All Questions
11
votes
3answers
398 views
Why are “vier” and the beginning of “vierzehn” not pronounced the same?
Why is "vier" in the beginning of "vierzehn" [ˈfɪrʦeːn] not pronounced the same as the standalone "vier" [fiːɐ]?
5
votes
2answers
269 views
What does the word “Schickimicki” mean?
I have seen and heard the word many many times but every time I ask "Was bedeutet Schickimicki?" they don't give a conclusive answer.
I just saw it on the journal Zeit and just thought I didn't know ...
3
votes
1answer
85 views
How to translate “Relever une prescription” from french to german?
How do you say in german when a nurse becomes aware of a medical prescription and prepares everything according to what the doctor asks?
In french we say "Relever une prescription". The action itself ...
5
votes
1answer
91 views
Learning German through debates/ discussions - Deutsch lernen durch Debatten/ Reden
Ich habe mir gedacht dass man ab einem gewissen Deutschniveau auch durch Schreiben Fortschritte machen kann.
Habt ihr Blogs, oder kennt ihr eine Seite wo man an Debatten teilnehmen kann?
Ich habe ...
11
votes
4answers
162 views
Use plural or singular to refer to a »Menge« of something?
Examples:
Eine ganze Menge Nüsse sind das!
Sie sollten sorgfältig über die Menge der Kontextinformationen nachdenken, die notwendig sind, um sicherzustellen, dass […].
Is the use of ...
5
votes
3answers
185 views
What is the meaning of these grammatical forms involving “werden”?
Reading a book recently, I find myself wondering often about the usage of "werden" in many contexts, such as in these examples:
(talking about a group of people smoking from a common pipe): Sam ...
4
votes
3answers
95 views
What is the reason for this seemingly inconsistent inflection around masculine genitive?
I found the following sentence in a book:
(...) bemerkte ich (...) eine mir auffällige Übereinstimmung bezüglich des Inhaltes der drei Zeitungsfetzen: sie enthielten nämlich alle drei einen ...
1
vote
3answers
130 views
What is the German equivalent for “generation skipping trust?”
In my (unpublished) "Dynasty" novel, the (American) patriarch leaves his German estate to his favorite (German) grandaughter. Like many American millionaires, he uses a "generation skipping trust" to ...
5
votes
2answers
59 views
Pazifisch vs. pazifistisch, metabolisch vs. metabolistisch - wie funktionieren diese Suffixe?
Was ist der Hintergrund der Suffixe "-isch" und "-istisch"? An welchen Wörtern werden sie verwendet, was ist ihr unterschied?
Ich vermute, dass letzteres zusammengesetzt ist aus "-ist" und "-isch". ...
-2
votes
1answer
62 views
Translated This is your life by switchfoot [closed]
Original:
Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
Yesterday is a promise that you've broken
Don't close your eyes
This is your life and today is all you've got now
And today is all you'll ...
1
vote
1answer
127 views
What is “hochdeutsch”? Which dialect should I learn?
If I want to learn the German language, which dialect should I learn?
In other words, I would like to know about the dialect which is most common?
(I have just arrived in Germany and living in ...
5
votes
2answers
216 views
Pronunciation of 'r' in German
According to the answer of @what to the question Pronunciation of "lernst" there are 3 different ways to pronounce the alphabet r in German:
voiced uvular fricative [ʁ] (splattne's sample)
...
5
votes
2answers
102 views
Nachgestellte Spezifikationen in Firmennamen
Viele Firmennamen enthalten nachgestellte Spezifikationen über die Art der Firma, z. B.:
Müller Maschinenwerke
Octothorpe Bürobedarf
Schmidt Müllpressen
Derartige Ergänzungen werden und ...
6
votes
2answers
101 views
Etymology and meaning of “Lotterleben”
A German friend of mine used the term "Lotterleben" to describe to me someone as a "free spirit", although the dictionary translate the term as "dissolute lifestyle" which have a string negative ...
3
votes
1answer
100 views
A kind of – German Expressions
Whenever I try to say something like ‘A type of car’, or ‘a type of food’, I end up saying
‘eine Art + nominative singular’ or
‘eine Art von nominative singular’
but I’m not really sure about it. ...
5
votes
1answer
71 views
Pronouncing “chs” as /ks/
"ch" is pronounced as /x/ or /ç/ depending on the vowel in front of it, and "s" is pronounced /z/ before a vowel, how come then that the sequence "chs" in the words wachsen and Wechsel is pronounced ...
1
vote
1answer
70 views
How to translate Perfekt into English
I came across these sentences with their translations:
Du bist aus Berlin gekommen. - You have come from Berlin.
Wo seid ihr so lange gewesen? - Where were you so long?
