Questions tagged [word-usage]
Wortgebrauch - Questions on usages in German language.
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"Also" vs. "beziehungsweise"
I know that also can mean:
das bedeutet, das heißt (d.h.), mit anderen Worten...
And that beziehungsweise can mean:
oder vielmehr, genauer gesagt, besser gesagt...
Is there any difference then ...
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Does "Geht los!" mean the same as "Los geht's"? And is "Geht's los!" a wrong use of "'s", i.e. "es"? Why so?
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 ...
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Does "real" have a consistent connotation as a prefix to nouns?
Calling one particular kind of (or view on) politics Realpolitik is understandable if the term's coiner considered it uniquely realistic, but "real politics" would not in English be a term ...
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"Wir ziehen aus der Wohnung aus." What is the function of the first "aus" in this sentence?
This sentence is taken from a Grammar book.
I understand that "ausziehen" is ein "Trennbare Verb" and "aus" should be placed at the end of the sentence, and it means &...
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Wishing a colleague a nice return to work after her vaccation
Is this sentence correct:
Ich wünsche dir eine angenehme Rückkehr in die Arbeit.
Can one say this in German or would it make no sense?
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Warum benutzt dieser Schriftsteller "deren" statt "ihre"?
Folgendes erscheint im Buch "Der Vorleser" von Schlink:
Er [Hannas Verteidiger] setzte sich. Er war der einzige junge
Verteidiger, die anderen waren alt, einige, wie sich bald zeigte, alte
...
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Translation: "Vorzügliches" in English
I would like to translate the following sentence into English, taken from a handwritten document produced in 1804 in Prague:
"Welche Beweise sind für den Satz über das Gleichgewicht am Hebel ...
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any word ending with s but not ss is about genitiv？
Is this a rule? I am new to German, I am using this to identify genitiv words.
Of course, the word 'das' is an exception.
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Kann jemand diese Benutzung von "häufiger" erklären?
Folgendes habe ich in dem Spiegel gelesen:
In einem niedersächsischen Corona-Impfzentrum zog eine
Krankenschwester Spritzen mit Kochsalz auf. Das genaue Ausmaß ist
unklar, doch die Ermittler sind ...
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Whу can't one say "dieses ist ein Auto"
If there are so many demonstrative pronouns in German, what is the point of using "das" in a sentence like "Das ist ein Auto."? Why don't we just say "Dieses ist ein Auto.&...
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What does "Gesehen PM40 Mittwoch" mean? [closed]
I changed my iPhone language to German (Österreicher) recently because I want to learn as fast as possible and surround myself with the language. I noticed that in the Instagram DMs, under a person's ...
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Which one is right usage auf dem Bild or im Bild?
The context is slides of powerpoint presentation.
My sentence:
The teacher can only share important points on the slide.
Der Lehrer kann nur wichtige Punkte auf dem Bild teilen.
Translator:
Der ...
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what is the proper word for 'get around' in German?
If I want to say 'when you want to get around in Seoul, it's better to go with your friend', what's the correct or natural word for 'get around'? I've found umgehn, belaufen, walzen, streunen, ...
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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 ...
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Des Englisch(s) Genitiv
Duden gibt zwei Genitive des Substantivs Englisch an:
des Englisch
des Englischs
Welcher wird unter welchen Umständen verwendet?
user49188
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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&...
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"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 ...
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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 "...
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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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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?
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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 ...
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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 "...
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"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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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. ...
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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 ...
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(Grund)Schule anfangen, kommen or beginnen?
How do you say it? To start school.
Schule anfangen.
Schule kommen.
Schule beginnen.
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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&...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 [...
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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 ...
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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?
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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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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 ...
