Although the World Cup has been in focus over the last few weeks, we're going to devote this week's newsletter not to soccer, but to water sports. 

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Für den Zuschauer ist das Turmspringen sicher eine der faszinierendsten Wassersportarten.

For the spectator, platform diving is certainly one of the most fascinating water sports.

Caption 34, Olympische Spiele: Wasserspringen

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Der Vorderrhein, der längere der beiden Quellflüsse, ist nicht nur bei Wassersportlern sehr beliebt.

The Anterior Rhine, the longer of the two headstreams, is not only very popular among water sports enthusiasts.

Captions 35-36, Wilde Schweiz: Sommer - Part 2

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Many water sports involve boats of different sizes. Both das Boot and das Schiff are neuter nouns, and so are compound nouns such as das Ruderboot ("rowboat") and das Segelschiff ("sailing ship").

Also, wir wollen mehr schwimmen, Kanu fahren. Also, Fußball ist nicht mein Ding.

Well, we want to swim more, go canoeing. Well, soccer isn't my thing.

Caption 36, Umfragen: Nach der WM

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Es gibt auch sehr viele Boote und Kayaks, auf denen man einen schönen, sonnigen Tag verbringen kann. 

There are also many boats and kayaks on which you can spend a beautiful, sunny day. 

Captions 23-24, Yabla reist durch Europa: Genua und Portofino

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Jetzt könnt ihr segeln übers Meer

Now you guys can sail across the sea

Caption 12, Andreas Bourani: Voll gerne (aus "Vaiana")

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Of course there are many others that involve special equipment, such as surfing (das Surfen), snorkeling (das Schnorcheln), and others.

Meine Eltern haben sich mit dem Windsurfen verliebt in Dänemark.

My parents fell in love with windsurfing in Denmark.

Caption 80, Dunkerbeck: So lebt die Windsurflegende heute

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Zum Beispiel Tauchen, Surfen, Rudern und Schwimmen.

For example, diving, surfing, rowing, or swimming.

Caption 23, Deutsch mit Eylin: Sportarten

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Further Learning

Look up any water sports that you're familiar with and see if they're mentioned on Yabla German!

After we sent out our lesson on verbs containing raten as a root, one of our subscribers asked for a more specific clarification of the difference between raten and erraten, which are both often translated as "to guess." The difference is actually quite subtle. 

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The verb raten simply means "to guess," and it doesn't matter how likely the person is to know the correct answer. 

Rate mal, was das für eine Blüte ist.

Guess what kind of flower that is.

Caption 18, Deutsch mit Eylin: Mein Bücherregal und Präpositionen

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Wer kann raten, was da drin ist?

Who can guess what's in here?

Caption 6, Peppa Wutz: Einkaufen und mehr

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Bei dem Spiel „Teekesselchen“ stellt man ein Wort vor, mit verschiedenen Bedeutungen, und die anderen Spieler müssen raten.

In the game "Teapot," you present a word with various meanings, and the other players have to guess.

Captions 14-16, Teekesselchen: Wörter mit mehreren Bedeutungen

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The verb erraten has this meaning as well, but it may imply guessing the correct answer. So, sometimes its meaning is not just "to guess," but "to guess correctly."

Könnt ihr erraten, in welchem Land ich mich befinde?

Can you guess which country I'm in?

Caption 3, Yabla reist durch Europa: Genua und Portofino

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Ziel des Spiels ist es, zu erraten, wohin die Maus läuft.

The object of the game is to guess where the mouse will run to.

Caption 5, Mittelalterlicher Markt: Mäuseroulette

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You might also see raten or zu etwas raten in its other meaning of "to advise" or "to suggest." You will not see erraten used in this sense. Note that raten in this context is a verb that is followed by the dative case.

Experten raten im Gegensatz zum Gesetzgeber zu mindestens vier Millimeter.

In contrast to legislators, experts advise at least four millimeters.

Caption 25, Winterreifen: Wenn der erste Schnee naht

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Auch für dieses Verb rate ich dir, die Konjugation auswendig zu lernen.

For this verb, too, I advise you to memorize the conjugation.

Captions 38-39, Deutsch mit Eylin: Machen vs. tun

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Further Learning
Practice using raten ("to advise"), raten ("to guess"), and erraten ("to guess correctly") with help from examples you find on Yabla German. 

A while back, we sent out a lesson about the difference between raten and beraten. Now it's time to expand this to a number of different verbs that contain raten as a root, including erraten, verraten, and geraten. 

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The verb erraten simply means "to guess."

Heute erraten wir Meerestiere.

Today we're going to be guessing sea creatures.

Caption 4, Ratespiel: Meerestiere

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Könnt ihr erraten, in welchen Land ich mich befinde?

Can you guess which country I'm in?

Caption 3, Yabla reist: durch Europa Genua und Portofino

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The verb geraten is a bit more complex. It is often used in phrases such as in Panik geraten, which you can see below. Depending on the phrase you might think of it as "to get into," but not in a physical sense. It's more like "to become" or "to end up" in a certain way. 

Die gute alte Kaffeemaschine ist dabei etwas aus der Mode geraten.

The good old coffee machine has to some extent gone out of style in the process.

Caption 12, Eva zeigt uns: wie man Kaffee kocht

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Wenn Menschen das Wort „Hai“ hören, geraten sie schnell in Panik.

When people hear the word "shark," they quickly panic.

Captions 10-11, Die Top Ten: Die 12 freundlichsten Meerestiere der Welt

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The verb verraten means "to reveal" or "to give away." The phrase jemanden verraten means "to betray someone."

Und sie verraten etwas über die Persönlichkeit eines Menschen.

And they reveal something about the personality of a human being.

Caption 42, Deutsch mit Eylin: Mehr Geheimnisse über Hände

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Warte, Matteo! Warte, warte, warte, nicht gleich alles verraten.

Wait, Matteo! Wait, wait, wait, don't reveal it all now.

Caption 3, Die Pfefferkörner: Endspurt

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Und wir dürfen den anderen niemals verraten, niemals!

And we must never betray the other, never!

Caption 20, Heidi Freunde: für immer

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Further Learning
On Yabla German, you'll find more phrases with geraten, such as in Schwierigkeiten geraten, außer Kontrolle geraten, and in Schulden geraten. Have a look!