. I just know that usually when people ask for a word's gender, it's because they didn't start using a dictionary yet - and I always make sure to encourage someone in that situation to try learning to use one.

[pearl acorn]

and its also harder since u are committed to a specific book that u study from

so searching for a specific word in any dictionary could take ages some times

[plain umbra]

It shouldn't take ages, since you just type it in and the answer will show up.

[pearl acorn]

aha it's online, thought it was pdf

[plain umbra]

Oh yeah, if it were a pdf it would be annoying to use. 😄

But nuh, I just use this: https://www.dict.cc/?s=bauernhof

[pearl acorn]

aha got it yea i'll use this one then

thanks !

[plain umbra]

No problem. Feel free to ask if you're not sure how to find something.

[pearl acorn]

sure thing will do

[fervent kernel]

Is there any difference between "verwenden" ,"nutzen" etc?

I see so many verbs for "to use"

😔

https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/8410/word-meaning-to-use-verwenden-anwenden-benutzen-nutzen-gebrauch

@fervent kernel

[hot anvil]

Is Hältst du durch? the same as Wie geht's dir??

Can i use it as an alternative?

[still lantern]

No, it's not the same.

Never heard of Hältst du durch?. It would mean something completely different.

[icy flax]

Couldnt both be used to get to know whether a friend is successfully coping with a hard occurrence is his life?

[still lantern]

Technically, yes.

[junior eagle]

Can one apply the Zustandspassiv in the Perfekt (Past) Tense in the follow example: Das Essen ist gegessen gewesen?

[near folio]

Ja, aber das kommt selten vor, soweit ich weiß.

[junior eagle]

Das dachte ich mir. Meine Frau kommt aus Hannover und sie denkt, dass es ganz falsch ist. Ich stelle mir vor, dass es häufiger in Köln oder Süddeutschland verwendet würde.

Es könnte einfacher Präteritum zu verwenden, nämlich Das Essen war gegessen.

[near folio]

oh, hab nur gerade deine Nachricht gesehen

grammatisch richtig ist es aber schon. Man kann theoretisch das Zustandspassiv in allen Tempora und Modi bilden, aber manche sind natürlich extrem selten.
Meine Frau kommt übrigens auch aus Hannover und sagt sowas auch nie.

[ember mason]

Wie heißt das auf Deutsch, wenn man in einer Uni studiert und eine Pause für ein oder zwei Semester machen will?

[scenic drift]

i've seen Zwischenjahr / Lückenjahr / Brückenjahr used but i think the connotation there is more for a year between school and uni

i'm not sure if there's a specific term other than just "Pause machen"

[ember mason]

Hab gefunden, es heißt Beurlaubung 🙂 Danke

[scenic drift]

Beurlaubung!

ich hab was neues gelernt :D

[versed brook]

I always just say: Mit freundlichen Grüßen
name

[fallow ledge]

verbleiben 👀 that sounds pretty fancy

also probably pushing veraltet though

[versed brook]

I have never really used that word, not while writing or just by talking

[fallow ledge]

my dictionary lists it as gespreizt, so i don tthink its used often

yes das Ende

[versed brook]

Idk, I never wrote an email in a business kind of way

[fallow ledge]

Mit freundlichen Grüßen: sehr traditionell, förmlich und höflich, aber nicht verkehrt – besonders beim Erstkontakt
Freundliche Grüße: die moderne Version von “Mit freundlichen Grüßen”
Viele Grüße: neutralste Option der “gängigen” Grußformeln

all of these are good options here

[versed brook]

👍

[fervent kernel]

im working an assignment and i had to combine compound words with articles and i have "die land" and karte

would i use das landkarte or die landkarte?

[plain umbra]

@fervent kernel A compound noun takes the gender of the final word in the compound. So it will be the same gender as Karte, in this case.

[versed brook]

the article goes after the last word in the word

wait, that makes no sense

[fervent kernel]

so die landkarte

[plain umbra]

Yeah. Die Karte, therefore die Landkarte.

[fervent kernel]

thanks!

wait that actually helped so much about the noun taking the gender article

it clicked now

[dawn jackal]

Ich persönlich finde es einfach total wichtig, dass wir nicht in einem Flickenteppich landen."
was bedeutet das einfach ?

[long whale]

"Me, I think it's really important we don't land in a mish-mash", I suppose. Is this also about time change?

[dawn jackal]

ja stimmt

[long whale]

So, they're saying they think the most imporant bit is to remain in a "united" time zone -> Europe mustn't become a place where you'd have to change the clocks every time you cross a border. 🤷

[near folio]

Warum hast du ein "me" da am Anfang des Satzes? Hast du das schon irgendwo gesehen?

[dire niche]

its for emphasis i believe

[swift bough]

I don’t really think it sounds natural at all tbh

[dire niche]

actually no its for showing opinion

[swift bough]

I mean I would have translated that as „I personally think...“

[dire niche]

i think it sounds natural but whether its a good translation im not sure

[swift bough]

It would be different if you said maybe „Me? I think...“

[swift bough]

Where are you from?

[dire niche]

usa

[swift bough]

Well I am too, but it sounds weird to just say me at the beginning.

And Pferd is from Scotland, yet he also asked why

[dire niche]

dunno ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[swift bough]

Well another translation which could work is „As for me, I think...“

It could be a regional thing too @dire niche

[dire niche]

yeah

[swift bough]

I am from the Midwest

[dire niche]

yeah same

[swift bough]

But I am like one of the most western Midwest states, some people would argue it’s not Midwest but I consider it to be.

