In Part I of this series, we went through a lot of animals whose names end with -tier. In Part II, we'll continue to look at the root words of German animal names and see how they may—or may not—relate directly to descriptions of the animals. So let's further explore the wild and woolly world of odd German animal names!
Die Schildkröte steckt noch vollständig im Ölschiefer fest.
The turtle is still entirely stuck in the oil shale.
Caption 51, Ausgrabungen: Auf den Spuren der Dinosaurier
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Die Schildkröte combines the noun der Schild with the noun die Kröte, and literally means "shield toad." Imagine seeing a turtle for the first time: Its shell looks like a shield, and its face, with a bit of imagination, might resemble a toad—albeit a very large one!
Normalerweise gelten Waschbären als aggressive Wildtiere.
Normally, raccoons are considered aggressive wild animals.
Caption 2, Die Top Ten: Die unglaublichsten Tiererlebnisse
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You probably noticed already that der Waschbär, the German word for "raccoon," breaks down into "wash bear." That seems a pretty far-fetched description of the animal, which is known for washing food, but does not look much like a bear. In fact, it's possible that the raccoon shares ancestors with those of today's bears, although this is just one theory of several. An 18th century Swedish botanist was the first to make this connection, and since then a number of European languages contain the word "bear" as part of the raccoon's name. The French, however, were less kind—and less accurate—in naming the raccoon le raton laveur ("the washing rat")!
Wenn Fledermäuse so schlafen, dann bin ich froh, dass ich keine bin.
If bats sleep like this, then I am glad that I am not one.
Caption 41, Meine Freundin Conni: Conni schläft im Kindergarten
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Die Fledermaus seems to consist of the noun fledern ("to hurl something vigorously") and the noun die Maus. Thus you have a sort of "throw mouse" or "hurl mouse." But that's not where the word came from! Rather, it comes from the Old High German term Flattermaus, which is derived from the verb flattern, or "to flutter." Thus our root words search reveals the bat to be a "flutter mouse."
Etwa 20.000 Seehunde haben das Wattenmeer zu ihrer Heimat gemacht.
About 20,000 seals have made the Wadden Sea their home.
Caption 11, Abenteuer Nordsee: Unter Riesenhaien und Tintenfischen
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Der Seehund, clearly a "sea dog" by its root words, is of course a seal. Funny that in English, "sea dog" is an old slang term for a sailor! The more proper German name for the seal is die Robbe.
Selbst ausgewachsen werden diese Tintenfische gerade mal 20 Zentimeter groß.
Even fully grown, these squid will only become 20 centimeters long.
Caption 28, Abenteuer Nordsee: Unter Riesenhaien und Tintenfischen
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From the German word for "squid" we can derive, from die Tinte and der Fisch, an "ink fish." The term is slightly confusing, since many varieties of octopus also, like squid, are able to release a dark "ink" to help escape from potential predators. Octopus, in German, is der Oktopus, although the more scientific name is der Krake.
Further Learning
In an upcoming lesson, we'll discuss a number of animals whose names derive from das Schwein, but who are not actually related to the pig family. In the meantime, you can go to Yabla German and watch the videos listed above to find out more about these animals in context.
At some point while learning German, it may have dawned on you that there isn't exactly a German equivalent for the adjective "fun." There is, of course, the noun der Spaß, which is used to describe how someone can "have fun" (Spaß haben) or something can "be fun" (Spaß machen):
Ich glaube, auch die Erwachsenen haben Spaß an dem Film.
I think adults also have fun with this film.
Caption 11, Michael Mittermeier: Hexe Lilli
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Und ich hab auch gelernt, dass es mir Spaß macht, vor der Kamera zu stehen,
And I also learned that standing in front of the camera is fun for me,
Caption 20, Anja Polzer: Interview
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The adjective spaßig does exist, but is more specific, meaning that something is either "merry" or "celebratory," or "jocular" or "playful." Es hat Spaß gemacht is therefore not really the same thing as Es war spaßig.
Und spaßig ging es auch in der Festhalle weiter.
