Tell me more ×
German Language & Usage Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for speakers of German wanting to discuss the finer points of the language and translation. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 4 down vote favorite

Why do all English verbs have to start with "to" and German verbs don't? In English we say "to play" but in German we would just say "spielen". why don't we say "zu spielen"? Why don't we do this in German? Is it just a weird grammar thing we do in English?

share|improve this question
3  
Is there really that much of a difference? After all, this seems to be mainly a convention determining how to name verbs in a meta context -- when we use German and English verbs in actual language, the forms with and without to/zu seem to occur in similar contexts. If I were to speculate, maybe English verbs use to simply to unambiguously mark them as verbs (since you can "verb any noun", there usually exists a noun with the same spelling). – Ansgar Esztermann Mar 12 '12 at 9:00
Im Deutschunterricht wurde bei jedem Verb der Infinitiv vorgestellt - spielen und zu spielen. Die Annahme, zu spielen würde nicht gesagt, ist also falsch. – user unknown Mar 12 '12 at 16:50

2 Answers

up vote 10 down vote accepted

Maybe it's because the infinitive of German verbs is the root + "-en" ("kochen"), or "-ln"/"-rn" ("lächeln", "meistern"), plus they are written in lowercase, so it's easy to see that they are verbs even without a "zu" before.

But in English you have "smile" (noun), "smile" (verb) - likewise for "cook", "beat", "play" etc. - so you need something to differentiate those words. The suffix mentioned above effectively fulfills that function.

share|improve this answer
Thats a good point, like to play could mean to play a sport but just play could mean 2 different things, it could mean play, as in a play, or play, as in to play. – John Mar 12 '12 at 21:25
up vote 0 down vote

First of all, language is an expression of personality.

You can say "Willst du spielen?", "Hast du Lust zu spielen?", shorter and childish "Willst spielen?" or even "Spielen?". All examples are correct but saying more...revealing the personality of the speaker or his intention.

Well this works in English "Play?", "Do you want to play" or "Would you like playing ...".

English provides "to" and "the" which can be use ubiquitously, makes it an easier and predictable language.

It's not very different -IMO-, just style and intention in spoken language.

share|improve this answer
You can say is true, but does not mean it is correct usage of the Language. I can ask Bahnhof? in a foreign city, but that doesn't make it a German question. – user unknown Mar 12 '12 at 16:48

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.