Summer is the time to go swimming. Let's talk today about words related to swimming and swimming safety.
Man kann hier natürlich noch andere Sachen tun als nur schwimmen.
You can, of course, do other things here besides just swimming.
Caption 6, Berlin: Wannsee
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OK, und dann halt lieber hier in der freien Natur baden.
OK, and then just better to swim here in open nature.
Caption 77, Unterwegs mit Cettina: Sommer am Baggersee
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The verbs schwimmen and baden both mean "to swim," but baden can also mean "to play in the water" or even "to take a bath." I've often had Europeans ask if we should "go bathing" (or even "have a bath"), by which they mean "go swimming," of course!
Kommt Kinder, wir gehen zur Abkühlung erst mal eine Runde schwimmen!
Come on kids, let's go for a swim to cool off first!
Caption 72, Umwelt und Natur: Wo sind all die Bienen hin?
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Aber es ist perfekt, um ans Meer zu fahren und baden zu gehen.
But it's perfect for going to the sea and going for a swim.
Caption 39, Deutsch mit Eylin: Das Wetter
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To say "to go swimming," you combine the verbs gehen and schwimmen, or gehen and baden. Note that the phrases consist of two verbs and are not single separable verbs!
Den größten Teil meiner Freizeit verbringe ich in Tel Aviv und am Strand.
I spend the largest portion of my free time in Tel Aviv and at the beach.
Caption 11, Grete: eine Freiwillige in Israel
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Also, in Tübingen gibt's ein Schwimmbad.
Well, in Tübingen there is a swimming pool.
Caption 21, Deutschkurs in Tübingen: Über jemanden sprechen
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Two obvious places to go swimming are the beach (der Strand) or a swimming pool (das Schwimmbad), and you'll hopefully be able to find those someplace closer to home than Tel Aviv or Tübingen!
Mein Handtuch brauche ich nicht.
I don't need my towel.
Caption 19, Peppa Wutz: Sport
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Actually, unless you're going to a gym that supplies a towel, you will probably want to have one when you go swimming. Das Handtuch is the general word for "towel," but you may want to bring a bigger one to lie down on, such as a a beach towel (das Strandtuch).
Vorsicht: Die Sonne ist auch sehr heiß. Deswegen brauchen wir einen Hut, eine Sonnenbrille, und ganz wichtig... Sonnencreme.
Beware: The sun is also very hot. Therefore we need a hat, sunglasses, and very important... sun lotion.
Captions 18-21, Jahreszeiten: Der Sommer
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Safety first! In addition to a hat (der Hut), sunglasses (die Sonnenbrille), and sun lotion (die Sonnencreme), it's important to bring lots of liquids to drink!
Further Learning
Watch the videos above on Yabla German and learn some other terms about summer fun. And then take a break and go swimming somewhere to cool off! And remember to be safe about swimming when you're out in the hot sun.
In a previous newsletter, we looked at the German words for various bodies of water. This week, we'll take a look at different landscapes and landforms found in Germany and around the world. Germany itself has a surprising number of these diverse landscapes, with forests, rolling hills, valleys and mountain ranges, rocky and sandy coasts, and even wetlands.
Yabla has many videos about the incredible ecosystems of das Gebirge, the mountain range. You may also hear die Berge ("the mountains").
Nur wenige Menschen nehmen das beschwerliche Leben im Hochgebirge auf sich.
Only a few people take on the arduous life in the high mountains.
Caption 27, Die letzten Paradiese Schätze der Natur: Südtirol
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Im kalten Stellisee verläuft ihre Entwicklung langsamer als im Tal.
In the cold Stellisee [a lake], their development proceeds more slowly than in the valley.
Caption 4, Alpenseen: Kühle Schönheiten
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Denn wenn das Eis der Gletscher schmilzt, fließt das Wasser von den Berghöhen durch Spalten tief ins Gebirge hinein.
Because if the ice of the glaciers melts, the water will flow from the mountain heights through fissures deep into the mountains.
Captions 35-36, Alpenseen: Kühle Schönheiten
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Fast die Hälfte der Landesfläche ist von Wald bedeckt.
Almost half of the state's area is covered by forest.
Caption 51, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Rheinland-Pfalz
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People may indeed think of forested mountains when they think of Germany, but there are also landscapes that we might associate more with other countries:
Einfach durch den Sumpf reiten konnten wir natürlich nicht.
We couldn't just ride through the swamp, of course.
Caption 10, Jan von München: Als ich mich einmal selbst aus dem Sumpf befreite
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In den Hügeln der grünen Insel Irland lebte einmal ein armer Kerl namens Niall O'Leary.
In the hills of the green isle of Ireland there once lived a poor fellow named Niall O'Leary.
Caption 5, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Ein Topf voll Gold
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Es sah hinaus auf die Wiese, die etwas weiter reichte, als es sehen konnte.
It looked out onto the meadow that extended somewhat farther than it could see.
Caption 45, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Das hässliche Entlein
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Near the North Sea or Baltic Sea, you will find completely different landforms (including islands!) and ecosystems:
Natali und Florian zieht es zunächst an die Küste Cornwalls.
Natali and Florian proceed first to the coast of Cornwall.
Caption 28, Abenteuer Nordsee: Unter Riesenhaien und Tintenfischen
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Die Hauptattraktion ist hier natürlich der Strand.
