All Questions
53
votes
12answers
2k views
How can I learn noun genders better?
One of the things that I really liked about German, as I was studying it in college was the very orderly grammar, which actually helped me to understand my native English better.
As a non-native ...
42
votes
4answers
4k views
How rude is “Quatsch!”?
I've seen Quatsch! translated as Bullshit, which I was fine with as I had only heard it used among friends. Today, a university teacher used the Q-word in response to a student's serious suggestion in ...
38
votes
11answers
986 views
How can a native English speaker know when it is appropriate to use the polite (Sie) or the familiar (Du)?
In a language such as English, where there are no "built-in" (so to say) polite and familiar forms, what are some simple tips or guidelines for when to use the polite or the familiar forms? Are there ...
38
votes
6answers
436 views
Gibt es im Deutschen Reste von anderen grammatischen Fällen als den vier üblichen?
Ich habe mal gehört, dass das "Hause" in "zu Hause" ein Lokativ ist.
Gibt es noch andere Überbleibsel von ungewöhnlichen grammatischen Fällen im Deutschen?
Does German contain relics of other ...
36
votes
26answers
1k views
What movies are good for learners who want to improve their grammar and vocabulary?
This question is present as a matter of historical interest. While you are encouraged to help maintain its answers, please understand that "big list" questions are not generally allowed on German ...
35
votes
5answers
1k views
How to use “doch”
I know "doch" is used to contradict a negative statement:
A: Das ist nicht wahr.
B: Doch!
It's a great word for this usage and some languages really lack this word.
But, I found it hard to ...
31
votes
8answers
858 views
Wonach richtet sich das Geschlecht eines Anglizismus?
Wenn ich das Geschlecht eines Anglizismus bestimmen muss orientiere ich mich an 3 Gegebenheiten:
Hat das Wort ein echtes Geschlecht (the mare, die Stute)?
Welches Geschlecht hat die Übersetzung im ...
30
votes
19answers
813 views
What are good online dictionaries for translation between German and English?
What are good online dictionaries for translation between German and English?
29
votes
32answers
8k views
Simple but interesting German literature
This question is present as a matter of historical interest. While you are encouraged to help maintain its answers, please understand that "big list" questions are not generally allowed on German ...
27
votes
2answers
712 views
What is a good translation for “I wish!” ?
Often times, a situation comes up and I want to use the expression "I wish!" For instance, somebody asks me: "Is that brand new car yours?" or "Was that you who I saw winning $1000?"
However, I don't ...
27
votes
8answers
5k views
Ist “wegen dir” falsch und nur “deinetwegen” richtig?
Ich habe Widersprüchliches darüber gelesen, ob die Verwendung der Präposition wegen + Pronomen im Dativ richtig oder falsch ist.
wegen mir, wegen dir, wegen ihm, wegen ihr usw.
Viele Leute ...
26
votes
12answers
3k views
Polite alternatives to “Grüß Gott”?
I'm looking for polite alternatives to the omnipresent
Grüß Gott
in Austria/Bavaria. I dislike using a religious phrase to salute others (potentially non religious persons). I'm also not very ...
26
votes
8answers
1k views
Is it still good form to use a capital D for Du or Dir in a letter?
I was taught (several decades ago) to write a capital D for all pronouns such as Du, Dir, Deine, when writing to my German penpals.
I am afraid it would look antiquated or very formal these days. Is ...
26
votes
9answers
634 views
What is the German equivalent of foo, bar, baz?
The English words foo, bar and baz are often used as placeholder nonsense names in programming. In French, "toto, titi, tata, tutu" are common.
Which words are used for this purpose in German code?
...
26
votes
13answers
11k views
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.
25
votes
1answer
302 views
What is the origin of the rules about the capitalization of the first letter of each noun?
To my knowledge, German is the only language which capitalize the first letter of each of its nouns. Why is there such a rule?
Meines Wissens ist Deutsch die einzige Sprache, in der der erste ...
24
votes
10answers
4k views
Why is “Fräulein” considered offensive, as opposed to “Frau”?
Does Fräulein imply that the woman being addressed is not fully a Frau? Does it imply a lower class status?
24
votes
6answers
965 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 ...
23
votes
4answers
328 views
When is it OK to drop the first-person e, as in „Ich hab'“?
