The verb erklären has two very different meanings, as does its noun form die Erklärung. One word having multiple meanings seems to happen more often in German than in English, if only for the fact that the German language has far fewer words than English. With fewer words in a language, it's more likely that a single word will have multiple meanings than in a language with a larger vocabulary!
The most common meaning of erklären is "to explain":
Kann jemand erklären, was ein Binnenhafen ist?
Can someone explain what an inland port is?
Caption 27, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Nordrhein-Westfalen
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Wir erklären euch, wie man in Deutschland Ostern feiert.
We'll explain to you how you celebrate Easter in Germany.
Caption 3, Cettina und Sabine: Ostern
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And the same applies to its noun form, die Erklärung:
Vielleicht gibt's eine einfache Erklärung für seine Angst.
Perhaps there's a simple explanation for his fear.
Caption 62, Großstadtrevier: Von Monstern und Mördern
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Es braucht Erklärungen, um die Brutalität und Banalität des Unrechts zu verstehen.
Explanations are required to grasp the brutality and banality of this injustice.
Caption 19, DDR zum Anfassen: Ganz tief im Westen
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However, the second most common meaning of the verb erklären (and its noun equivalent die Erklärung) is as follows:
Kein Problem mehr für die Bewohner vor Ort, erklären sie stolz.
No problem anymore for the local residents, they declare proudly.
Caption 20, 30 Jahre: Menschen für Menschen
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Ich erkläre hiermit, dass Sinus einem Tierheim übergeben wird.
I hereby declare that Sinus will be handed over to a shelter.
Caption 70, Yabla Gerichtshof: Das verzogene Hündchen
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Note that the noun die Erklärung, when used with the meaning "declaration," is often paired with another noun as the latter half of a compound noun:
Jetzt also die Liebeserklärung an das Meer.
So now, the declaration of love for the sea.
Caption 26, Herbert Grönemeyer: stellt sein neues Album vor
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Eine entsprechende Absichtserklärung zwischen der People's Bank of China und der Deutschen Bundesbank wurde am vergangenen Freitag in Berlin unterzeichnet.
A corresponding declaration of intent between the People's Bank of China and the German Federal Bank was signed last Friday in Berlin.
Captions 3-4, Frankfurt wird Handelszentrum: für die chinesische Währung Yuan
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There are a number of German verbs nouns for "declare," such as the rather obvious deklarieren and the less obvious verkünden. Some nouns using die Erklärung as "to declare," such as die Kriegserklärung, also have words with similar meanings, such as die Kampfansage. Both of these words mean "declaration of war," something we've all seen far too much of in the last several years.
Further Learning
Luckily, in real-world usage, it's usually quite easy to tell by the context in which the words are used if the meaning "to explain" (explanation) or the meaning "to declare" (declaration) is intended. For details of the verb's conjugation, see this video about erklären on Yabla German.
When talking about time in German, one word that is often found alone or as a root is das Mal. Not to be confused with das Mahl, which means "the meal," das Mal without an "h" means "the time" in the sense of "the instance." You've certainly seen sentences like this on Yabla German:
Bis zum nächsten Mal.
Till next time.
Caption 53, Abendessen: mit Marko
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There are a number of words that employ this word as a root to express a more specific relation to time. For example, einmal means "once," and so einmalig is an adjective that describes something that happens only once, or is exceptionally unique.
Diese Ansprache, die gibt es ja normalerweise nur einmal im Jahr.
This address is usually only given once a year.
Caption 3, Coronavirus: Kommentar zu Angela Merkels Rede
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Wir haben heute eine einmalige Aktion vor uns ...
We have a one-time special ahead of us today...
Caption 6, Coronavirus: Drei Musiker geben Ballonkonzert über Cloppenburg
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Ja, also wir bauen einen Baum auf, der ist drei Meter fünfzig hoch, das ist so... so einmalig.
Yes, well, we put up a tree there which is three meters fifty tall, that's so... so unique.
Captions 11-12, Weihnachten geht baden: Tannenbaum unter Wasser
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You may have also seen erstmal, which means "first," temporally speaking. If something is erstmalig, it is happening for the first time (zum ersten Mal).
Und dieser Boden ist hier in Darmstadt in der Centralstation ja erstmalig in Deutschland im Einsatz.
And this floor is here in Darmstadt in the Centralstation is in use for the first time in Germany.
Captions 1-2, Organic Disco: Tanzen gegen den Klimawandel
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Now let's look at ehemals/ehemalig and damals/damalig, which both refer to the past. You'll see these words translated in different ways on Yabla, but often with "back then," "at the time," and "former," depending on whether an adverb or adjective/adjectival phrase is required.
