The German word for "word" is das Wort, as you surely already know. But had you noticed that there are two different plurals for it: die Worte and die Wörter? It's hard to know which is correct without understanding the distinction in meaning between the two possibilities. Let's take a look at some examples, starting with die Worte: 

Worte sind jetzt fehl am Platz...

Words now are out of place...

Caption 26, Florian Bronk: Du und ich

 Play Caption

Und Worte können das nicht ändern, nein.

And words cannot change that, no.

Caption 22, Luxuslärm: Einmal im Leben

 Play Caption

banner PLACEHOLDER

So, liebe Anja, vielen, vielen Dank für deine netten Worte.

So, dear Anja, thanks very, very much for your kind words.

Caption 62, Anja Polzer; Interview

 Play Caption

Flüchtlinge können bei ihrer Ankunft oft nur wenige Worte oder gar kein Deutsch.

Refugees can, upon their arrival, often speak only a few words of German or none at all.

Caption 3, Flüchtlingskrise: Deutschkurse für Flüchtlinge

 Play Caption

And moving on to die Wörter: 

Kennt ihr diese kleinen Wörter?

Do you know these little words?

Caption 4, Deutsch mit Eylin: Pronomen

 Play Caption

Nun kennt ihr also die Wörter für die wichtigsten Farben.

So now you know the words for the most important colors.

Caption 40, Eva erklärt: Farben

 Play Caption

Hierfür werden dir einige Wörter vorgeschlagen.

For this, several words will be suggested to you.

Caption 40, German Intro: Cettina

 Play Caption

Hier, ein Notizbuch für alle neuen Wörter auf Deutsch.

Here, a notebook for all of the new German words.

Caption 14, Nicos Weg: Wo ist der Bahnhof?

 Play Caption

As you may have noticed above, die Wörter is usually used in a context of learning German and relating to a specific word—to the words themselves as such: Fremdwörter, Lieblingswörter, Modewörter, Passwörter, and Reimwörter are some compound word examples.

Die Worte, on the other hand, is talking about the context of words in terms of quotations, ways of speaking, or entire topics: Bibleworte, Ehrenworte, Grußworte, Nachworte, and Zauberworte, for instance.

A few words even allow for both types of plurals. For instance, if you are making a list of keywords for a website, you'd use Stichwörter. But if you are talking generally about keywords in the more abstract sense of concepts or guiding principles, you'd use Stichworte. 

Further Learning
Try and guess the meaning of the compound words listed above that use das Wort as their root, and then check your dictionary to see if you got it right. You can then go to German Yabla and find other examples of the words discussed above to see them used in a real world context.

If you're feeling extra brave, you can read the (as always) brilliant article by Der Spiegel author Bastian Sick about Worte vs. Wörter. As he so cleverly puts it: Wörter bestehen aus Buchstaben, Worte aus Gedanken.

In this week's edition, we'll examine these easily confused words: The verbs kündigen, ankündigen, erkunden, and sich erkundigen. 

The verb kündigen refers to terminating an agreement or contract. When it comes to employment, it can describe action taken by either the employer or employee to end a professional relationship. Kündigen is also used when cancelling an account or contract (for example, a cell phone contract, a magazine subscription, or a fitness studio membership). Therefore, it can be translated as "to cancel," "to terminate," "to give notice," "to quit," "to resign," "to fire," or "to dismiss," depending on who is carrying out the action and for what purpose. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Ich träume davon, meinen Job im Büro zu kündigen.

I dream of giving notice on my job in the office.

Caption 44, Konjugation - Das Verb „brauchen“

 Play Caption

Schöller hat uns beiden gekündigt.

Schöller has fired both of us.

Caption 45, Marga Engel schlägt zurück - Hochmut kommt vor dem Fall

 Play Caption

Sie haben ihm hoffentlich nicht erzählt, dass Sie Ihre Lebensversicherung gekündigt haben.

I hope you didn't tell him you cancelled your life insurance.

Caption 53, Oskar - Gehen, wenn es am schönsten ist - Der Panther

 Play Caption

The verb ankündigen has the essentially unrelated meaning of "to announce." You will notice below that it is a separable verb. 

Eines Tages kündigte der Zauberer an, dass er ausgehen würde.

One day, the Sorcerer announced that he would be going out.

Caption 21, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Der Zauberlehrling

 Play Caption

Ja, Ihr Anruf wurde bereits angekündigt.

Yes, your call has already been announced.

Caption 29, Marga Engel schlägt zurück - Auf der Suche nach Beweisen

 Play Caption

The verb sich erkundigen means "to inquire," "to find out," or "to look into." Note that this is a reflexive verb, and there is no umlaut!

Ich würde gerne aus privaten Gründen meine Stunden reduzieren

I would like to reduce my hours, for personal reasons,

und wollte mich erkundigen, ob das möglich wäre.

and wanted to find out whether that would be possible.

Captions 10-11, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern

 Play Caption

Ich habe mich erkundigt. Sie darf nicht in unseren Taschen kramen.

I looked into it. She's not allowed to dig around in our bags.

Caption 14, Die Pfefferkörner - Gerüchteküche

 Play Caption

The verb erkunden can be translated as "to discover" or "to explore."

Man kann also einfach reinspringen und die Höhlen beim Tauchen erkunden.

You can, therefore, simply jump in and explore the caves while diving.

