I understand that Los geht's! means "It's on!" "Here we go!" (https://qr.ae/pGcQL4).
Does Geht los! mean the same as Los geht's!?
Is it incorrect to say Geht's los!? (i.e. 's is not necessary). Why so?
Thanks.
1 Answer
You are right with your assumption. Los geht's! means indeed something like Here we go!. The expression Geht los! may mean the same as above in sloppy speech, when you assume that the Es is omitted. Es geht los! would be correct in this sense.
Literally translated Geht los! means imperative plural, meaning Go on!. Singular would be Geh los!, which seems to be the same in English: Go on!.
So it depends a bit on the context.
Geht's los? is only valid in a question, meaning Does it go on? Maybe in bavarian dialect you may hear this as order, but this should be confirmed by a native bavarian speaker.
answered Sep 15, 2021 at 19:06
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1Just a note: Geht's los? can also mean: What's wrong with you?– OlafantCommented Sep 16, 2021 at 2:42
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1@Olafant Not where I live. That would be "Geht's noch?"– user6495Commented Sep 16, 2021 at 10:48
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1@HaraldLichtenstein Your're right, gehts (or generally the -ts ending of the second person plural) can definitely be an imperative plural in Bavarian dialects, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Bavarian#Verbs. This is not related to the enclitic 's < es. Commented Sep 16, 2021 at 11:48
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1@Roland I know "Geht's noch?' with same meaning. "Geht's los?" is def. used in the north.– OlafantCommented Sep 16, 2021 at 19:27
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1@Olafant Well, I grew up in the North and currently live in Lower Saxony. I've never heard "Geht's los?" in the meaning of "What's wrong with you?" and would certainly not understand it this way. Must be a sociolect.– user6495Commented Sep 17, 2021 at 4:31