Es war damals irgendwie total uncool, ein Auto zu haben.
It was somehow totally uncool to have a car back then.
Caption 33, Deutsch mit Eylin: Menschen beschreiben
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Und die damalige Geschäftsführerin hat den Sender hier rübergebracht ...
And the former managing director brought the station over here...
Caption 52, Rhein-Main-TV: Interview mit Edmund Stössel
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In Pforzheim steht nach Angaben des Betreibers das einzige DDR-Museum auf ehemals westdeutschem Boden...
In Pforzheim, according to accounts of the operator, stands the only GDR museum on former West German soil...
Captions 7-8, DDR zum Anfassen Ganz tief im Westen
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Rund viertausend Besucher kommen jährlich nach Pforzheim, um etwas über die ehemalige DDR zu lernen.
Around four thousand visitors come yearly to Pforzheim to learn something about the former GDR.
Captions 39-40, DDR zum Anfassen Ganz tief im Westen
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Further Learning
Build some sentences with einmal, zweimal, dreimal, and viermal that describe how often you have been to certain places or how often you do certain tasks during the week. Then look for examples of damals, ehemals, damalig, and ehemalig translated on Yabla German to get a sense of the nuances.
English, as a Germanic language, has many words that are originally derived from German. Many of these words have had their roots in the English language for over a thousand years, but there are also German words that have been adopted by English speakers much more recently. Let's take a look at some of these German latecomers today!
The German noun die Angst, as used in the phrase Angst vor etwas haben, is commonly translated as "to be scared," "to be afraid," or "to be frightened," but only occasionally as the English word "angst." The reason for this is that the English word is often used in a more intellectual context when writing about art, sociology, or psychology. In English, it's not merely "being afraid" in the German sense of Angst haben, but rather, as the Oxford dictionary describes it, "a feeling of deep anxiety or dread, typically an unfocused one about the human condition or the state of the world in general." English seems to have adopted "angst" in order to give it a meaning far more specific than plain old "being afraid."
Die typischen deutschen Gerichte sind immer so einfach. Bratwurst, Currywurst, alles immer mit Wurst.
The typical German dishes are always so simple. Bratwurst, currywurst, everything always with wurst.
Captions 31-33, Nicos Weg: Essen gehen
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As you see above, the English versions of the German nouns follow English rules for lowercase capitalization. A good code-switching pun—if there is such a thing as a good pun—will take us from bad to Wurst. Actually, since "wurst" is English too, it's not even code-switching unless you capitalize the noun and format it as italics!
Dort auf der von ihm legendär besungenen geilen Meile Reeperbahn steht seit mehr als einem Jahr sein Doppelgänger aus Wachs.
There on the lecherous Reeperbahn mile, which he famously sung about, his doppelgänger made of wax has been standing for more than one year.
Captions 13-14, 65 Jahre: Udo Lindenberg
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According to Merriam-Webster, the preferred American English spelling of this is with the umlaut ä, though doppelganger with a standard English "a" is also an accepted spelling. The Brits, however, want nothing to do with an umlaut—another German word found in English by the way—and only accept the spelling "doppelganger." Well, more umlauts for us Americans then!
Auf der Konsumgütermesse Tendence in Frankfurt dominiert Kitsch viele Stände.
At the consumer products trade show "Tendence" in Frankfurt, kitsch dominates many booths.
Caption 2, Auftrumpfen: Mit Kitsch und Protz
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Back when I was a kid in the last millennium or before, a friend of mine with German parents showed me one of his parent's German books about kitsch, and a new word entered our everyday vocabulary. It made us sound smarter than we probably were to say "Oh, that's kitschy" instead of "Oh, that's trashy" or "that's tacky." Anyway it probably impressed our small-town American teachers, who may not have even known what it meant themselves!
Tja, Schadenfreude ist eben doch die schönste Freude.
Well, schadenfreude is still the best kind of enjoyment.
Caption 36, Umweltlernen: Propellerpflanzen am Kräutertag
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One could argue that the German invention of the word Schadenfreude, which means "a pleasure derived from the pain of others," says some not very nice things about German culture. But it could also be argued that it shows how the German culture had accurate insight into the human psyche, and this as early as the first appearance of the word in 1740. According to some studies, schadenfreude has been observed in children as young as 24 months of age. Hopefully, humans will eventually evolve beyond such sordid pleasures and develop a better sense of empathy for their fellow human beings, even those they dislike.
Further Learning
A number of German words adopted by English tend to be used much more often in written English than in spoken English, which is why you may not find them so often in Yabla German videos. Look up the words die Gestalt, die Weltanschauung, and der Weltschmerz in the DWDS dictionary, then compare them to their English equivalents in an English dictionary. Are the meanings nearly identical, such as Bratwurst (bratwurst) and Doppelgänger (doppelgänger) are? Or are they somewhat different, as Angst (angst) is?
