Hot answers tagged modal-particle
24
There are already good answers to the question, but I would like to add a slightly more general one.
The word "doch" is in this context an example of a modal particle. These are words that are added to a sentence to convey mood or emphasis. They have no grammatical purpose so the sentence you get by removing the particle is always a proper sentence. But you ...
8
DE-A: Ich habe mir einen neuen Hartschalenkoffer gekauft.
EN-A: I bought a new hard-shell suitcase.
DE-B: Ich habe mir dann einen neuen Hartschalenkoffer gekauft.
(Here dann/then is an adverb used to denote a point in time or a conjunctive with antecedent implied.)
EN-B: I then bought a new hard-shell suitcase.
DE-C1: Ich habe mir dann ...
8
"Doch" emphasizes a negation, but the word that is emphasized can be missing or the thing that is negated is just supposed in the listener which means that often it can be translated by "but":
Example:
"Mein Hund will doch nur spielen."
My dog just wants to play.
It implies that the speaker correctly or incorrectly perceives the listener to be afraid ...
7
You've already described the meaning quite accurately - think of a situation where someone's facing a difficult situation or task, and other people doubt whether he or she will handle it. To express his/her (self-)confidence that the result will be positive, one could say
„Das schaffe ich schon!“ / „Das schaffst Du schon!“ / „Das schaffen wir schon!“
...
7
The doch in your first question is something like:
A: This is not true
B: It is! (Doch)
but on your second question, it is a kind of a suggestion like:
A: When can i come to you?
B: Why don't you come at 10 o'clock? (Kommen sie doch um 10 Uhr)
It makes the question friendlier and adds a suggestion.
6
Let me try to give you an idea on how to use "doch" in that particular context with a short story:
Anna: Peter, du hast doch nicht der den Tee verschüttet, oder? - Peter, it wasn't you who spilled the tea, was it?
Peter: Doch, es ist meine Schuld. - Yes, is is my fault.
Anna: Gabi, mach das doch bitte sauber! - Gabi, would you please clean ...
5
The 'schon' in this position is a modal particle, expressing the speakers need to soothe themselves or the person adressed.
Das schaffe ich. = I'll make it. (stating a fact)
Das schaffe ich schon. = I'll make it, don't worry. (reassuring)
Lookup wikipedia for mor info on modal particles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_modal_particle
3
You have to break it down: dann | doch noch | schnell
dann = then, schnell = quickly/swiftly/in passing/
The collocation 'doch noch' (roughly: 'yet still, after all') is used to express that an action or event takes place unexpectedly after it had already been deemed unlikely, impossible, or undesirable given particular circumstances or a development of a ...
3
I know "doch" is used to contradict a negative statement:
Just a comment: In Vienna (Wien) you may find people saying "Oja!" over and over again. This is meant to be the "doch" used in other parts of Austria, such as Carinthia (Kärnten). The "Oja", which originally are the two words "Oh" and "Ja" joined together, is exactly the "doch" of your first ...
3
No, this is not possible. Doch can only be used as a response to negative statements. For example, if someone says
Es ist nicht meine Schuld.
then you can answer
Doch.
to express that you think it is their fault (although they deny). I believe there's no short translation for this doch to English.
If someone says
Es ist meine Schuld.
then ...
2
"Es ist meine Schuld" is a complete sentence, means It's my fault
it's not your fault would be:
"Es ist nicht deine Schuld."
If you see somebody is punished for something you did, you may say (directing the sentence to the punisher):
"Es ist doch meine Schuld"
Or you could use it to console somebody (Don't worry, it's my fault). But it needs the ...
2
So according to Eugene Seidel's and TehMacDawg's answer, there are two possible ways to interpret and consequently structure and translate "dann doch noch schnell".
Variant A: dann|doch|noch schnell (see Eugene Seidel).
Variant B: dann|doch noch|schnell (see TehMacDawg).
The difference is small:
Variant A stresses the temporal aspect: "noch schnell" ...
2
dann doch noch schnell
Is like "by the way" and can have can have several meanings.
For example: you thought about buying something but declined it. But when you are shopping and see the thing you did not want to buy but suddenly buy it, you can say "dann doch noch schnell".
Another example: you buy something earlier. You are going to buy something ...
1
Es ist keine fest stehende Phrase, wie man leicht zeigen kann. Ausgangspunkt ist dieser Satz:
Ich habe mir heute dann doch noch schnell einen neuen Hartschalenkoffer gekauft.
bei dem das heute, das neu und die Hartschalen wenig zur Problemlage beitragen und samt dem mir entfernt werden können:
Ich habe dann doch noch schnell einen Koffer gekauft.
...
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