Nouns ending in -erei in German generally fall into one of two categories.
First, it can be noted that this suffix has a connection to the French suffix -erie, which comes from the Latin -aria. Both -erei and -erie often appear in words for shops and workshops, like la boulangerie and die Bäckerei (the bakery).
Ja, wir gehen auch immer in die Bücherei. Nicht wahr?
Yes, we're always going to the library. Isn't that right?
Caption 43, Extr@ Teil 01: Part 3
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Ich geh morgen in die Druckerei, um mir 'n Angebot machen zu lassen.
I'll go to the printers' tomorrow and have them make me an offer.
Captions 6-7, Nicos Weg: Das brauche ich!
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Der Falkenhof auf dem großen Feldberg ist die älteste und zugleich höchstgelegene Falknerei Hessens.
The falcon farm on the big field hill is the oldest and simultaneously highest falconry in Hessen.
Captions 1-2, Für Tierfreunde: Falknerei Feldberg
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Die Reederei hatte sich ein Schiff gewünscht.
The shipping company had wished for a ship.
Caption 6, Kreuzfahrtschiff: An Bord der Europa 2
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But not every noun ending with -erei denotes a physical place. More broadly, the suffix forms nouns referring to activities, trades, or practices, often derived from verbs. A good example is the word die Fischerei, which can be a place where fish are caught and sold, or simply refer to the industry or activity of fishing, as in this sentence:
Die damit einhergehende Ausbeutung des Meeres durch den Menschen in Form von Fischerei ...
The associated exploitation of the sea by humans in the form of fishing...
Captions 65-66, Evolution: Die Küsten
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Here are two other nouns that are simply the names of activities:
Sowohl, äh, Malerei als auch Bildhauerei.
Both, uh, paintings as well as sculptures.
Caption 15, Lokalhelden: Art House
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Sometimes the -erei ending gives a word a more negative or dismissive connotation, especially when referring to repeated or excessive behavior. For example, das Kleckern is a neutral word for spilling, but die Kleckerei suggests a messy or annoying situation:
Dann wird Kleckerei zur Schweinerei .
Then a spill becomes a mess.
Caption 16, Weihnachtslieder: In der Weihnachtsbäckerei
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Further Learning
In addition to finding these examples on Yabla German, see if you know the following nouns: die Brauerei, die Fleischerei, die Metzgerei, die Molkerei, die Schneiderei, die Tischlerei, and die Wäscherei.
Today we'll look at a topic that is neither particularly difficult nor completely easy. This is because either you memorize it immediately or you constantly forget the necessary order.
To create the "either... or..." construction in German, the words entweder and oder are employed, always in that particular order:
Daniel Müller ist entweder nicht im Büro oder nicht erreichbar.
Daniel Müller is either not in the office or not available.
Caption 20, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern - Part 1
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Das kann man entweder persönlich tun in einer Filiale oder online.
You can do that either in person at a branch or online.
Caption 14, Eva erklärt - Bankkonten
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Used to reject more than one possibility or eliminate two different parties, weder... noch... is the German equivalent of "neither... nor...":
Es war weder Mensch noch Tier.
It was neither man nor animal.
Caption 33, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Die Schöne und das Biest
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Keiner rechnet damit, dass ein Radfahrer auf dem Gehweg fährt, weder Fußgänger noch Autofahrer.
No one takes into account that a cyclist will be riding on the sidewalk, neither pedestrians nor auto drivers.
Captions 12-13, Einsatz für Christophorus - Gehwegradler
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Another construction which you might have seen and is worth mentioning here is sowohl als auch. This is a fancy way of saying "both... and..." or "as well as...", therefore serving the opposite function.
Sowohl Malerei als auch Bildhauerei.
Both paintings as well as sculptures.
Caption 15, Lokalhelden - Art House - Part 1
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Sowohl in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland als auch in der DDR wehen schwarz-rot-goldene Fahnen.
Black, red, and gold flags wave in the Federal Republic of Germany as well as in the GDR.
Caption 61, Terra X - Woher kommen die Farben Schwarz-Rot-Gold?
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Further Learning
Look for more examples of the entweder... oder... and weder... noch... constructions on Yabla German to solidify your understanding. Also take a look at the different ways in which sowohl als auch can be translated.
Many words in German look like words in English, but can be tricky because they actually have different meanings. These paired words are called false friends or false cognates and can be the source of many difficulties when starting to learn a new language. Here are a few examples from Yabla, all starting with the letter A:
absolvieren: to finish a course of study or exam
False friend: absolve: to declare (someone) free from guilt, obligation, or punishment (German: entlasten)
Auch wenn man ein Studium absolviert hat...
Even after finishing a study...
Caption 88, Lokalhelden - Art House
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aktuell: current, latest
False friend: actual: existing in fact; real. (German: eigentlich, wirklich)
Neunundsechzig: die aktuelle Diskussion.
Sixty-nine is the current debate.
Caption 46, Kurzfilm-Festival - Shorts at Moonlight
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die Argumentation: the reasoning, process of reasoning
False friend: argument: an exchange of diverging or opposite views, typically a heated or angry one (German: der Streit)
Das hessische Ministerium
The Hessian Ministry
hat kein Verständnis für diese Argumentation.
has no understanding for this reasoning.
Captions 28-29, Deutsche Autobahnen - Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzungen
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Further Learning:
Try to find more words in German and English that sound similar but have different meanings. For a very funny commentary in German containing false friends, read this dialog on Grimm Grammar. Bis bald! (No, this is not about hair loss…)
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