Und Piggeldy fühlte, wie er immer kleiner und kleiner wurde und Frederick immer größer.
And Piggeldy felt that he was becoming smaller and smaller and Frederick bigger and bigger.
Captions 28-29, Piggeldy und Frederick: Sprichwörter
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When we talk about the size, number, or extent of something changing, there are a number of verbs we can use in order to not always just say kleiner werden or größer werden. The German verbs we pick often depend on whether the verb is transitive or intransitive. An intransitive verb doesn't require an object; something is simply happening almost as if on its own. The verbs above, and the verbs in the next examples are intransitive, and you can note that no cause is mentioned that is making the growth happen.
Der Bedarf an Flugreisen wird mit der Zeit immer größer, und die Anzahl der Flugzeuge wird stark zunehmen.
The need for air travel will increase over time, and the number of planes will rise sharply.
Captions 34-35, Die Welt in der Zukunft: Flugzeuge im Jahr 2050
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Der Anteil der Kinder mit Migrationshintergrund in dieser Gruppe wird ansteigen.
the percentage of children with migration backgrounds in this group will rise.
Caption 9, Angela Merkel: beim Nachhaltigkeitsrat
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If you want to describe humans, animals, or objects that are growing in size, wachsen is quite often the appropriate verb to use. It should be noted that the verb for plants growing is wachsen, but this is only intransitive. If you are growing flowers or vegetables, your activity "to grow something" is etwas anbauen or etwas züchten.
„Du malst die blauen Blumen, die im grünen Wald wachsen“, sagte Frederick.
“You paint the blue flowers that grow in the green forest," Frederick said.
Caption 17, Piggeldy und Frederick: Malen
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Now let's look at some examples with transitive verbs, in which something is being done by someone. In these sentences, that which is increasing or rising is an object:
Dies hat uns dazu genötigt, unsere Preise stark anzuheben.
This has made it necessary for us to increase our prices significantly.
Caption 20, Berufsleben: Probleme mit Mitarbeitern
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Ziel der Aktion: die Attraktivität der Innenstadt erhöhen.
The aim of the campaign: to increase the attractiveness of the city center
Caption 9, Rheinmain im Blick Stadtmomente: Wiesbaden
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Um die Attraktivität der Elektrofahrzeuge zu steigern, wird es ab Mitte zweitausendfünfzehn zwei Dinge geben.
In order to increase the attractiveness of electric vehicles, there will, starting in the middle of two thousand fifteen, be two things.
Captions 5-6, Rhein-Main-TV: Veränderungen für das Autofahrerjahr 2015
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Further Learning
We'll be back soon with a lesson on verbs that describe decreasing, shrinking, and falling. In the meantime, try to make your own sentences with the verbs above or do a search on Yabla.
German has many French loan words or Gallicisms. Since an estimated 45% of English comes from French or Latin language sources, if you can learn to recognize words in your native English as having a French origin, there is a fair chance that these words are used in German.
In a previous lesson, we took a look at some more French-derived words in German that have the same or similar words in English. This week, let's discuss some German words that originated from the French but have different meanings than their similar English equivalents.
Die Frau bekommt ein Kind und ihr Chef weiß das.
The woman is going to have a child and her boss knows it.
Caption 9, Bundesrepublik Deutschland - Einbürgerungstest - Part 4
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In this case, the German der Chef and French chef can be a bit of a false friend of the English word "chef," since in English it means "the head cook" and not the more general term "the boss."
Bald waren sie bei einer Fabrik, bei einer Farbenfabrik.
Soon they were at a factory, at a paint factory.
Caption 6, Piggeldy und Frederick - Malen
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The German die Fabrik comes from the French fabrique, the -que ending having been Germanized to -ik. The pronunciation is nearly the same in both languages, with the emphasis on the second syllable.
Ich denke, er ist einfach eine komplexe Figur.
I think he is simply a complex character.
Caption 9, Dreharbeiten - zum Film „Playoff“
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The German die Figur comes from the French figure—like the English "figure"—and has similar meanings, but in most contexts the German is translated to "character" in English, making this a sort of false friend in most cases. Die Figur could, however, be translated to the English "figure" if you were discussing a geometric figure.
Bevor ihr einen Weihnachtsbaum aufstellt, geht am besten mal zum Friseur.
Before you set up a Christmas tree it's best that you go to the hairdresser.
Captions 17-18, Frohe Weihnachten - der Christbaum
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The German der Friseur / die Friseurin, from the French friseur, is rarely used in English anymore, and even the French tend to prefer to use the term coiffeur instead. The German also uses the term die Friseuse, but it is a pejorative. There is a secondary German spelling Frisör, but the German Duden dictionary recommends the -eur spelling!
Hast du die Gage?
Do you have the fee?
Caption 48, Verstehen Sie Spaß? - Sascha Grammel - Part 2
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The German die Gage and the French gage both pronounce the first G as a hard G and the second as a soft G. It might be incorrectly confused with the English "gauge."
Wenn du so viel Engagement in Mathematik aufbringst wie im Lösen von Kriminalfällen...
If you put as much effort into mathematics as into solving criminal cases...
Caption 36, Die Pfefferkörner - Gerüchteküche - Part 6
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Das Engagement, from the French engagement, has nothing to do with the English "engagement," which in German is usually translated as die Verlobung.
Further Learning
As a general rule, French words found in German are spelled the same, or nearly the same, as the French words found in English, but are pronounced in a German manner and written according to German grammatical rules—with nouns capitalized, for example. Take a look at this list of Gallicisms in German and go to Yabla German to find other real-world examples of the words used in videos.
In our last lesson on false friends, we discussed a few false cognates that begin with the letters C and D. Today, we're moving yet another step down the alphabet to learn about some falsche Freunde starting with E and F:
eventuell: maybe, possibly, perhaps
False English friend: eventually, finally, ultimately, at some later time (German: endlich, schließlich)
Ich rieche dran [daran],
I smell it,
ob die wirklich auch nach 'ner [einer] Erdbeere riecht,
[to see] if it also really smells like a strawberry,
und eventuell könnte ich noch oben schauen.
and maybe I could look on top.
Captions 23-24, Kochhaus Berlin - Frische Zutaten erkennen
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die Fabrik: factory
False English friend: fabric, cloth (German: der Stoff, das Gewebe)
Bald waren sie bei einer Fabrik, bei einer Farbenfabrik.
Soon they were at a factory, at a paint factory.
Caption 6, Piggeldy und Frederick - Malen
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der Fotograf: photographer
False English friend: photograph, an image taken by a camera (German: das Foto)
Also so richtig so dunkelkammermäßig so,
Well, so really like a darkroom,
wie die Fotografen das früher gemacht haben.
like the photographers used to do it.
Caption 52, Lokalhelden - Art House
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Further Learning:
Try to find more words in German and English that sound similar but have different meanings. For a thorough list of German false friends, take a look at this extensive chart and then search Yabla videos to find the words used in context!
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