All Questions
11
votes
4answers
175 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
89 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 ...
4
votes
3answers
98 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 ...
5
votes
3answers
118 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
3answers
136 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In my (unpublished) "Dynasty" novel, the (American) patriarch leaves his German estate to his favorite (German) grandaughter.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 ...
12
votes
2answers
386 views
Exklusives und inklusives logisches “oder”
Das logische "oder" bedeutet so viel wie "entweder A oder B oder (A und B)".
Wenn man im Deutschen jedoch sagt
Ich gehe ins Kino oder in den Zoo.
meint man meistens
Ich gehe entweder ins ...
5
votes
2answers
111 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
106 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 ...
8
votes
4answers
190 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
86 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 ...
5
votes
2answers
60 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
73 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 ...
10
votes
3answers
427 views
How to know if a beginning 'v' is pronounced /f/ or /v/?
A 'v' in the beginning of a word can be pronounced in one of two ways:
/f/: Vater, verrückt, vier, Vogel.
/v/: Vanille, Verb, Villa, Vokal, vulgär.
My question: Is there a way to know how a word ...
3
votes
1answer
106 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. ...
1
vote
1answer
147 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 ...
1
vote
4answers
142 views
How to say the following in German and “habe” or “hatte”?
Original:
I didn't see her and when I realized it was her, it was already too late.
Übersetzung:
Ich hatte sie nicht gesehen, und when ich hatte realized es war sie, es war schon zu spat.
...
5
votes
3answers
152 views
Browser Add-ons to learn German
I am an active learner of German. I remember to have installed a browser Add-on on my old computer which helped me to learn the gender of German words by colorizing them in the browser using different ...
4
votes
3answers
144 views
Positions of verbs in clauses
e.g. when we use wenn the verb goes to end. If the sentence starts with wenn, the second clause starts with verb as follows:
Wenn es morgen regnet, gehe ich ins Kino.
I think it is similar for ...
5
votes
1answer
73 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
76 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 ...
6
votes
2answers
105 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 ...
7
votes
2answers
125 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 ...
0
votes
0answers
105 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 ...
10
votes
5answers
434 views
Was sind die genauen Regeln zur Benutzung des Buchstabens “ſ”?
Im Fraktursatz gibt es zwei Arten des Buchstabens "s": "s" (das runde s) und "ſ" (das lange s). Das ß ist im Fraktursatz eine Ligatur aus ſ und z. (Also ß = ſz). Im Gegensatz zum Englischen wird ...
1
vote
0answers
153 views
When EXACTLY can/do you start calling one an “Experte” [closed]
Im pretty much annoyed by this term and its imho mis-use for many pseudo-experts. Experts for terrorism, amok, climate, babysitting... you probably all know this phenomenon of people designated in ...
2
votes
5answers
236 views
“…hat Philosophie, Pädagogik, Theaterwissenschaften, Anthropologie und Politik studiert”
Ich denke, es ist einigen von euch auch schon aufgefallen, dass manche Leute in ihrer Biographie auf einer Webseite oder Beschreibung ihres Werdegangs durch Dritte bei einem Interview so vorgestellt ...
1
vote
1answer
56 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, ...
1
vote
1answer
129 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 ...
7
votes
2answers
207 views
“Stem-Changing Verbs” vs “Strong Verbs”
I want to know what is the relation between the two terms "Stem-Changing Verbs" and "Strong Verbs".
Form what I understand there is a group of verbs that I called "Stem-Changing Verbs" which change ...
4
votes
1answer
60 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 ...
7
votes
2answers
171 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
3answers
224 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
121 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 ...
2
votes
1answer
176 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
1answer
93 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?
4
votes
3answers
150 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?
0
votes
1answer
126 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 ...
1
vote
1answer
145 views
German words database
I'm searching any good database about german words (substantives currently, but a more comprehensible database will go down well also), with, almost, the following information:
Word name: in ...
8
votes
3answers
227 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
225 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?
7
votes
2answers
152 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?
12
votes
2answers
150 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 ...
6
votes
2answers
183 views
Rules for capitalizing adjectives after “etwas, nichts…”?
Why does one write "nichts Gutes", "etwas Besseres" and so on. The rules imply they are nouns. Wiktionary says they obbey an ,,adjektivischer Deklination", there is no plural for them, etc.
But ...
9
votes
4answers
564 views
German video news with transcription
Inspired by an answer, I wonder if there are good places to watch simple-language multimedia on current topics with subtitles or transcription (and ideally English translation).
For example, Spiegel ...
5
votes
1answer
95 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
105 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 ...
4
votes
4answers
201 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: ...
24
votes
6answers
996 views
Does the German language have a Shakespeare?
Most English speakers cannot read for very long before stumbling onto the words of Shakespeare, one of the language's greatest playwrights, who left an indelible mark on it. A great many of his ...
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 ...
5
votes
2answers
147 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 ...