The main attraction here is, of course, the beach.
Caption 8, Berlin: Wannsee
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Of course, there are some landscapes that you simply won't find in Germany:
Sindbad kroch durch den Dschungel.
Sinbad crept through the jungle.
Caption 27, Märchen - Sagenhaft: Sindbad, der Seefahrer
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Die Wüste war heiß, die Berge waren hoch.
The desert was hot, the mountains were high.
Caption 5, Clueso Weil ich dich liebe
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Further Learning
There are many nature videos on Yabla German, and most of them include detailed descriptions of the landscape like in this series about the Alps. How would you describe the landscape of the country or region you are from? Try to talk about it with a tandem partner, or write down a few sentences.
The three words above make a nice tongue twister or Zungenbrecher — literally "tongue breaker" in German — though certainly not as difficult as the classic Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische, frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritz. Best try the latter only if you have a first aid kit around! But I doubt all of us are completely clear on the meanings of the aforementioned "B" words. Let's start with the easiest ones.
Bleibe is the first person singular present tense of the verb bleiben:
Also, "ich bleibe", das ist Präsens, ja.
Well, "I am staying", that is present tense, yes.
Caption 5, Deutschkurs in Tübingen - Vorbereitung auf den Test
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Ich bleibe einfach hier in Deutschland und werde eine Fahrradtour machen.
I will just stay here in Germany and will do a bike tour.
Caption 50, Jenny - Reiseziele
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Nein, ich komme nicht mit. Ich bleibe hier in Deutschland.
No, I'm not coming with you. I'm staying here in Germany.
Caption 6, Nicos Weg - A2 Folge 17: Unterwegs
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The verb bleiben is very appropriate this summer, as most of us will be doing our best to enjoy staycations.
The adjective beliebt — most often written as beliebte with the suffix -e when following a definite article in the nominative case — can be translated as "beloved," "favored," or "popular," depending upon the context:
Saint-Tropez am Baggersee,
Saint-Tropez on the artificial lake,
so besangen schon die Rodgau Monotones
as the Rodgau Monotones already sang
vor über 30 Jahren das beliebte
over 30 years ago about the beloved
Badeparadies der Stadt Rodgau.
swimming paradise of the city of Rodgau.
Captions 2-4, Rhein-Main-TV - Badesee Rodgau
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Besonders beliebt ist bei den Berlinern der Wannsee.
The Wannsee is especially popular with the residents of Berlin.
Caption 3, Berlin - Wannsee
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Lastly, we come to the least commonly used of the three B words: beileibe. This adverb is similar in meaning to bestimmt ("definitely") or wirklich ("really"), but is used almost exclusively in the negation beileibe nicht.
Das wird vielleicht was kosten,
It may cost something,
aber beileibe nicht so viel wie der Verlust des gesamten Projekts.
but by no means as much as the loss of the whole project.
Captions 45-46, Marga Engel schlägt zurück - Rache
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Depending upon the context, beileibe nicht can also be translated as "on no account" or "certainly not."
Further Learning
Search for variations of the above three words on Yabla German and practice writing some sentences of your own in German that include these words. For some learning fun, go to the Zungenbrecher page on Wikipedia and, after translating a couple, see how fast you can say them without breaking your tongue!
On Yabla German, you have probably come across these three words, which are most often all translated as "different." However, they are actually not always synonyms. The following distinction is to be taken with a grain of salt, but may be helpful:
anders = "different," implying "other" or "another"
verschieden = "different," implying "various" or "diverse"
unterschiedlich = "different," implying "dissimilar"
Following this, you would say that these adjectives have unterschiedliche Bedeutungen, but not verschiedene Bedeutungen. What exactly is the correct usage of verschieden then?
Wir haben jetzt viele verschiedene Leute gefragt.
Now we've asked a lot of different people.
Caption 91, Silvester - Vorsätze für das neue Jahr - Linkenheim
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In the sentence above, the use of the adjective verschieden simply implies that a large number of people were asked about their New Year's resolutions in a survey. If the sentence used the phrase viele unterschiedliche Leute, it would emphasize that the people asked were different from each other, perhaps in terms of age or background.
Es gibt ja unterschiedliche Gründe, warum Erwachsene spielen, ne...
There are indeed different reasons that adults play, right...
Caption 1, Gamification - Wie Spielen den Alltag interessanter macht
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In this example, the opposite occurs, and the emphasis is on how dissimilar the reasons are, not the fact that a wide variety exists.
Die Kündigung hat bestimmt andere Gründe.
The layoff probably has other reasons.
Caption 30, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern
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In this sentence, the use of andere Gründe emphasizes that there are reasons that are different from what has already been considered. Verschiedene Gründe would imply that there are a variety of reasons, while unterschiedliche Gründe would more likely be used if two people got fired for distinct reasons.
Remember that anders can also be used with als for comparisons, which is not the case for the other two adjectives.
Man kann hier natürlich noch andere Sachen tun als nur schwimmen.
You can, of course, do other things here besides just swimming.
Caption 6, Berlin - Wannsee
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Further Learning
There are many examples of these adjectives used on Yabla German. When you see them, ask yourself exactly which meaning is being implied.
You might also want to watch this video, which looks at this tricky topic in more detail.
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