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Die Österreicher haben im Vergleich zu uns (Hoch-)Deutschen ein paar lustige Wörter und eine etwas andere (wie ich finde netter klingende) Aussprache (wobei das natürlich von Person zu Person variiert); Gibt es aber auch Unterschiede in der Grammatik?

Besides slightly different vocabulary and pronunciation, are there differences in Austrian and German grammar?

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Bitte nicht "Hochdeutsch" mit "deutschem Deutsch" verwechseln. "Hochdeutsch" gibt es in der deutschen, der österreichischen und der schweizerischen Varietät; dazu gibt es auch regional deutlicher unterschiedene umgangssprachliche Wendungen. – wolfgang Aug 6 '12 at 9:20
@wolfgang: Ich bezog mich auf österreichisches Hochdeutsch zu deutschem Hochdeutsch, ja. Beispielsweise ist österreichisches Deutsch dem Bayrischen recht ähnlich. Das "(Hoch-)" sollte also zur Abgrenzung zu deutschen Dialekten/Akzenten dienen, nicht zur Abgrenzung zum Österreichischen. – bitmask Aug 6 '12 at 15:51

3 Answers

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Wikipedia has quite nice articles about both German and Austrian German:

Much like the relationship between British English and American English, the Austrian and German varieties differ in minor respects (e.g., spelling, word usage and grammar).

Also, it adds a part about differences between them in grammmar:

  • In Austria, as in the German-speaking parts of Switzerland and in southern Germany, verbs that express a state tend to use sein as the auxiliary verb in the perfect, as well as verbs of movement. Verbs which fall into this category include sitzen (to sit), liegen (to lie) and, in parts of Carinthia, schlafen (to sleep). Therefore the perfect of these verbs would be ich bin gesessen, ich bin gelegen and ich bin geschlafen respectively (note: ich bin geschlafen is a very rare form, usually you will hear ich habe geschlafen; but ich bin eingeschlafen [I fell asleep] is quite normal).

  • In the variant of German that is spoken in Germany, the words stehen (to stand) and gestehen (to confess) are identical in the present perfect: habe gestanden. The Austrian variant avoids this potential ambiguity (bin gestanden from stehen, habe gestanden from gestehen).

  • Also, the preterite (simple past) is very rarely used in Austria, especially in the spoken language, except for some modal verbs (ich sollte, ich wollte).
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I'd say that the last point is valid for Germany, too. In the spoken language, the simple past is rarely used, except for some modal verbs. (I don't know anything about differences in the written language.) – Hendrik Vogt Jan 29 '12 at 8:46
@HendrikVogt: This question says it's not so, at least in written language. – user508 Jan 29 '12 at 9:22
Oh, sorry, I wasn't clear enough. I know that the simple past is the choice in the written language in Germany. What I meant is that I don't know anything about differences between Germany and Austria in this matter. – Hendrik Vogt Jan 29 '12 at 9:26
I lived in Switzerland for a few years. In spoken dialects, I rarely heard (never?) the simple past. But when a Swiss would shift from dialect to High German, they would sometimes use the simple past (but not often). Here is my hypothesis on that: High German is primarily a written language in Switzerland. When the Swiss shift from a dialect into High German, they might be imagining how they would express themselves in writing. [Alt hypothesis: if northern Germans use the simple past more frequently than the Swiss when speaking, the Swiss could be imagining a northern speaker.] – ahoffer Jan 29 '12 at 18:06
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The word Hochdeutsch is important in your question, since grammar also differs within German dialicts. For example we in Hesse have what's called the "Hessischer Genetiv" in a sentence like Das ist dem Alex sein Auto, which clearly differs from the correct Hochdeutsch.

So, concerning German and Austrian, it depends on what you compare, since the dialect from Bavaria is for example much closer to Austrian than others. It reminds me of a situation where I followed a conversation between someone from close to the Austrian border and someone from Salzburg area and I was not able to tell them apart.

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Ich habe das als Unterschied im Hochdeutschen aufgefasst. Bairisch, wie das alle Österreicher mit Ausnahme der Vorarlberger spechen, hat eine eigene Grammatik. – nd01 Jan 30 '12 at 20:52
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Folgende Unterschiede fallen mir noch ein:

  • am als Verkürzung von sowohl an dem als auch auf dem: "Die Speisen stehen am Tisch".

  • Wenn man etwas um 10 Euro kauft, so sind das exakt 10 Euro. Offenbar können (Nord-)Deutsche dies als ungefähren Ausdruck interpretieren (dies wäre allerdings um die 10 Euro).

  • anderer Genus für diverse Dinge: "das E-Mail", "das Joghurt", "das Cola", "der Akt" (statt die Akte)

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Ich denke am als Abkürzung von an dem gilt für beide, oder irre ich mich? – Em1 Jan 30 '12 at 10:40
Ja, am kann im gesamten deutschen Sprachrum an dem bedeuten. In Österreich kann am allerdings auch auf dem bedeuten. – nd01 Jan 30 '12 at 10:57

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