Questions tagged [difference]
Unterschied - Questions on differences between similar or seemingly similar words or expressions in a given context.
1,247
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Difference between "weil" and "denn"
Both mean because.
I know that denn does not change the sentence structure of the subordinate clause, but weil does, i.e. pushing the verb to the end.
Other than that, is there a difference between ...
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votes
17
answers
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What’s the difference between “Ich habe dich lieb” and “Ich liebe dich”?
What’s the difference between Ich habe dich lieb and Ich liebe dich?
Both are defined as “I love you” in many dictionaries, as I’ve checked.
user508
77
votes
8
answers
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What is the difference in usage between “vielen Dank” and “Danke schön”?
I know that they are both essentially polite and mean Thanks a lot, Many thanks etc. but I’ve always wondered if there is a specific difference between the two.
Is there a specific context or ...
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votes
4
answers
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Word meaning "to use" – "verwenden", "anwenden", "benutzen", "nutzen", "gebrauchen"
I understand 5 words to roughly mean to use:
verwenden
anwenden
benutzen
nutzen
gebrauchen
When is one of these preferred to the others?
I think that benutzen is the most commonly used of these, so ...
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votes
5
answers
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When to use "bezahlen" and when "zahlen"?
Leo shows that both bezahlen and zahlen are translated as "to pay". I noticed that people sometimes use the one, and sometimes the other.
So, when to use bezahlen and when zahlen?
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votes
6
answers
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Was ist der Unterschied zwischen "Worte" und "Wörter"?
Diese Frage wurde auch hier (auf Englisch) beantwortet:
"Die Worte" vs. "die Wörter"
Wann sagt man „Worte“, wann „Wörter“?
Beide sind ein Plural vom Singular „Wort“ und ...
46
votes
5
answers
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What is the difference in usage between “Möhre” and “Karotte”?
I've been doing a bit of German practice and encountered the words Möhre and Karotte. Supposedly, they both mean carrot, but I can’t see where these would differ in usage. Any ideas?
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7
answers
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What's the difference in usage between "machen" and "tun"?
Is there any rules or guidelines when to use which one?
Du darfst mir nicht sagen, was ich machen soll.
or
Du darfst mir nicht sagen, was ich tun soll.
I find a big overlap in their usage:
...
user508
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votes
5
answers
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"Schlimm" vs. "Schlecht"?
Can someone shed some light on when to use "schlimm" and when to use "schlecht"?
I've found an explanation here that tries to clarify the issue, but in my opinion does a fairly poor job. Every ...
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43
votes
7
answers
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Difference between "antworten" and "beantworten"
Is there any difference between "antworten" and "beantworten"? In which situations should I use one and in which another?
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votes
1
answer
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What are the differences between "bekommen", "erhalten", "entgegennehmen", "empfangen", "besorgen" and "kriegen"?
Do they all mean to receive or to obtain? What are the differences in the use of these words?
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votes
4
answers
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Was ist der Unterschied zwischen "reden" und "sprechen"?
Ich denke, sie sind Synonyme; aber sind sie es wirklich? "Reden" scheint mehr umgangssprachlich zu sein, während "sprechen" ganz viele verschiedene Bedeutungen hat. Warum gibt es das Wort "reden"? ...
- 1,183
38
votes
4
answers
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Grammatisch oder grammatikalisch?
Was ist der Unterschied zwischen "grammatisch" und "grammatikalisch"? Ist am Ende eins von beiden falsch? Wenn ja, warum? Wie kommen diese beiden unterschiedlichen Wortformen zustande?
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votes
11
answers
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Aus vs. Von - What is the difference?
My confusion at the moment lies in the difference in the two prepositions, aus and von. Please note that Dict.cc is my main resource for words and phrases, and it shows the following:
I’m fairly ...
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votes
4
answers
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What is the difference between “der Zug” and “die Bahn”?
What is the difference between der Zug and die Bahn (besides the gender of course)? When should one be used and not the other?
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votes
4
answers
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“Sprechen von” vs. “sprechen über”
I’m not very far into learning German, so I’m still extremely sketchy on prepositions.