It seems common to drop the end-schwa of first-person verbs. I've both heard it and seen it written.
Ich hab' eine Frage.
Ich geh' zur Uni.
I'm wondering:
Does writing or talking like ...
22
votes
6answers
2k views
Dasselbe vs. das Gleiche, what's the difference?
How should one best interpret the difference between "dasselbe" and "das Gleiche" ? When should one use one or the other?
Is it correct that "dasselbe" is appropriate for concrete things, and "das ...
22
votes
2answers
661 views
Where is exactly the position of “nicht” in the sentence?
A question came to my mind while I was reading a conversation in German:
Ich bin krank,
Ich kann nicht einkaufen.
Ich kann nicht mit Jonas zum Arzt gehen.
Ich kann Anna nicht in den ...
21
votes
5answers
797 views
What is the German equivalent of “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”?
What is the German equivalent of "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."?
That is: A phrase used for font selection that contains all the letters of the alphabet.
21
votes
5answers
1k views
Why are German numbers backwards?
Latin languages, as well as English, speak numbers from left to right, in the same direction in which they are written, e.g. forty-two, quarante-deux, but in German, you write from left to right but ...
21
votes
1answer
527 views
Weshalb werden manche Wörter mit Doppelvokal gedehnt („aa“, „ee“, …)?
Ich habe vor kurzem gelesen, dass das deutsche Wort Waage erst seit 1927 offiziell mit Doppel-a geschrieben wird (Zitat aus dem Duden von 1929):
Durch eine Bekanntmachung des Reichsministers des ...
20
votes
7answers
1k views
What is the German equivalent for these speech fillers from English: “umm…” and “like”?
Do Germans use words like "um" and "like" to fill their speech? "Like" is obviously used by teens in Canada, etc., but I'm sure adults say "um" when they are unsure of something while speaking.
I'm ...
20
votes
3answers
584 views
How do synchronous interpreters handle long German split verb sentences?
One of the points where German differs from other languages are the split verb sentences where the two parts of a verb form can be placed quite some distance apart, for example:
Ich habe nach ...
20
votes
4answers
5k views
When to use Perfekt and Präteritum?
What's the guideline as to when to use Perfekt and Präteritum?
I was always taught that the simplest rule is Präteritum (mostly) for written forms, and Perfekt is most common in spoken language.
But ...
20
votes
4answers
236 views
Why do we have two equally used terms for “toe”?
There are two translations for toe that both are equally used. Both are pronounced almost the same but they have a different gender:
der Zeh, m
die Zehe, f
What is the origin of this ...
19
votes
2answers
392 views
Eifersucht vs. Neid
Was ist der Unterschied zwischen Eifersucht und Neid? Mein Wörterbuch übersetzt beide Wörter nach jealousy.
19
votes
5answers
1k views
How to distinguish between a female friend and a girlfriend?
The word Freundin can mean either a girlfriend or a female friend. In some cases, they can be distinguished by using the possessive pronoun to refer to the former:
Ich habe mit meiner Freundin ...
19
votes
11answers
704 views
How is the ending -ig pronounced, and where?
I've heard the following alternatives for pronouncing the ending -ig of words like fertig and lustig:
/ɪç/ (as in mich)
/ɪʃ/ (as in Fisch)
/ɪg/
/ɪk/
Where are the different pronunciations used? ...
19
votes
11answers
692 views
Welcher Tag ist der nächste Dienstag?
Keeping in mind that today is Saturday 05/28/2011, a German says
Gut. Treffen wir uns also am nächsten
Dienstag um acht Uhr.
What should you do, so as not to miss the appointment?
Wenn ...
19
votes
1answer
500 views
How do we pronounce “China”?
In German there is some confusion on how to pronounce the letters 'ch' in "China". I heard all of following variants:
[ˈçiːnaː] - "ich"
[ˈkçiːnaː] - "Bäckchen"
[ˈkiːnaː] - "Kino"
[ʃiːnaː] - ...
19
votes
3answers
649 views
Free online resources for beginner course
Along the lines of the same question on French Language & Usage, what are good, free online resources for an English-speaker to learn German properly from scratch?
Ideally, important areas such ...