But then you hopefully knew that already! You may not, however, be completely familiar with differences between the two words and the different meanings they can have in specific contexts.
The most common translation of the pronoun etwas is "something":
Etwas hat sich schon verändert.
Something has indeed changed.
Caption 11, 2raumwohnung - Achtung fertig
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Und doch hat diese Ausstellung etwas sehr Besonderes.
However, this exhibition has something very distinct about it.
Caption 5, DDR zum Anfassen - Ganz tief im Westen
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However, when etwas is used as an adjective pronoun (usually a possessive, or noting quantities of something), it can be translated as "a bit," "somewhat," or less commonly, the simple "some":
Planktonfresser hin oder her, ihm ist doch etwas mulmig geworden,
Plankton eaters or not, he did get a bit queasy
Caption 25, Abenteuer Nordsee - Unter Riesenhaien und Tintenfischen
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Bachforellen sind etwas kleiner als die ursprünglich hier lebenden Marmoratas.
Freshwater trout are somewhat smaller than the marble trout that originally lived here.
Caption 1, Alpenseen - Kühle Schönheiten
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...verlor das Fahrrad zwischenzeitlich etwas an Bedeutung.
...the bicycle lost some of its significance for a while.
Caption 25, 200. Geburtstag - Die Geschichte des Fahrrads in 2 Minuten
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The adverb etwa can be translated as "about," "approximately" or "something like." It is most often used before a numerical measurement:
Und es sind etwa 35 Kilometer von den
And it's about 35 kilometers from the
weißen Klippen von Dover zu den Sanddünen von Calais.
white cliffs of Dover to the sand dunes of Calais.
Caption 20, Abenteuer Nordsee - Unter Riesenhaien und Tintenfischen
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Jährlich werden pro Person in Deutschland etwa 160 Liter Kaffee getrunken.
Every year, approximately 160 liters of coffee are drunk in Germany per person.
Caption 5, Eva zeigt uns - wie man Kaffee kocht
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Das bedeutet etwa „Ende des Sommers“.
That means something like "end of the summer."
Caption 6, Cettina erklärt - Halloween
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The adverb etwa can also be used as a grammatical particle, which is often difficult to directly translate, but in this case lends a suggestion of disbelief to the statement:
Rauchst du etwa wieder?
Are you smoking again?
Caption 4, 12 heißt: Ich liebe dich - Kapitel 3: Erfolgreiche Vernehmung
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Zweifelst du etwa an der Aufrichtigkeit meiner Gefühle?
Are you doubting the sincerity of my feelings?
Caption 9, Küss mich, Frosch - Die Zeiten haben sich geändert
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As you see in the two examples above, etwa is not directly translated. A more literary translation of the above examples, which gives them more of an expression of disbelief on the part of the speakers, could respectively be: "But you aren't smoking again?" and "But you aren't doubting the sincerity of my feelings?"
Further Learning
Read the definition and examples given for the particle usage of etwa on Duden, and search for etwa and etwas on Yabla German to see other examples of these words used in a real-world context.
The referendum in Great Britain to leave the European Union was nicknamed "Brexit," a portmanteau of the words "Britain" and "exit." The same nickname was used in Germany. Let's take a moment to divert our attention from that event and focus instead on the different ways we can say "exit" in German.
Wir können die nächste Ausfahrt nehmen oder noch weiterfahr'n
We can take the next exit or keep on driving
Caption 7, Deutsche Bands - Luxuslärm
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Die Ausfahrt is the most commonly seen translation of "exit" and is usually used in reference to the off-ramp of a roadway.
Wo ich reinkomm', geht man raus.
Where I enter, they exit.
Caption 43, Frank Zander - Hier kommt Kurt
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This is "exit" in its simple slang form of rausgehen, or "to go out."
Und zeigst nur stumm auf die Ausgangstür
And just point silently to the exit door
Caption 10, Herbert Grönemeyer - Was soll das?
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Der Ausgang is usually meant as the point where you leave a building.
Brüller [Umgangssprache], Lacher, Brüller, Abgang,
Big laugh, laugher, big laugh, exit,
mehr ist net [Dialekt, nicht] zu machen.
there isn't more to do.
Caption 19, Ab durch die Heimat - 4 Comedians unterwegs im Südwesten
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Der Abgang is the simple act of leaving or the act of leaving a specific sphere of activity. It can also mean the person who has left, as in "the one who left," although the more common terms are der Abgänger or die Abgängerin. Der Abgang is still occasionally used in medical and military circles to refer to death.
