Sorry! Search is currently unavailable while the database is being updated, it will be back in 5 mins!

Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei

In English, one way of saying that an event is finished or done with is to say that it's "over." In German, the word über, though usually meaning "about,"  is sometimes translated as "over" when it is referring to the physical placement of something: 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Ganz zum Schluss verteile ich meinen Zuckerguss über den Kuchen.

Right at the end, I spread my sugar frosting over the cake.

Caption 36, Apfelkuchen - mit Eva

 Play Caption

 

But in German, if you want to say that an event is over, the word über turns out to be a kind of false friend: the correct term here is vorbei

 

Doch diese Zeiten sind vorbei

But those times are over

Caption 12, Christina Stürmer - Wir leben den Moment

 Play Caption

 

Meine Stunden bei der Gepäckverladung der Bodenverkehrsdienste sind vorbei.

My hours at the baggage loading area of the ground traffic services are over.

Caption 45, Selbst versucht - Gepäckabfertigung bei Fraport

 Play Caption

 

Es ist jetzt vorbei, ich starte neu

It's over now, I'm starting anew

Caption 7, Beatrice Egli - Irgendwann

 Play Caption

 

Depending upon the context, vorbei can also be translated as "passed," or "gone," or "past," to name a few possibilities:

 

Vier Jahre sind vorbei und unser Team ist mit dabei

Four years have passed and our team is in

Caption 9, Die gestiefelten Zwerge - Am Kap der Hoffnung steht der Cup

 Play Caption

 

... denn dann ist der Zauber vorbei.

... because then the magic is gone.

Caption 57, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Aschenputtel

 Play Caption

 

Der Winter ist vorbei.

The winter is past.

Caption 2, Jahreszeiten - Der Frühling

 Play Caption

 

Another possibility for expressing that something is over or has passed by is the adverb vorüber: 

 

So, jetzt ist der Haxen fertig, die drei Stunden sind vorüber.

So now the knuckle is finished, the three hours have passed by.

Caption 45, Kochen mit Cettina - Schweinshaxe

 Play Caption

 

Ein Jahr weht vorüber...

A year flies past...

Caption 24, rheinmain Szene - Selig

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and see the many other examples of vorbei and vorüber in a real world context. See too if you can correctly translate the title of this week's lesson: Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei. Hint: the direct translation "fat years" isn't quite right! 

French Words Used in German, Part 1

German has many French loan words or Gallicisms. You may wonder why it is helpful to know that some German words originally came from the French—in fact, an estimated 45% of English comes from French or Latin language sources, and very often the French words found in German are the same or very similar to the words found in English that originated from France. If you learn to recognize words in your native English as having a French origin, there is even a fair chance that these words are used in German. All the better if you happen to speak some French already!

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Let's take a look today at some of the more commonly used German words with a French origin that have obvious French word endings such as -ment, -ion, or -age.

 

Sie kann direkt hinüberblicken zum Parlament.

She can look directly across at the parliament.

Caption 33, Berlin - Hauptstadt des vereinten Deutschland

 Play Caption

 

Here das Parlament is spelled slightly differently from the French parlement and English "parliament."

 

Für mich hat's unheimlich viel mit der Emotion zu tun.​

For me, it has an awful lot to do with the emotion.

Caption 8, Astrid North - Solo-Debüt

 Play Caption

 

The German die Emotion is capitalized as a noun, and except for the accent in the French émotion, is written otherwise the same in all three languages. Notice the noun das Debüt in the title of the above video? That too is based on the French début, which is, of course, "debut" in English. 

 

Es war Ihre Verantwortung, diese Information zu versenden.

It was your responsibility to send this information.

Caption 40, Berufsleben - Probleme mit Mitarbeitern - Part 1

 Play Caption

 

Die Information is the same in all three languages, but is capitalized as a German noun. 

 

Genau, ähm, das war so eine Illusion.

Exactly, that was such an illusion.

Caption 74, Ehrlich Brothers - Show-Magier - Part 1

 Play Caption

 

Die Illusion is also the same in all three languages but capitalized in German.