From what I have ...
0
votes
0answers
95 views
Welche Wortarten gibt es im Deutschen? [closed]
Welche Wortarten gibt es im Deutschen?
Ich kenne Substantive, Verben, Adjektive, Adverbien, Pronomen und so weiter. Bei Duden habe ich gerade ein Interrogativadverb gesehen. Das kannte ich noch ...
8
votes
4answers
172 views
What is the difference between “Dom”, “Kathedrale” and “Münster”
"Dom", "Kathedrale" and "Münster" all translate as "cathedral" in English. When I searched online, all explanations were in German and I could not quite understand them.
Is there any difference in ...
5
votes
2answers
80 views
Adjective endings in accusative case and in comparison (neu/new)
This page suggests that neu/neuer is new/newer. This page suggests that "ein neuer Wagen" (a new car) is an identification of gender.
Is it true that neuer can stand for both - and thus the only way ...
1
vote
1answer
43 views
Nominative / accusative - what to use with preposition “als” and constructions like “John the engineer”?
Sie halten Johannes der Ingenieur als der wichtigste Fachmann ihrer Firma.
I don't know if I used the two "der" articles well.
In the sentence "Sie halten den Mann" the accusative is obvious, ...
6
votes
2answers
101 views
Gibt es ein Verb für “Ein Zeichen wird durch seine Escape-Sequenz ersetzt”?
Beim Programmieren (oder LaTeX-Schreiben) müssen manche Zeichen durch Escape-Sequenzen ersetzt werden.
Beispiel (in LaTeX):
Ich habe 10$.
Wird zu
Ich habe 10\$.
da $ ein für den mathmode ...
5
votes
3answers
117 views
What is the difference between “schmeichelhaft” and “schmeichlerisch”?
The words "schmeichelhaft" and "schmeichlerisch" seem to have the same meaning. Is there any difference in connotation between these words, e.g., contexts when you would use one and not the other?
1
vote
1answer
109 views
Schreibst du einen Brief an deinen Vater?
Please explain what are the cases (accusative, dative) here and why exactly those.
Schreibst du einen Brief an deinen Vater?
I assume that schreibst is a verb, ein Brief is a subject the same ...
12
votes
2answers
122 views
Is there a common origin for “to count on s.o.” / “auf jmd. zählen”
My girlfriend told me that the phrase "You can count on me" exists also in French, with the same meaning and as a literal translation
to count on s.o. => to rely on s.o.
In German, it is also ...
3
votes
4answers
189 views
What's the meaning of “schon”?
Today in the class I heard German guy saying: "Ist der Platz schon frei?". Which supposedly means "Is this place already available/free?" and that makes no sense to me. What's the meaning of "schon" ...
2
votes
1answer
91 views
German phrasal verbs?
I know of German separable prefix verbs and of English phrasal verbs, but these examples seem to be of phrasal verbs on German that do not fall under the definition of separable prefix verbs:
weg ...
6
votes
2answers
100 views
The use of stand alone prefixes of separable prefix verbs
I've encountered an example of using a prefix of a separable prefix verb by itself, and I was wondering what is the right way to use such prefixes this way:
A: Mach die Tür bitte zu!
B: Sie ist ...
4
votes
1answer
54 views
Article to go with plural accusative noun
I found this sentence in a magazine:
Herr Minister, sind Sie mit den Ergebnissen des EU-Gipfels am 28. und 29. Juni in Brüssel zufrieden?
I understand this as:
Minister, are you happy with ...
6
votes
1answer
90 views
The suffix -sal, usage and examples
Here is an excerpt form the Book "German: An Essential Grammar":
I was surprised to see the suffix -sal, of which I had never encountered.
What is the usage of this of this suffix?
0
votes
1answer
121 views
Translation of a Nietzsche-related text; OK? [closed]
In an answer of mine on Philosophy, I (neither native-German nor native-English speaking) translated some German to English as follows.
Nachdem man nun weiß, was die Zukunft von Ehe und Gattin ...
7
votes
2answers
160 views
Sprache für automatische Übersetzung ins Deutsche
Ich vergleiche gern die unterschiedlichen Sprachen eines Lemmas in der Wikipedia. Diese sind längst nicht immer gleich gut gepflegt. Manchmal finden sich in einzelnen anderen Sprachen interessante ...
2
votes
1answer
173 views
“Auf [eine Sprache]” - Etymologie [duplicate]
Warum verwendet man im Deutschen die Präposition "auf" im Zusammenhang mit Sprachen? Warum sagt man also auf Deutsch, auf Englisch, auf Latein etc?
In anderen Konstruktionen verwendet man ja auch "in"
...
