In the spirit of the season, today's newsletter is about expressing joy and happiness with the reflexive verb sich freuen. You may know that the related noun is die Freude, which is the German word for "joy."

For sich freuen, what can get confusing is whether to use the preposition auf or über, and sometimes you don't need either. First, let's take a look at sentences in which a subordinate clause with dass allows the expression of happiness, joy, or contentedness about something that is either happening or has already happened. 

Amy, wir freuen uns total, dass du bei uns bist.

Amy, we're really happy that you're with us.

Caption 68, Cats: Amy singt „Erinnerung“ bei The Voice Kids

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Ich freue mich sehr, dass wir die Eröffnung der Verhandlungen beschließen konnten,

I am very pleased that we were able to decide to begin the negotiations,

Caption 23, Angela Merkel: Gemeinsame Pressekonferenz mit Barack Obama

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This can also happen with the conditional and may involve the conjunction wenn:

Wir würden uns total freuen, wenn ihr beim nächsten Mal zu uns kommt.

We would be very happy if you joined us next time.

Caption 60, SingInKA-Chor: Interview

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Aber ich würde mich auf jeden Fall freuen, sie mal kennenzulernen.

But I would definitely be happy to meet her.

Caption 21, Cassandra Steen: Interview

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Often, however, there is no subordinate clause, and what is happening or has happened is expressed with a noun. In this case, you need the preposition über, which in this case translates to "about." 

Der Tierschutzverein Nied freut sich über jede ernstgemeinte Unterstützung.

The Nied Animal Protection Society is happy about any serious support.

Caption 58, Für Tierfreunde: Tierheim Nied

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Veranstalter Christian Müller freut sich über die hervorragenden Rahmenbedingungen.

Organizer Christian Müller is happy about the outstanding conditions.

Caption 31, Wintersport: Engadin Snow 2009

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With the preposition auf, the meaning of sich freuen changes slightly, because the future is referenced. Therefore, the most common translation of sich auf etwas freuen is "to look forward to something."

Sie freuen sich auf diesen Tag, genauso wie auch ich.

They're looking forward to this day, just like I am, too.

Caption 7, Allessa: Zu Weihnachten wünsch ich mir dich

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Ich freue mich auf deine Nachricht.

I'm looking forward to your message.

Caption 46, Deutsch mit Eylin: Ernährungsformen

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Further Learning
What are you happy about? What are you looking forward to? Construct a few sentences, looking for extra examples on Yabla German if you get stuck. 

Since most of us are probably pretty broke after holiday expenses, here are some money expressions in German that are good to know!

Ich hätte zweihundert Schlösser und wär' nie mehr pleite [Umgangssprache].

I would have two hundred castles and would never again be broke.

Caption 19, Rio Reiser - König von Deutschland

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The word pleite is slang, but if you are seriously pleite, you wind up thus:

Jetzt sind wir bankrott,

Now we are bankrupt,

obwohl, äh, wir zehn Jahre lang [Geld] gespart haben.

even though, uh, we've saved money for ten years.

Caption 2, Deutschkurs in Tübingen - Weil oder obwohl?

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The holidays aren't getting cheaper every year, that's for sure. At some point they always start costing money (ins Geld gehen):

Sollte es länger dauern,

Should it take longer,

dann geht es aber auch irgendwann mal ins Geld.

then at some point, however, it will also start costing money.

Captions 28-29, Endlich glücklich - Liebe im Netz

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And on this, we can all agree:

Zeit ist Geld und Geld ist gut.

Time is money and money is good.

Caption 9, Jan Wittmer - Leben für den Lebenslauf

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Not forgetting, of course, that:

Geld allein ist nicht alles.

Money alone isn't everything.

Caption 62, Für Tierfreunde - Tierheim Nied

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Since after all, the holidays should remind us not to forget that love is the most important thing of all!

Zeigt die Liebe allen Wesen, die da atmen.

Show the love to all beings that breathe there.

Caption 18, Cosma Shiva Hagen - So trägt man Pelz

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Further Learning:

Do a search on Yabla German for financial expressions in English and see in what context they are used in German. For a bit of cheer, see what kind of expressions a search for die Liebe brings up. Happy New Year from all of us at Yabla!