 

Mein Rücken, der braucht erst mal eine ordentliche Massage.

My back, first of all, it needs a thorough massage.

Caption 60, Selbst versucht - Gepäckabfertigung bei Fraport

 Play Caption

 

Die Massage is the same noun in all three languages, though in German the verb is massieren.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

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. Next week we will discuss some more German words that originated from the French and have similar English equivalents.

How bitte and bitten differ from “please” and “to please”

The adverb bitte is probably used much more often in German than “please” is in English. This is because it has many different meanings, from “you’re welcome,” “pardon,” “may I help you” and “here you go” all the way back to simple “please.” On the other hand, the verb “to please” has a number of German equivalents, but the German verb bitten does not mean “to please,” but rather “to ask,” “to request,” “to beg” or “to plead.” So be aware that while these aren’t exactly false friends, they’re not completely equivalent.  

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

 

The adverb, please!

 

Let’s first check out the different ways bitte is used: Bitte is very commonly meant as “you’re welcome,” the standard response after somebody has thanked you for something: 

 

Also, vielen herzlichen Dank, dass ich heute mit dabei sein durfte!

So, many heartfelt thanks that I was allowed to be here today!

-Bitte, bitte

-You're welcome, you're welcome!

Captions 56-57, Selbst versucht - Gepäckabfertigung bei Fraport

 Play Caption

 

When you go into a restaurant or shop, often the first thing the waiter or salesperson will ask you is bitte schön or sometimes merely bitte, which in this case means “may I help you?” The second bitte is “please” again!

 

Ja, bitte schön. -Ich möchte zwei Brotchen und ein Dinkelbrot, bitte

Yes, may I help you? -I would like two rolls and a spelt bread, please.

 

Next up, a Yabla example of bitte in the sense of “here you are,” a commonplace usage when, for instance, a waiter hands you a menu in a restaurant. Note that the first use of bitte in this example is the standard meaning “please.”

 

Genau. -Speisekarten bitte!

Exactly. -Menus please!

So, bitte sehr.

So, here you are.

Captions 6-7, Melanie und Thomas - im Restaurant

 Play Caption

 

Lastly, the adverb bitte can also be used in the sense of “pardon”:

 

Ich heiße Angela Merkel. -Wie bitte? -Ich sagte, „Ich heiße Angela Merkel”.

My name is Angela Merkel. -Pardon me? -I said, “My name is Angela Merkel.”

 

Although at first it may seem a bit confusing with so many possible meanings for bitte, the contexts will give you a very good indication of meaning!

 

The verb “to please”

 

As we discussed, the German verb bitten means “to ask,” “to plead,” “to entreat,” or even “to beg.” So how do we “please” someone in German? The German sich freuen, zufrieden sein, and zufriedenstellen are all used in various ways “to please.” Here someone is pleased to greet another person:

 

Ich bedanke mich und würde mich freuen,

I thank you and I would be pleased

Sie mal persönlich hier bei uns begrüßen.

to greet you personally here with us.

Captions 55-56, Architektur - der Stadt Karlsruhe

 Play Caption

 

And here someone is pleased with the city:

 

Ich bin extrem zufrieden mit Offenburg, wirklich.

I am extremely pleased with Offenburg, really.

Caption 8, Barbara Schöneberger - Bambi-Verleihung backstage

 Play Caption

 

And here a person is pleased with a film:

 

Die abwechslungsreichen Kurzfilme werden an Orten gezeigt,

The varied short films are being shown at places

die auch Besucher mit ästhetischem Anspruch äußerst zufriedenstellen.

that please visitors supremely with an aesthetic claim.

Captions 3-4, Kurzfilm-Festival - Shorts at Moonlight

 Play Caption

 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

 

Learning suggestions:

 

Some other words meaning “to please,” which have varied shades of meaning such as “to make happy” and “to like,” are beglücken, behagen, and zu Gefallen sein. See if you can find a variety of these usages on Yabla and also check out Linguee, a great language resource site that takes published translations and posts them side by side with the original language so that you can see some real-world examples of words in different contexts. Ich denke, es wird euch gefallen!

Expressions