Das sind alles Leute, die eigentlich nichts weiter verbrochen haben,
These are all people who actually violated nothing more
als dass sie vielleicht einen Ausreiseantrag gestellt.
than that they perhaps submitted an exit visa application.
Captions 27-28, DDR zum Anfassen - Ganz tief im Westen
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Der Ausreiseantrag or "exit visa application" uses the word die Ausreise for "exit," which on its own would usually be translated as "departure." Hopefully the citizens of the United Kingdom —possibly soon consisting only of non-EU countries England and Wales — will not be required to file an Ausreiseantrag in order to leave what remains of the UK. It is nearly certain, however, that they will now have to get a residence permit (die Aufenthaltserlaubnis) to live in the EU.
Further Learning
Do a search on Yabla German to see the different ways that terms for "exit" such as der Abgang, die Ausfahrt, and der Ausgang are used in a real world context.
A syllabic abbreviation is formed by taking the first syllable of several words and putting them together. It is a common practice in German that is rarely used in English. One English syllabic abbreviation you may recognize is Interpol, formed from "international police." You may not have known that the word for the Nazi secret police terror organization the Gestapo comes from a syllabic abbreviation of die Geheime Staatspolizei. Note that the gender of a German abbreviation is determined by the main noun of the word it is derived from, hence die Gestapo. Let's take a brief look at some other common German syllabic abbreviations.
Stasi-Akten aus dem Schredder...
Stasi [acronym for state security] files from the shredder...
Caption 2, DDR zum Anfassen - Ganz tief im Westen
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The notorious East German secret police die Stasi also had their own syllabic abbreviation, in this case formed from die Staatssicherheit, the Ministry of State Security.
Das sind Fragen für die Kripo [Kriminalpolizei],
Those are questions for the criminal investigation department,
nicht für uns.
not for us.
Caption 14, Großstadtrevier - Von Monstern und Mördern
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In this case, die Kripo is derived from die Kriminalpolizei, the department of the police that specializes in criminal investigations. But let's get away from the police while we still can!
Du musst in die Kita [Kindertagesstätte].
You have to go to daycare.
Caption 20, Mama arbeitet wieder - Kapitel 1: Alle haben sich lieb
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Ironic, considering its German origin, that the most common German word for a daycare center is not der Kindergarten, but rather die Kita, an abbreviation of die Kindertagesstätte.
Ich stehe hier vor dem Audimax.
I am standing here in front of the main lecture hall.
Caption 28, Universität - Karlsruhe
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At the university level, the term das Audimax is standard student parlance for the largest lecture hall of a given university, and in this case is an abbreviation of the Latin term auditorium maximum.
Further Learning
Take a look at this German article about syllabic abbreviations and go to German Yabla to find some of the words and phrases used in context.
The German verb brauchen can be translated in a number of ways, including "to need," "to be required," "to make use of," "to take," and "to use," and has some additional idiomatic usages. See some of the these subtle differences in context in these Yabla videos:
Wir brauchen jetzt zwei Millionäre.
We now need two millionaires.
Caption 11, Deutschkurs in Blaubeuren - Der Relativsatz
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Es braucht Erklärungen, um die Brutalität und Banalität des Unrechts zu verstehen.
Explanations are required to grasp the brutality and banality of this injustice.
Caption 19, DDR zum Anfassen - Ganz tief im Westen
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Von wegen körperloser Sport,
So much for non-contact sports,
hätt' ich meinen Helm doch gebraucht.
I still could've made use of my helmet after all.
Caption 46, Ultimate Frisbee - Oli erklärt das Spiel
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Der Teig hat doch eine ganze Stunde gebraucht, um fertig zu werden.
The batter did indeed take a whole hour to be ready.
Caption 17, Weihnachtsplätzchen backen - mit Diane und vielen kleinen Helfern
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Wo werden denn heute noch Katapulte gebraucht?
Where are catapults still used today?
Caption 12, Bretten - Das Peter-und-Paul-Fest
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Here are a couple of examples of idiomatic usage of brauchen too:
Du brauchst mir die nächsten zehn Tage nicht unter die Augen [sic: zu] kommen.
For the next ten days, you don't need to come under my eyes [idiom: I don't want to see you].
Caption 12, Fußball und die Frauenwelt - Das Foul
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Alle naslang brauchst du das.
You need that all noses long [idiom: repeatedly in short intervals].
Caption 18, Otto Waalkes - Die verflixte Rechenaufgabe
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Further Learning:
For many more examples of brauchen and details of its conjugation, see the Yabla video Konjugation - Das Verb „brauchen“.
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