And it continued merrily in the Festhalle too.
Caption 24, Rheinmain im Blick: Live-Entertainment-Award in Frankfurt
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In terms of adjectives, however, there are a few other contenders. The adjective lustig can mean either "funny" or "fun" depending on the context.
Es ist einfach lustig und immer wieder da zwischendurch kommt trotzdem wieder ein Fund.
It's just fun, and time and time again in between, another find is still made.
Caption 64, Ausgrabungen: Auf den Spuren der Dinosaurier
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The adjectives amüsant and unterhaltsam also play a role here, as they describe something or someone being fun in the sense of being entertaining.
Er ist sicher wahnsinnig locker und unheimlich amüsant.
I'm sure he's incredibly easygoing and incredibly entertaining.
Caption 28, Weihnachtsmann gesucht: Bist du verliebt?
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So unterhaltsam kann Lernen sein!
Learning can be so entertaining!
Caption 5, Theaterstück über gesunde Ernährung: Henrietta in Fructonia
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Für die knappe Stunde Flug ist die Außenansicht unterhaltsam genug.
For just under an hour's flight, the view outside is entertaining enough.
Caption 10, Galileo Zug vs. Flugzeug: Von München nach Berlin
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Further Learning
On Yabla German, you can find many examples of how Germans cleverly use Spaß machen and Spaß haben to describe various fun occurrences and events. What has been fun for you in the last months? How would you tell someone about it in German?
In addition to adverbs of indefinite frequency, such as oft or häufig, and adverbs of definite frequency, such as täglich or morgens, there are also expressions for talking about how often something occurs. In English, we often say that something happens "once a month" or "every other week." How do we express this in German?
You likely know the phrase jeden Tag, or "every day." But do you know how to say "every other day"?
Dazu gehört auch, dass den Jungvögeln jeden zweiten Tag ein Tisch mit Knochen gedeckt wird.
This also means that every other day, a table is set with bones for the young birds.
Caption 29, Die letzten Paradiese - Die Schönheit der Alpen 1
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You can say jede zweite Woche for "every other week," but generally something happening at particular intervals will be expressed with alle and not jede zweite. Take a look:
Die Bergbahn fährt alle zwanzig Minuten hoch zum Königstuhl
The mountain railway goes up to the Königstuhl every twenty minutes
und alle zehn Minuten zurück runter in die Innenstadt.
and back down to the city center every ten minutes.
Captions 12-13, Jenny zeigt uns - Das Heidelberger Schloss
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Bei warmen Temperaturen gebären sie
In warm temperatures, they give birth to
alle acht bis zehn Tage dreißig bis vierzig Jungtiere.
thirty to forty young every eight to ten days.
Caption 14, Abenteuer Nordsee - Unter Riesenhaien und Tintenfischen
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Wir finden hier alle vier Wochen eine Schildkröte.
We find a turtle here every four weeks.
Caption 42, Ausgrabungen - Auf den Spuren der Dinosaurier
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Das Projekt „Lunch Beat“ besteht in Hamburg seit dem vergangenen Sommer
The project "Lunch Beat" has existed in Hamburg since last summer
und findet in unregelmäßigen Abständen alle zwei bis drei Monate statt.
and takes place at irregular intervals every two to three months.
Captions 9-10, Lunch Beat - Tanzen in der Mittagspause
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To more specifically state that something happens "once" in a particular time interval, we can use the word einmal in + dative.
Das tue ich für gewöhnlich einmal in der Woche.
I typically do it once a week.
Caption 2, Wäsche waschen - mit Eva
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Einmal in der Woche trainiert Astrid Bittner-Utsch Frauen und Männer,
Once a week, Astrid Bittner-Utsch trains women and men
die ihrem Traumberuf ein Stück näher kommen wollen.
who want to get a little bit closer to their dream profession.
Captions 9-10, Auf dem Laufsteg - Modelcollege in Wiesbaden
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Leon, wieso? -Einmal im Jahr gibt es diese Mathe-Olympiade.