Caption 46, Der Blautopf - Ein sagenumwobener See

 Play Caption

Dann lass uns gemeinsam die Yabla-Spiele erkunden.

Then let's discover the Yabla games together.

Caption 36, German Intro - Cettina

 Play Caption

Further Learning
Write out sentences using these verbs in both the present and past tense. If you need guidance, search for them on Yabla German.

Let's make sure we are all on the same page! If you are taking a German class in addition to your work on Yabla, these are some very important vocabulary words for referring to your textbook, or books and texts in general. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

First of all, you need the German word for "the page":
 

Wir öffnen unser Buch, Seite vierzig.

We'll open our book, page forty.

Caption 1, Deutschkurs in Tübingen - Verben der 2. Kategorie

 Play Caption

You will often want to refer to a particular paragraph, which can also be done using ordinal numbers rather than cardinal numbers.

Gemäß Artikel dreiundsechzig Absatz zwei des Grundgesetzes für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland

According to article sixty-three, paragraph two of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany,

habe ich heute Frau Abgeordnete Doktor Angela Merkel zur Bundeskanzlerin ernannt.

today I have named parliamentarian Dr. Angela Merkel as Federal Chancellor.

Captions 6-7, Bundesregierung - Vereidigung der Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel

 Play Caption

The word der Satz in German is a little tricky because it can mean either "sentence" or "clause" depending on the context. Take a look:
 

„Scribe“ ist das schwierigste Spiel, denn du musst den ganzen Satz selbst schreiben.

"Scribe" is the most difficult game, because you have to write the whole sentence yourself.

Caption 41, German Intro - Cettina

 Play Caption

Zweiter Satz: „Sie ist größer als Stefanie."

Second clause: "She is taller than Stefanie."

Caption 19, Deutschkurs in Blaubeuren - Der Relativsatz

 Play Caption

The word for a letter of the alphabet is der Buchstabe, hence the verb buchstabieren ("to spell"). Ein Zeichen is a character, which could be a letter, number, or even a space (das Leerzeichen). You may recognize this word as it also means "a sign" or "a symbol."

Das scharfe S oder Eszett ist ein Buchstabe, der ausschließlich in der deutschen Sprache vorkommt.

The sharp S or eszett is a letter that occurs exclusively in the German language.

Caption 22, Deutsch mit Donna Blitz - Das Alphabet

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Make sure you are also familiar with die Zeile ("the line"), das Kapitel ("the chapter"), der Band ("the volume"), die Strophe ("the stanza"), and der Abschnitt  ("the section", "the paragraph").

Have you noticed that there is not only the verb hören in German, but also anhören and zuhören? Unfortunately, the difference between these three can’t exactly be equated with the difference between “to listen” and “to hear” in English. Let’s try to get to the bottom of how each one is used.  

Hören without any prefixes can actually be translated as both “to hear” and “to listen,” depending on the context.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Hört ihr es? Mein Wasser fängt gerade an zu kochen.

Do you hear it? My water is just starting to boil.

Caption 35, Cannelloni - mit Jenny - Part 1

 Play Caption

Das haben wohl schon so einige Kinder von ihren Eltern zu hören bekommen.

Quite a few children have gotten to hear that from their parents.

Caption 2, Kochhaus Berlin - Kochen mit Kindern

 Play Caption

OK, ich höre. Wer beginnt?

OK, I am listening. Who will begin?

Caption 26, Deutschkurs in Blaubeuren - Der Relativsatz - Part 16

 Play Caption

Zuhören is used to describe listening intently or paying attention. 

Du musst genau zuhören, was gesprochen wird,

You have to listen carefully to what is said,

Caption 39, German Intro - Cettina

 Play Caption

„Und nun hör zu:" "Der Sommer ist warm und kurz."

"And now listen up. "Summer is warm and short."

Captions 29-30, Piggeldy und Frederick - Sommer

 Play Caption

Sich etwas anhören describes listening to something specific that requires some time, for example, a song or an album. This is a bit confusing as hören is also used to talk about listening to music. If you understand the difference between sehen and sich etwas ansehen, this may help you with the distinction between hören and sich etwas anhören. Perhaps it is not unlike "to have a good look" or "to have a listen."

Wir möchten uns ein bisschen von seiner Lebensgeschichte anhören.

We would like to hear a bit about his life story.

Caption 4, Dieter Kränzlein - Bildhauer - Part 1

 Play Caption

Und was erwartet uns, wenn wir uns das Album anhören?

And what awaits us [can we expect] when we listen to the album?

Caption 13, Sons of Sounds - Open-Air in Karlsruhe

 Play Caption

At the same time, sich anhören is also used to talk about something (for example, an idea or suggestion) that “sounds good” or “sounds bad.” Take a look at the structures below: 

OK, das hört sich gut an. Ich komme gerne mit.

OK, that sounds good. I'll gladly come along.

Caption 44, Diane erklärt - Fragewörter

 Play Caption

Im Präteritum würde sich das so anhören.

In the preterite [narrative past in German], it would sound like this.

Caption 31, Konjugation - Das Verb „mögen“

 Play Caption

Now for a false friend alert: The verb überhören does not mean "to overhear" in the English sense. It actually means to ignore or miss something one has heard. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Search Yabla German for more examples of these verbs to develop your understanding of how they are used. Next week, we’ll look at a few words that contain the word hören, but have little to do with listening or hearing.