In our last lesson on false friends, we discussed a few false cognates that begin with the letter B. Today, we're moving one stop further down the alphabet to learn about some falsche Freunde starting with C and D:
der Chef / die Chefin: the boss or departmental head
False English friend: chef, the head cook (German: der Chefkoch / die Chefköchin, der Küchenchef / die Küchenchefin)
Ich werde morgen mit meinem Chef reden.
I will talk with my boss tomorrow.
Caption 53, Lektionen - Morgen
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dezent: discreet, discreetly, low-key, unobtrusive
False English friend: decent, appropriate, fitting (German: anständig, ordentlich)
Normalerweise sind die Tuaregs ja auch eher dezent gekleidet.
Normally the Tuaregs are indeed dressed rather discreetly.
Caption 46, Rat für nachhaltige Entwicklung - Mode gegen Armut
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Dose: can, tin
False English friend: dose, a quantity of medicine (German: die Dosis)
... denn über den Schaumwein in Dosen geht ihr nichts.
... because for her, there's nothing like the sparkling wine in cans.
Caption 17, Paris Hilton - in Frankfurt
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Further Learning:
Try to find more words in German and English that sound similar but have different meanings. For a thorough list of German false friends, take a look at this extensive chart and then search Yabla videos to find the words used in context!
All Mel Brooks jokes aside, Germany is a cold, gray place in winter, and the first hints of spring draw everyone out into the sunshine like hibernating bears emerging from their winter caves. Springtime is truly appreciated in Northern Europe, not like your year-round boring Southern California sunshine, and with this special time of year come special springtime activities, as well.
How better to get about than on a bicycle?
Frühlingszeit ist Fahrradzeit,
Springtime is bike time,
also raus mit dem Drahtesel [Umgangssprache]
so get out the "wire donkey" [your trusty bike]
und ab auf die Piste.
and hit the road.
Captions 1-2, Fahrrad - Frühjahrs-Check
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And as you pass by Viktoriapark in Berlin's Kreuzberg district,
Man kann sich dort sonnen, Frisbee spielen oder ein Picknick machen.
You can sun yourself, play frisbee, or have a picnic.
Caption 9, Berlin - Eva im Viktoriapark
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After all that sunshine, what better way to cool off than with some exotically flavored ice cream?
Leopardeneis und Vanilleeis,
Leopard ice cream and vanilla ice cream,
ein Traum für einen sonnigen Frühlingsnachmittag.
a dream for a sunny spring afternoon.
Caption 46, Eis - