Questions tagged [word-usage]
Wortgebrauch - Questions on usages in German language.
1,244
questions
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Would “Fräulein” be offensive to use towards young girls? [duplicate]
I've read that "Fräulein" is offensive to use towards women because it's a diminutive, and that "Frau" is better to use for women, but would "Fräulein" be considered ...
2
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3answers
142 views
Des Englisch(s) Genitiv
Duden gibt zwei Genitive des Substantivs Englisch an:
des Englisch
des Englischs
Welcher wird unter welchen Umständen verwendet?
0
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1answer
57 views
The “da” + preposition compound or its preposition + pronoun alternative?
A question in a Zeit Online interview reads:
Du hast im vergangenen Jahr zum ersten Mal eine Verhaltenstherapie
gemacht. Musstest du dich zu ihr überwinden?
How can I decide when it is better to use ...
0
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0answers
43 views
does “dafür” also means “to compensate” oder “to balance”? [duplicate]
we usually learn that "dafür" is a Pronominaladverb:
Ich danke dir dafür, dass du mir geholfen hast.
Ich bezahle den Maler dafür, dass er mein Zimmer stricht.
Ich muss morgen echt früh ...
1
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3answers
205 views
Does German have Third Person Gender Neutral Pronoun?
Does German have a gender neutral third person pronoun?
In English, there is he/she. However, English does not have a Gender neutral/apathetic pronoun, where a person can be referred to without any ...
2
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3answers
161 views
auf jeden/keinen Fall
Weiß jemand woher das auf in "auf keinen / jeden Fall" kommt und weshalb es nicht (mehr) "in jedem / keinem Fall" heißt?
Für mich hört sich mindestens die Variante in jedem Fall ...
1
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1answer
139 views
Why “es” with “ranken” when referring to stories and legends?
I found the following sentences in the DWDS usage database:
Es rankt sich ja eine alte Legende um diese Gegend. (Fünf Freunde 2, 2013)
Es ranken sich allerhand Geschichten um ihn. ("Doctor Who&...
2
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1answer
106 views
“gestehen” vs. “eingestehen”
DUDEN, DWDS und Wiktionary betrachten diese Verben als Synonyme. Hier https://dict.leo.org/forum/viewGeneraldiscussion.php?idForum=4&idThread=466117&lp=ende&lang=de habe ich jedoch ...
1
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3answers
133 views
Fleck with auf vs. an, is there a more general rule?
I noticed that it's common to use Fleck with auf rather than an. For example Es gibt einen Fleck auf Ihrem Hemd. ("There is a stain on your shirt.") My understanding is ''auf'' means "...
2
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2answers
213 views
Why has “Samstag” been used more and more often than “Sonnabend” since 1950 (according to dwds.de frequency figure)?
I've consulted dwds.de on the day name of Saturday. It is obvious that "Samstag" prevails nowadays like "Sonnabend" prevailed 70 years before.
The reason for this shift remains ...
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1answer
61 views
Is there any meaning difference in the pair “festlegen” versus “vereinbaren”? [closed]
I would kindly ask to compare the meaning of "festlegen" versus "vereinbaren". Do they mean pretty much the same or is there any significant contextual difference?
0
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112 views
Mit den Wörtern “Stufe” und “Niveau” über Sprachkenntnisse reden
Sind diese Sätze mit "Stufe" und "Niveau" zur Bezeichnung der Deutschkenntnisse richtig? Ich habe in allen bekannten Wörterbücher nachgeschaut, aber nichts gefunden.
Ich stehe/bin ...
4
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1answer
152 views
What does *her* add to the meaning of this sentence?
(NB: If this question starts out looking very familiar to you, this is because it is in fact my second question about the same snippet of text. The first one is this one: "andern" vs "...
0
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1answer
123 views
“andern” vs “anderen”
The citation below is the Duden's definition of vorausfahren (my emphasis):
schon vorher, früher als ein anderer oder vor [einem] andern her
irgendwohin fahren
When I search online for the usage of ...
1
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3answers
104 views
How is einhergehen used?
This is an excerpt from todays DW Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten:
Russland hat die USA auf eine neue Liste "unfreundlicher ausländischer Staaten" gesetzt. Gleiches gilt für Tschechien. Mit ...
0
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3answers
94 views
Bedrohen mit oder von? [closed]
This sentence appears in today's DW Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten:
Mindestens 60 Prozent der Erwachsenen sollen jährlich Fortbildungskurse belegen und die Zahl der Menschen, die von Armut und ...
7
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2answers
170 views
Sie liegt ihm ob
Wie häufig wird das Verb »obliegen« als trennbares Verb verwendet?
Gestern musste der österreichische Bundespräsident Alexander van der Bellen als Exekutor des VfGH (Verfassungsgerichtshof) tätig ...
11
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2answers
1k views
How does “zuerst glühen wir vor” translate to “first, we'll have predrinks”?
I found the sentence
Zuerst glühen wir bei mir vor.
in Memrise. According to them, it translates to
First, we'll have predrinks at my place.
and the literal translation
First, glow we by me ...
8
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2answers
1k views
What is the difference between “antreten” and “konkurrieren”?
I am having difficulties figuring out the difference between "antreten" and "konkurrieren" in terms of the translation "to compete". In fact, both seem to be translated ...
4
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2answers
216 views
Niedrig hängende Früchte
Auf www.spiegel.de las ich soeben die Frage
Gibt es im Verkehr niedrig hängende Früchte, mit denen man die Emissionen schnell senken kann?
Das englische "low hanging fruits" wird seit ...
0
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3answers
93 views
Is “endlich” or “schließlich” correct in this context?
In conversation with 2 native German speakers I said:
Agnes, die beim ersten Alarm aus ihre Unterkunft eilte, eilte rasch durch die erschütternde Straßen, um ihren Geliebte zu suchen.
Sie fand ihn ...
0
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1answer
213 views
In/Im [City Name]
I would like to write this sentence: What happened in New York in 2001.09.11.
Which one of the following is the correct one?
Was ist am 11. September 2001 in New York passiert?
Was ist am 11. ...
1
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3answers
106 views
Expressing “to do somebody a disservice” in German
I have been struggling with the correct way to express "to do somebody a disservice" in German. In English, this phrase is often used when your intentions are to do something good for ...
0
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1answer
59 views
(Grund)Schule anfangen, kommen or beginnen?
How do you say it? To start school.
Schule anfangen.
Schule kommen.
Schule beginnen.
1
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1answer
113 views
When to use “Schmerz” and when to use “Schmerzen”?
While conversing with 2 native German speakers I said:
Anna beklagt sich über großen Schmerz im Mund.
and they corrected me to:
Anna beklagt sich über große Schmerzen im Mund.
While investigating ...
0
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2answers
117 views
Appell in einem Kurs oder einer Klasse
Wenn in meinem Heimatland der Leiter in die Klasse (besonders in der Schule) eintritt, ist es üblich, zu prüfen, ob alle Schüler/innen anwesend sind.
Ist das auch in Deutschland üblich? Ich habe ...
1
vote
1answer
119 views
How to correctly express “get wise to”
I am having some difficulties translating the phrase: "to get wise to something" in German, where "to get wise to something" == "slowly figure out/not be fooled by somebody&...
4
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2answers
501 views
Translating “a one-day stay”
I am trying to translate the following sentence into German:
Due to the delay, I had an unexpected one-day stay in Berlin.
(Assuming this is proper English; I am not a native speaker.)
I am ...
0
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2answers
67 views
Auswahl besser mit “mehrere” oder “verschiedene”?
Aus einer Menge von strukturell unterschiedlichen Möglichkeiten möchte ich eine Option auswählen. Dazu ein Beispiel:
Erdbeben, ein Streik des Nahverkehrs oder eine Unachtsamkeit eines Ingenieurs ...
2
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2answers
107 views
Welcher Begriff bedeutet “to get someone in trouble”
Im Englischen kann der Ausdruck „to get someone in(to) trouble“ unterschiedliche Nebenbedeutungen haben. Er kann auch absichtlich oder unabsichtlich gemeint werden, je nach dem Kontext. Gibt es einen ...
2
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1answer
70 views
Split a sentence into elements
I try to decompose this sentence in elements and I am not sure how to do it:
Was ist denn das für eine Geschichte?
This may translate as "What kind of story is this?" (not sure).
Could you ...
0
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1answer
65 views
Question about [sich] in a sentence
Can anyone explain to me why [sich] is put after the verb that would translate as [inquired] in the past imperfect, instead of just going with the ihre to follow it? I know that sich interprets to as [...