Has anyone ever had the audacity to doubt you, despite your obvious inborn genius and natural talents? The best response to such outrageous treatment is, of course, to put the disbelievers firmly in their place, and this is best accomplished through modifiers that express certainty, ways of emphasizing that there can simply be no doubt: you are the greatest, and they are just going to have to live with the fact.

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Former German president Christian Wulff may have been forced to resign in a 2012 scandal, but nobody ever doubted his support for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup:

Die Unterstützung des Schirmherrn aus dem Schloss Bellevue

The support of the patron from Bellevue Castle

ist also gewiss.

is certain.

Captions 13-14, Frauenfußball-WM - Der Bundespräsident am Ball

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As to life after the resignation, Wulff may be facing difficulties similar to those of an animal shelter in Nied:

Die Zeiten werden rauer, so viel steht fest.

The times are getting rougher, that is for sure.

Caption 48, Für Tierfreunde - Tierheim Nied

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Though Wulff's smile is still looking good, there's always room for improvement, as suggested by Diane and Franca:

Wenn ich weniger Schokolade essen würde,

If I ate less chocolate,

wäre mein Zahnarzt bestimmt zufriedener mit mir.

my dentist would certainly be happier with me.

Captions 30-31, Konjugation - Das Verb „essen“

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And were Wulff to be accused of smuggling a polar bear into the Frankfurt Zoo, he would surely respond:

Doch wie Sie sicherlich wissen,

But as you surely know,

gibt's im Frankfurter Zoo keine Eisbären.

there aren't any polar bears in the Frankfurt Zoo.

Caption 11, Umfragen - Zootiere im Winter

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Further Learning:

Gewiss, feststehen, bestimmt, and sicherlich are just a few examples of the many ways of expressing certainty in German. Go the the aforementioned interview with former German president Christian Wulff on Yabla and see if you can find other examples of Mr. Wulff expressing certainty. As the old saying goes, Hochmut kommt vor dem Fall.

Many German expressions having to do with money are very similar to those in English, in fact the expressions may have been derived from and adapted by one or the other of the two languages. Some examples are: Geld waschen (to launder money), Das Geld zum Fenster hinauswerfen (to throw money out the window) and nach Geld stinken (to be filthy rich). Some expressions are not quite so direct, however, such as: Geld regiert die Welt (money makes the world go round, literally "money rules the world"), Im Geld schwimmen (to roll in money, literally "to swim in money"), and Das Geld liegt nicht auf der Straße (money doesn't grow on trees, literally "money doesn't lie on the street"). Here are some more examples from Yabla videos:

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This one is pretty obvious:

Zeit ist Geld und Geld ist gut

Time is money and money is good

Caption 9, Jan Wittmer - Leben für den Lebenslauf

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Here the expression Es geht ins Geld means it will get expensive:

Dann geht es aber auch irgendwann mal ins Geld.

Then at some point, however, it will also start costing money.

Caption 29, Endlich glücklich - Liebe im Netz

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But this is the most important thing of all to remember about money:

Geld allein ist nicht alles.

Money alone isn't everything.

Caption 62, Für Tierfreunde - Tierheim Nied

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Learning Suggestions:

See if you can understand the correct English meanings for the following German money-related expressions without resorting to a search engine or online dictionary by just using the vocabulary you already have: Geld allein macht nicht glücklich; Wer den Pfennig nicht ehrt, ist des Talers nicht wert (a hint on this one: a Taler is an old-fashioned currency like the dollar or euro); Sie haben Geld wie Heu; Es geht nur ums Geld; and last of all, the most difficult one: Unrecht Gut gedeihet nicht. 

In English we are pretty casual about the word “same,” but German makes some important distinctions. Let’s see how. 

Earth has only one moon, so when we say we see the “same” moon, there’s no question. We're talking about one and the same. That’s when, in German, we use the demonstrative pronoun, derselbe (or any of its declensions, which you can see here). In this particular case we have a masculine noun, der Mond in the accusative case, so derselbe becomes denselben:

Wir sehen denselben Mond

We see the same moon

Und wir sind größer, denn die Sterne bleiben stehen

And we are bigger, because the stars stand still

Captions 13-14, Kolkhorst - Der Mond

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In the next example, we can see that Charlie and Raymond have discovered they are brothers. They have the same parents. Once again, we want derselbe. Der Vater is masculine and is in the accusative case, so it gets denselben. Die Mutter is feminine so it gets dieselbe.