19
votes
2answers
248 views
Wann ist die Eindeutschung neuer Lehnworte sachgemäß, wann nicht?
In einem wissenschaftlichen Text soll ein Lehn- oder Zitatwort verwendet werden, das keine deutsche Entsprechung hat.
Nach welchen Regeln wird entschieden, ob dieses Wort z. B. nach den Regeln der ...
18
votes
26answers
2k views
Gibt es andere Sätze wie “Wenn Fliegen hinter Fliegen fliegen, fliegen Fliegen Fliegen hinterher”?
Man muss die Grammatik richtig verstanden haben, um diesen Satz zu verstehen: (zwei Varianten)
Wenn Fliegen hinter Fliegen fliegen, fliegen Fliegen Fliegen hinterher.
Wenn hinter Fliegen ...
18
votes
6answers
1k views
Welche Eselsbrücken gibt es, um “dass” und “das” auseinander zu halten?
Die Wörter "das" und "dass" klingen gleich, haben aber völlig unterschiedliche Bedeutungen.
Welche Tricks/Eselsbrücken gibt es, um im Schreibfluss rauszufinden, ob man "das" oder "dass" verwenden ...
18
votes
6answers
1k views
Translation of John Doe
(At least) in America, not yet identified dead persons are named "John (or Jane) Doe". If you read of a John/Jane Doe, then you know that this is a still unknown dead man/woman.
Does any similar ...
18
votes
1answer
668 views
Leerzeichen vor Einheiten?
Werden Mengen und Einheiten im Deutschen durch ein Leerzeichen getrennt?
12 m/s
1Å
18
votes
4answers
316 views
Recommended news and culture streaming radio stations (auf Deutsch)?
I am specifically thinking of an analogue to NPR in the USA, whose stations generally broadcast a wide variety of show formats (news, interviews, talk radio, & entertainment) covering range of ...
18
votes
6answers
239 views
Is there a good on-line resource to look up the etymology of German words?
Is there a good on-line resource - free or not free - to look up the etymology of German words?
Something like Duden's "Das Herkunftswörterbuch"?
18
votes
2answers
233 views
“Schlaf mir nicht ein” - warum “mir”?
Wie kann man denn genau die Verwendung von "mir" in einem Satz wie "Schlaf mir nicht ein!" erklären? Auf Englisch würde mir sowas wie "Don't you quit on me!" einfallen, aber auch da hätte ich leichte ...
18
votes
1answer
208 views
Is unwillkürlich the opposite of willkürlich?
My dictionary translates willkürlich as arbitrary and unwillkürlich as involuntary. I do not understand in what sense these concepts are opposites. Could someone give an example where this becomes ...
18
votes
2answers
1k views
Is there a reason why Germany (Deutschland) is called so many different things in other European languages?
Excuse me if this is off-topic.
When I'm learning other languages, I usually (99% of the time) find that "England" is either the same or very similar in the other language. However, I know at least ...
18
votes
1answer
176 views
Woher stammt die Verwendung des Infinitivs als Ersatz für den Imperativ?
Immer häufiger sehe ich den Infinitiv, wo ich den Imperativ erwarte:
Statt
Haltet die Einfahrt frei.
steht da also
Einfahrt freihalten.
oder sogar
Die Einfahrt ist freizuhalten.
...
18
votes
2answers
308 views
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?
17
votes
6answers
330 views
Articles in real life
I have a question about articles in German. Is it ok to drop them from a sentence? For example, is this a weird sentence?
Ich war in Schule.
or
Ich gehe in Schule.
In Polish there is no ...
17
votes
5answers
944 views
What is the German equivalent of the English “aka”?
In English, the abbreviation aka means "also known as".
A literal German translation might be "auch bekannt wie". Is this, in fact, the correct German equivalent? And is the abbreviation ABW (or the ...
17
votes
12answers
1k views
Is “dingsbums” offensive, rude, vulgar, etc?
I've heard that my favourite word "dingsbums" might not be acceptable in some circumstances due to it being related to "bumsen" which, I'm told, is some kind of a word for intimate relations.
Yet ...
17
votes
2answers
2k views
What's the meaning of “Deine Mudda”?
In germany, i hear a lot of jokes containing "deine Mudda". I don't understand them, what does this mean, and what kind of jokes are containing them?