6
votes
2answers
145 views
Why is it “der Presse” instead of “die Presse”
Der Presse zufolge war der Prozess unfair.
Found this sentence while learning. The translation is: The press said the trial was unfair.
Since Presse is feminine, why is it preceded by der?
8
votes
3answers
206 views
Was ist ein “Füllwort”?
Nach Diskussionen in Kommentaren zur dieser Frage:
What's the difference between "jedenfalls" and "auf jeden Fall"?
habe ich mich auf die Suche nach einer guten Definition ...
8
votes
3answers
208 views
What's the difference between “jedenfalls” and “auf jeden Fall”?
They mean the same thing, I think, but are used differently? When can I use one, and when can I use the other?
12
votes
2answers
145 views
Welche Bedeutung hat das Wort “an”, wenn es eine Speise beschreibt?
Vor allem in der Haute Cuisine werden Speisen derweil mit dem Wort "an" bezeichnet. Wie mir scheint, besonders häufig in Verbindung mit Saucen. Beispielsweise könnte man die klassische Kombination von ...
4
votes
3answers
218 views
Words derived from “Kinder”?
My understanding is that kinderlos means childLESS.
In the opposite vein, I once described a woman as "kinder fähig." That literally means "child capable," and would refer to someone's ability to ...
5
votes
1answer
94 views
Welche Bedeutung hat “drangeben”?
In einem Roman las ich folgenden Satz:
Sie hatte versucht, sich mit ihm zu unterhalten, hatte das aber bald drangegeben.
Ist das ein regionaler Ausdruck für aufgeben, bzw. klein beigeben? In ...
3
votes
2answers
101 views
Obmann and Ombudsmann, are they synonyms?
The title says it all: are the words Obmann and Ombudsmann synonyms in the German language? The contexts in which they are used seem to overlap.
Even if not, are they related (e.g. one derived from ...
7
votes
2answers
156 views
“Der gute Mann” vs. “Ein guter Mann”
Wie nennt man die Konstruktion im Deutschen, wenn das Adjektiv eine andere Endung hat, wenn der Artikel definitiv bzw. nicht definitiv ist? Warum betrachtet man das nicht als anderen Kasus?
"der ...
5
votes
2answers
120 views
“legen” vs “liegen”
I get confused between the verbs legen and liegen. I would appreciate some explantation on the meaning of the two verbs, preferably with examples. Also, are there context where te two verbs are ...
4
votes
3answers
141 views
Translation of the idiom “no harm, no foul” in German
Do similar figure of speech exist in German or should one translate it literally?
4
votes
4answers
197 views
Translation of “He has been allowed to dance, but I haven't.”
There are two versions that are possible:
1)
Er hat tanzen dürfen, aber ich habe nicht gedurft.
2)
Er hat tanzen dürfen, aber ich habe nicht dürfen.
Which one is correct?
(Updated: ...
7
votes
2answers
122 views
Difference between feminine and neutral colors
I've seen here, in the discussion after the answer by @sedden, that there exist two ways to substantivize a color (perhaps more adjectives).
Is there any difference in meaning (or any aspect) ...
4
votes
1answer
51 views
Die inverse der Kennlinie: groß oder klein?
Bei folgendem Satz bin ich mir bei der Groß-/Kleinschreibung von inverse unsicher:
Da die Kennlinie bekannt ist, lässt sich deren inverse ermitteln.
Mein Gefühl sagt mir, man müsse hier ...
5
votes
3answers
129 views
Tieferes Verständnis von “jeder” und “alle”
Das Wort "alle" wird verwendet für Pluraliatantum und Singulariatantum:
Alles Salz, alle Liebe, aller Pfeffer, alle Leute
Es wird ebenfalls verwendet für zählbare Substantive im Plural. Für ...
8
votes
1answer
116 views
Warum die Buchstabenkombinationen “sch” und “ch”
Woher kommen die Buchstabenkombinationen "sch" und "ch"?
Die Herkunft der Buchstabenkombination "ch" für den stimmlosen velaren Frikativ oder den stimmlosen palatalen Frikativ ist noch ...
6
votes
2answers
92 views
Declination of adjectives after einigen
I learned that after words like "einige, mehrere, etc." the following adjectives also have the same declination. However, I got corrected when I said "mit einigen meinen Freunde" to "einigen meiner ...
2
votes
1answer
108 views
“Mir ist Angst!” - “Wie bitte, was ist dir?”
Der Zwiebelfisch empfiehlt die Schreibweise "Mir ist angst.", weil "angst" antwortet auf die Frage "Wie ist mir?".
Andererseits halte ich die Frage "Was ist dir?" ebenfalls für angebracht, zumindest ...