...als Charlie erfährt, dass Raymond und er

...when Charlie learns that Raymond and he

denselben Vater und dieselbe Mutter haben.

have the same father and the same mother.

Caption 23, Theater - Rain Man

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But sometimes we say things are the same when they only appear to be. They may be very similar, or one a copy of the other. That’s when we use gleich or der gleiche. It’s a normal adjective, so it changes depending on gender and case. Below, the speaker describes a recurring event:

Es ist leider noch immer jedes Jahr das Gleiche.

Unfortunately it is still the same every year.

Caption 1, Für Tierfreunde - Tierheim Nied

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Singer-songwriter Cassandra Steen talks about making mistakes: two separate ones, but of the same kind. You guessed it. It has to be der gleiche!

Wenn Aussagen ignoriert werden.

When statements are ignored.

Wenn der gleiche Fehler zweimal passiert.

When the same mistake happens twice.

Caption 4, Cassandra Steen - Interview

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Note that when we use der gleiche, the article is separate from the word. But when we use derselbe, dieselbe, or dasselbe, the article is connected to the word. In either case, the article to use and the ending of "gleich" or "selb" depend on the gender and case of the noun being modified.

Hopefully you’ve gained some insight on the German way of talking about things that are “the same.” You may never think about the word “same” in the same way again!

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Learning suggestion:

More advanced learners will enjoy this explanation, in German, from Spiegel Online Kultur. 

German has many colorful idioms and slang expressions, some of which closely parallel those in English but many of which have completely different meanings that are occasionally difficult to interpret. German idioms and slang expressions using the word Hund (dog) are plentiful and provide an interesting insight into the wide variety of German expressions.

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Here are some examples using the word Hund which parallel the English:

Was kostet ein Hundeleben?

What does a dog's life cost? [Idiom: what is the price of living in poverty?]

Caption 1, Queensberry - gegen Pelz

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müde wie ein Hund sein (to be as tired as a dog)

treu wie ein Hund sein (to be as faithful as a dog)

jemanden wie einen Hund behandeln (to treat someone like a dog)

wie ein Hund leben / ein Hundeleben führen (to lead a dog’s life)

vor die Hunde gehen (to go to the dogs, to be faring poorly)

Ein toter Hund beißt nicht mehr. (Dead dogs don’t bite.)

Hunde, die bellen, beißen nicht. (Literally: Dogs that bark don’t bite; his bark is worse than his bite.)

Es hat keinen Sinn, schlafende Hunde zu wecken. (Literally: It makes no sense to wake sleeping dogs; let sleeping dogs lie.)

Other German slang and idiomatic usages of Hund are more difficult, since they have no direct parallel expressions in English:

Und genau hier liegt der Hund begraben.

And this is exactly where the dog is buried. [Idiom: And that is exactly the crux of the matter.]

Caption 35, Für Tierfreunde - Tierheim Nied

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Here are some usages of Hund with no direct English parallels:

ein gemeiner Hund (literally: a mean dog; a mean person, a nasty piece of work)

kein Hund (nobody, no one)

armer Hund (literally: poor dog; poor devil, poor wretch)

jemanden auf den Hund bringen (literally: to bring someone to the dogs; to ruin someone’s health or nerves)

des Pudels Kern (literally: at the core of the poodle; at the crux of the matter) This phrase is from the classic German writer Goethe’s work Faust I: Mephistopheles.

Kein Hund nimmt von jemandem mehr einen Bissen Brot. (Literally: No dog takes a bite of bread from someone anymore; no one wants to know someone, no one wants anything to do with someone.)

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Learning idiomatic and slang expressions is not only fun, but it also brings you closer to the culture whose language you are learning—and impresses native speakers. So don’t be a fauler Hund (lazy dog): use Yabla to improve your skills with idioms and slang!