But I think it’s regional, happens in German too with some words / constructions / dialects.

[dire niche]

i mean my dialect is just a really plain general american english with the cot caught merger

[near folio]

ja, das kann ich glauben, aber ich würde gerne wissen, in welcher Region man sowas sagt. Ich hab es nie gehört.

[swift bough]

^

[dire niche]

like i said i dont have a clue

its really weird that it sounds fine to me but but not to either of you

[swift bough]

It’s just not something I’ve ever heard someone say before. I’d think it sounded natural too if I’d heard it growing up, but I didn’t

[dire niche]

im gonna see if r/linguistics knows anything about it, because why not

[solid hull]

Yeah right

[swift bough]

The „Midwest“ is not really that black and white

Most of what people consider to be the Midwest doesn’t even look like it’s in the Midwest

[icy flax]

Nate, cant many people b taking turn and sharing their thought, when you just interrupt and go "me, I'd yada yada"?

As in a short version of "as for me". In rap music I see they rapping "matter fact, yada yada" instead of "as a matter of fact,..."

[long whale]

Yup, definitely, but as to where it's from... 🤷 😳

[swift bough]

Would sound really awkward to me if you did that.

And I don’t really listen to rap in English so I‘m not sure about that haha

Usually if I butt in to say my opinion (about something I don’t agree with) it starts with something like „nah“, „Bro“, or „no way“

Like I mentioned I would start a sentence with me like that only if a question mark came after it. Like if someone asked me a question, but I wasn’t sure if they were talking about me or someone else, then I would say „Me?“. And wait for them to say yes or no.

Technically that’s already one sentence too

[icy flax]

K k, i guess id say "as for me" but I dont have that "that does not sound natural"-feeling. Do u think Ausländer können auch solches starke Sprachegefühl entwickeln? Wenn etw nicht mit meinem modus stimmt, nehme ich einfach an, dass ich der flasch liegende bin. :P

[swift bough]

Dafür müsste man sich in die Sprache sehr vertiefen für ne lange Zeitspanne ohne damit aufzuhören, und die beste Art und Weise, um das zu tun, wird halt immer sein, wenn man sich im Ausland (wie gesagt für ne lange Zeitspanne) aufhält.

Auch die ganze Zeit ohne zum Englischen zu wechseln

Sometimes you can get away with it, but it will sound extremely awkward / like you’re a foreigner (which of course you are, but you don’t want to remain sounding foreign, do you?)

Sometimes though it changes the entire meaning of a sentence.

So you can’t just have a mindset of „oh I‘ma just guess“

Yes really xD

Well you will learn a lot about what they’re for when you learn what the 4 German cases Are and what they do.

Especially dative / accusative / genitive

Ok so let me give you an example on how it can change the meaning

I don’t know tbh for me it was just lots of Repetition

[solid hull]

"flexible", well, yeah sure flexible, unless it sounds a bit weird then you'll have motherspreaklers nagging you about it

[swift bough]

Yes you read left to right

And read the same as you would in English

Ok so for example

[nocturne quiver]

I was studying german, and I got stuck in something called konjunktiv 1 and 2. do you guys think that this is important?

[swift bough]

Ich stelle mir vor = I Imagine

Ich stelle mich vor = I introduce myself

mir/mich are pronouns which result from case-usage @fervent kernel

So people can easily get confused if you do it wrong

But if you just guess something incorrectly that’s in nominative

It’s not gonna change the meaning

Will just sound off

Actually there’s some words that have multiple possible genders and those ones you really can’t guess because each one of them actually means something else

But those are rare words

Yeah also English has tons of Latin influence

More than French I’m pretty sure

Yes

One example of this:

das Virus
der Virus

If you use das it means a biological virus and if you use der it refers to a virus on a computer

Well I know some people love using anki to get their vocabulary up to speed

In English the context usually makes it clear. I mean it does in German too, but the articles makes it just that much more clear.

Also if you really want to use duolingo you can, it’s just like after a certain point it doesn’t do a whole lot for you anymore.

We actually have a faq for this

faq duolingo

[stoic mauve]

Duolingo

Duolingo is a decent resource to start with if you're a complete beginner, but it's neither efficient nor comprehensive!

What Duolingo will teach you about grammar is very limited, and none of the systems they use will help you practise much of it.
You can learn some vocabulary with it, but their method (based on the concept of spaced repetition) doesn't work for everybody, and the way Duolingo teaches is not very effective compared to the amount of time it requires from you.

So, if you find it useful, by all means keep using it, but remember not to fall for its gamification of language learning, and move past it when it stops being beneficial. Ignore the streaks.

In any case, keep in mind that Duolingo is not enough to learn a language, ever.

If you're looking for guidance or alternatives, check out >faq beginner in our #botchannel .

[swift bough]

If you don’t have a class you take IRL then I always recommend youtube.

Yeah I use it all the time whenever I have to do a car repair for example

Both Germany and Austria have their own version of „standardized German“

However Austria has dialect pretty much everywhere

Germany has dialect in lots of regions too

[solid hull]

tbh the difference between using der or das is not as common as you might think in speech, people will prefer der iirc, regardless if it's a computer virus or a biological one. When the pandemic started, people were calling it der Coronavirus, then it changed i guess. It was originally das but over time people started using der as well when the word virus became a common word to use and not some scientific term (and since it ends in -us, like Kuss, Fluss, Fuß, etc, der just came to be)

[swift bough]

People always be breaking German smh

[solid hull]

lol

I like that you can make that distinction tho

i prefer making it than not