Leon, why? -Once a year, the Math Olympics take place.
Caption 20, Die Pfefferkörner - Gerüchteküche
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Further Learning
Based on what you see above, how do you express "once a month"? What about "every five days" or "every five years"? Can you find another way to say "every other day"? For more practice, you can go to Yabla German to look for more examples, or translate some basic sentences about your current routine into German.
A sentence construction with das sind... followed by a plural noun is a bit confusing at first, but it's very common in spoken German. At first you might be tempted to translate it literally, but with "that are" (sic), you'll find the singular subject and the plural verb to be in disagreement. That's because the demonstrative pronouns das and dies are not inflected by the plural of the verb sein ("to be").
So it's more natural for a native German to say Das sind Hans und Grete. This can sound a bit strange when you're first learning German.
Nein, das hier sind keine mutierten Gartenzwerge.
No, these here are no mutated garden gnomes.
Caption 1, „Mini-Marxe“ - In Trier
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Immer dran denken: Das sind alles Verben, die einen Akkusativ brauchen.
Always remember: they are all verbs that require the accusative case.
Caption 31, Deutschkurs in Tübingen - Fragen
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Das sind nun die Zutaten für unseren Apfelkuchen.
These are now the ingredients for our apple cake.
Caption 3, Apfelkuchen - mit Eva
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Das sind oft nur wenige Pfennige und man bekommt das Geld natürlich wieder.
Often these are just a few pennies and you get the money back, of course.
Caption 34, Eva erklärt - Mülltrennung
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And here are a couple of examples using dies sind:
Dies sind nur ganz wenige Ausschnitte aus dem zurückliegenden Jahr.
These are just a very few excerpts from the previous year.
Caption 8, Angela Merkel - Neujahrsansprache
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Dies sind Hinterlassenschaften eines Krokodils.
These are the remains of a crocodile.
Caption 10, Ausgrabungen - Auf den Spuren der Dinosaurier
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Further Learning
Look for more examples of das sind on Yabla German to see the phrase used in a real-world context.
Let’s take a look today at adjectives that define quantitative amounts without actually resorting to the specifics of numbers. The most common of them, viele (“much” or “many”) and wenige (“little” or “not many”), are used irregularly, however, so let’s check them out first. When viele and wenige occur as a definite article or after a definite article, they are conjugated as normal adjectives:
Für die vielen amerikanischen Soldaten im amerikanischen Sektor...
For the many American soldiers in the American Sector...
Caption 9, Berlin - der alte amerikanische Sektor
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But when viele or wenige occur without an article before a singular noun, they are usually left unconjugated:
Aber dafür bleibt wohl wenig Zeit.
But there seems to be too little time for that.
Caption 25, Fußball - Torwandschießen
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As you can see above, a normal adjective for the feminine word die Zeit would, in the nominative case as here, end with an “e.” Wenig is a little different!
Here are some examples of more typical indefinite quantity adjectives, which are conjugated as normal adjectives. We can start will alle (“everything”):
Natürlich stehe ich hinter allen Songs.
Of course I'm behind all of the songs.
Caption 62, Deutsche Bands - Luxuslärm
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And then wind up with keine (“none” or “no”):
Bisher allerdings ist noch keine Schildkröte in Sicht.
Up to now though there's still no turtle in sight.
Caption 43, Ausgrabungen - Auf den Spuren der Dinosaurier
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Some other common indefinite quantity adjectives to look out for are: beide (both), einige (some), einzelne (single, individual), ganze (whole), gesamte (entire), manche (some), sonstige (other, further), übrige (the rest), weitere (further), zahllose (innumerable), and zahlreiche (numerous).
Learning suggestions:
Keep your eyes out in every Yabla video for the many ways that indefinite quantity adjectives are used, and pay particular attention to the way that viele and wenige are conjugated, because the irregular usage will take some training and getting a feel for! For a further foray into the world of indefinite quantity adjectives written in German, take a look here. Ich wünsche euch viel Spaß beim Lernen!
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