I thought über was more in line with a physical location than a concept, but then I’ve seen phrases like Ich ...
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votes
1
answer
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Difference between "kaufen", "einkaufen", "aufkaufen" and "ankaufen" [closed]
I'd like to know:
What's the difference?
Which one needs akkusativ-object?
user508
32
votes
2
answers
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What is the difference between "nun" and "jetzt"?
This question also has an answer here (in German):
Wo liegt der Unterschied zwischen "nun" und "jetzt"?
I hear nun and jetzt used a lot but I've not been able to pick out what ...
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31
votes
3
answers
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“Food” in German
When I was looking for the German equivalent of food in my dictionary, I’ve noticed that both Lebensmittel and Nahrung have the same meaning and so does Essen, which I had learned before.
While I ...
user508
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votes
5
answers
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30
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5
answers
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What is the difference between “ändern” and “verändern”?
I'm still confused about the difference between ändern and verändern. I have read something about ändern only being used with small changes and verändern when something changes totally. But where ...
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votes
6
answers
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What is the difference between "wie" and "was" in a certain context?
When do you use wie and was in German?
For example:
What is your name?
I understand you ask the question with wie instead of was.
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votes
6
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Selbständig vs. selbstständig
Selbständig and selbstständig seem to share the same meaning. What are the differences in tone and usage?
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26
votes
3
answers
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When to use “beziehungsweise”
Beziehungsweise:
a) (stilistisch unschön) [oder] vielmehr, besser/genauer gesagt – sinnv: oder
Er war mit ihm bekannt bzw. befreundet
b) und im anderen Fall
Die Fünf- und Zweipfenningstücke waren ...
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25
votes
8
answers
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What are the differences between "Kunststoff" and "Plastik"?
When I googled for it, some people say it's formal vs colloquial, some others say there is no difference between the two. Some say Kunststoff is more general. That made me confused.
In addition, is ...
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votes
5
answers
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»Für was« vs. »wofür« – gibt es Unterschiede und Regeln?
Macht es einen Unterschied, ob man
Wofür ist das gut?
oder
Für was ist das gut?
fragt? Wenn ja: warum? Wie lässt sich entscheiden, welche Formulierung richtig ist?
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votes
2
answers
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What's the difference between "können" and "könnten"?
I'd like to know when it's appropriate to use "können" and when "könnten", are they completely interchangeable? Is it like the difference between "can" and "could&...
user508
25
votes
3
answers
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Difference between "Ich möchte" and "Ich hätte gern(e)" and "Ich würde gern(e)"
I don't like phrase books for their original purpose. I prefer to use them to find out different ways to to say the same thing and learn the differences.
This brings us to these three...
1 ."Ich ...
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votes
8
answers
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Is "Ich bin gut" a valid reply for "How are you"?
I know you have to say
Es geht mir gut.
but
Ich bin gut.
sounds good to me. Can I say that?
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votes
2
answers
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What is the difference between sollen and sollten?
Both translate to "should". I understand "sollten" is the past tense of "sollen" but sometimes I see "sollten" when I would expect "sollen."
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votes
2
answers
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»Wie lange« vs. »Wie lang«
Worin unterscheiden sich die Ausdrücke wie lange und wie lang?
Wie lange lernst du Deutsch?
Wie lang ist die Arbeitzeit pro Tag?
user508
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votes
3
answers
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If we say "Frankfurt am Main" why do we have "Frankfurt an der Oder"? [closed]
What's the difference here - why we use am in one example, and an der in the other?
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votes
9
answers
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Is there a difference between "Fahrstuhl" and "Aufzug"?
As a Swiss guy, I always thought the proper German word is Fahrstuhl (and always remembering the song Liebe im Fahrstuhl from Die Prinzen when using the word).
However, recently I have read a blog ...
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votes
4
answers
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What are differences between "fließend" and "verhandlungssicher"?
Filling in a questionnaire, in different languages, after picking a language up, you get 4 options :
Basiswissen
fließend
verhandlungssicher
Muttersprache
So, how are "fließend" and "...
