In the spirit of the season, today's newsletter is about expressing joy and happiness with the reflexive verb sich freuen. You may know that the related noun is die Freude, which is the German word for "joy."

For sich freuen, what can get confusing is whether to use the preposition auf or über, and sometimes you don't need either. First, let's take a look at sentences in which a subordinate clause with dass allows the expression of happiness, joy, or contentedness about something that is either happening or has already happened. 

Amy, wir freuen uns total, dass du bei uns bist.

Amy, we're really happy that you're with us.

Caption 68, Cats: Amy singt „Erinnerung“ bei The Voice Kids

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Ich freue mich sehr, dass wir die Eröffnung der Verhandlungen beschließen konnten,

I am very pleased that we were able to decide to begin the negotiations,

Caption 23, Angela Merkel: Gemeinsame Pressekonferenz mit Barack Obama

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This can also happen with the conditional and may involve the conjunction wenn:

Wir würden uns total freuen, wenn ihr beim nächsten Mal zu uns kommt.

We would be very happy if you joined us next time.

Caption 60, SingInKA-Chor: Interview

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Aber ich würde mich auf jeden Fall freuen, sie mal kennenzulernen.

But I would definitely be happy to meet her.

Caption 21, Cassandra Steen: Interview

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Often, however, there is no subordinate clause, and what is happening or has happened is expressed with a noun. In this case, you need the preposition über, which in this case translates to "about." 

Der Tierschutzverein Nied freut sich über jede ernstgemeinte Unterstützung.

The Nied Animal Protection Society is happy about any serious support.

Caption 58, Für Tierfreunde: Tierheim Nied

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Veranstalter Christian Müller freut sich über die hervorragenden Rahmenbedingungen.

Organizer Christian Müller is happy about the outstanding conditions.

Caption 31, Wintersport: Engadin Snow 2009

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With the preposition auf, the meaning of sich freuen changes slightly, because the future is referenced. Therefore, the most common translation of sich auf etwas freuen is "to look forward to something."

Sie freuen sich auf diesen Tag, genauso wie auch ich.

They're looking forward to this day, just like I am, too.

Caption 7, Allessa: Zu Weihnachten wünsch ich mir dich

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Ich freue mich auf deine Nachricht.

I'm looking forward to your message.

Caption 46, Deutsch mit Eylin: Ernährungsformen

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Further Learning
What are you happy about? What are you looking forward to? Construct a few sentences, looking for extra examples on Yabla German if you get stuck. 

As we saw a few weeks ago in the newsletter about the verb kaufen and its related verbs, prefixes are very important and can drastically change the meaning of the verb to which they are attached. You likely know the verb sprechen ("to speak"), but there are several verbs you can learn along with it that will expand your vocabulary greatly.

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Besprechen means "to talk about" or "to discuss," whereas versprechen means "to promise." Widersprechen means "to contradict" or "to argue." These are all non-separable verbs. 

Ich glaub, das müsste man dann auch eher mit dem Management besprechen.

I think we would have to talk to the management about that.

Caption 56, Cassandra Steen Interview - Part 3

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Die Zutatenliste haben wir nun besprochen.

We have now discussed the list of ingredients.

Caption 16, Cannelloni - mit Jenny - Part 1

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Versprechen Sie mir bitte, diesen Fehler nicht noch einmal zu begehen.

Please promise me not to make this mistake again.

Caption 56, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern - Part 1

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Zu verwirrt, um zu widersprechen, tat der junge Mann, was man ihm sagte.

Too confused to argue, the young man did as he was told.

Caption 50, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Der gestiefelte Kater

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Ansprechen means "to address" (or more colloquially "to bring up a matter" or "to appeal to a person") and is a separable verb. Take a look at the examples below:

Bevor ich die Sitzung unterbreche, muss ich noch folgenden Sachverhalt ansprechen.

Before I suspend this session, I have to address the following matter.

Captions 43-44, Bundesregierung Vereidigung der Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel

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Ganz hinten auch gern, Leute, ihr seid auch angesprochen.

Also in the very back, people, you are also being addressed.

Caption 2, Wincent Weiss - Feuerwerk

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Welche Leute sprecht ihr an, wer kommt hierher zum Lernen und was können die Menschen hier beigebracht bekommen?

Which people are you addressing, who comes here to learn and what can people be taught here?

Captions 23-24, Lokalhelden - Art House - Part 2

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Further Learning
Here you can find a list of verbs that involve sprechen and information about whether they are separable or inseparable. See if you can find these on Yabla German to get an English translation.