1
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1answer
82 views
ansprechen and angehen
When are : ansprechen" and "angehen" interchangeable? I read that ansprechen is for addressing a person and angehen is for addressing a problem, but I find plenty of examples where this ...
0
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3answers
243 views
Difference between “normalerweise” and “gewöhnlich”
What is the difference between "normalerweise" and "gewöhnlich"? They both can mean "usually" or "normally". Does it matter which one is used?
1
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2answers
220 views
Is “Fräulein” archaic?
Why don't German-speaking countries nowadays ever use "Fräulein" for a young woman instead "Frau"?
Is the word old-fashioned or obsolete? If so, why, and which decade after the ...
0
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3answers
193 views
Is »lecker dabei« commonly used? [closed]
I recently heard a child refer to an ice cream as
lecker dabei
which I understood as equivalent to "really delicious". If this is so, how does this use of "dabei" sound to a ...
3
votes
2answers
201 views
Why refer to somebody's age in a written article or report?
In German newspapers or online written pieces, I have noticed that the age of a person is reported much more frequently than I have experienced in English. The following extract from Der Postillon (a ...
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2answers
2k views
How to tell the difference between groß = tall or big
I recently started learning German through Duolingo and Busuu.
I came across the word groß a few times now but I'm not sure how to tell the difference between:
The man is tall vs The man is big (heavy ...
1
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2answers
178 views
How to ask to view an apartment for rent? [closed]
"Kann ich machen ein besichtigungstermin?" automatically receives a response in English because the other party has figured out the one asking the question is not a German speaker.
What is ...
0
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1answer
102 views
If “heimal” means “hey”, what does “hei-dee” mean? [closed]
Heimal translates to "hey", but I similarly heard "hei-Dee" from the same person. The translator fails to give its english meaning. I don't think it's to be mistaken with the Swiss ...
1
vote
2answers
84 views
How to decline “Bekannte”? [closed]
I have a big problem specially with declining "substantiviertes Adjektiv" in all forms (nominative, genitive, dative and accusative) with definite and indefinite articles (bestimmte und ...
2
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2answers
156 views
What is true meaning of Sympathie? [closed]
What does "Küssen bei Sympathie" mean? The English translation doesn't make sense.
3
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1answer
360 views
How to confirm an appointment
Someone asked, if I could meet on monday, how can I say that that day is ok?
"Montag passt mir gut"
Is this informal? If so, what would be the formal way of saying that?
8
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2answers
189 views
Anderswo vs. woanders
Mir kommt es so vor, dass diese beiden Wörter ("anderswo" und "woanders") Synonyme sind. Ist das richtig? Gibt es ein Gegenbeispiel? Und ist das Zufall, dass "wo" einmal ...
7
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2answers
255 views
m/w/d (männlich/weiblich/divers)
Vor kurzem sah ich in einem Supermarkt ein Plakat mit dem Text
Verkäufer (m/w/d) gesucht
Das "d" konnte ich nicht interpretieren, aber eine Internetrecherche zeigt, dass es für "divers&...
5
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1answer
501 views
Was ist der Unterschied zwischen erwünscht und gewünscht?
Was ist der Unterschied zwischen erwünscht und gewünscht?
z.B.
Ich weiß nicht, ob das was ich mache vom AG gewünscht ist.
Ich weiß nicht, ob das was ich mache vom AG erwünscht ist.
Danke!
2
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2answers
95 views
What are the rules for using “sodass”, “da”, and “darum”?
I would like to learn the grammar rules for using conjunctions like sodass, da, and darum in sentences such as these:
Sie hatte keine Zeit mehr anzurufen, sodass …
Ich komme heute später, da …
Ich ...
2
votes
2answers
153 views
What different ways are to say fractions in German?
When dealing with fractions in German we normally say "drei-viertel" or "3/4". Another example would be "sieben-zwanzigstel = 7/20". But is there another way of saying it?...
4
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2answers
267 views
Unterschied zwischen Abendbrot und Abendessen
What is the difference between Abendbrot and Abendessen?
Some ideas appearing on the internet
time of the day
regional difference
simple vs. whole meal
Can you clarify this? For a foreigner this can ...
3
votes
1answer
91 views
Which one is correct here: dabei or damit?
I've just had a small talk with someone and he asked me "Brauchst du Hilfe dabei?" and it was completely understandable of course and the conversation kept going on but after that I was ...