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4
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What is the difference between "versuchen" and "probieren"?
According to my Collins dictionary, both versuchen and probieren mean to try. Are they synonyms?
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votes
4
answers
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Gibt es einen Unterschied zwischen "wolkig" und "bewölkt"?
Das mag Haarspalterei sein, aber meine Wettervorhersage meinte neulich, das Wetter sei heute bewölkt und morgen wolkig. Das Wetter war an beiden Tagen sehr ähnlich.
Gibt es doch einen Unterschied?
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1
answer
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Was ist der Unterschied zwischen "authentifizieren" und "authentisieren"?
Es gibt die beiden Verben authentifizieren und authentisieren, die beide mit dem Begriff "authentisch" verwandt sind. In Dokumenten bestimmter Fachbereiche, zum Beispiel in der EDV, findet man beide ...
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5
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Gibt es einen Unterschied zwischen "Haarspalterei" und "Erbsenzählerei"?
Die beiden Begiffe Haarspalterei und Erbsenzählerei lassen sich auch als Eigenschaften Personen zuschreiben.
Er ist ein Haarspalter.
Er ist ein Erbsenzähler.
Gibt es Unterschiede zwischen ...
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votes
4
answers
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Difference between responding to "danke" with "bitte" versus "gerne"
I hear native German speakers respond to a danke with bitte as often as with gerne.
Is there a semantic difference between the two of them? Or a usage rule behind the choice? Is one more polite than ...
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votes
5
answers
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Is there a difference between "anschalten" and "einschalten"
Is there a difference between anschalten and einschalten?
If I turn on the TV, oven, heat, start the car etc., can either verb be used?
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Was ist der Unterschied zwischen einer Sage und einer Legende?
Ich habe bisher die Wörter Sage und Legende synonym verwendet. Es gibt zwar Dinge die ich so nenne, und andere Dinge, die ich wieder anders nenne (bspw. würde ich nie die Niebelungenlegende sagen), ...
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votes
7
answers
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Difference between "komisch" and "lustig"
Both lustig and komisch can be translated into English as "funny". Are there instances where you would use one word and not the other?
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8
answers
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Difference between “sollen” and “müssen”
I can’t quite grasp the difference between sollen and müssen. They both express a duty, something that has to be done. In Italian, my native language, we just have one word for both, and so I can’t ...
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votes
3
answers
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What is the difference between “bereit” and “fertig”?
My understanding was that fertig means finished and bereit means ready. However, I observe that fertig is sometimes also used to mean ready (for example here). When I want to translate the word ready, ...
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votes
4
answers
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Sinngemäße Übersetzung von "venomous" und "poisonous"
Im Englischen wird bei giftigen Tieren unter anderem zwischen "poisonous" und "venomous" unterschieden. Zur schnellen Unterscheidung gibt es den Merksatz "If you bite it and die, it is poisonous; if ...
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1
answer
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Is there a difference between 'Gegenstand', 'Sache', 'Ding', and 'Dinge'?
Is there a difference between 'Gegenstand', 'Sache', 'Ding', and 'Dinge'? Can we use them interchangeably?
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votes
4
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"Cute" in German
Is there any difference between all the translations of "cute" listed here? It's quite confusing.
Except the one tagged [ugs] which means colloquial, I'm not sure which one is preferred in which ...
- 2,146
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votes
5
answers
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When to use “Bedürfnis” and “Bedarf”?
What is the difference between Bedürfnis and Bedarf when meaning the need?
I am confused when I want to say the need; I dont know which to use.
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votes
4
answers
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When to use "wenn" and when to use "als"?
I’d like to know the differences between als and wenn when I want to talk about an specific time.
When should I use them?
In what situations would one of them be nonsense?
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votes
8
answers
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Was ist der Unterschied zwischen "sinnfrei" und "sinnlos"?
Der Duden definiert "sinnfrei" als "völlig ohne Sinn" und "sinnlos" als "ohne Vernunft, ohne erkennbaren Sinn". Was ist der Unterschied zwischen diesen beiden Wörtern?
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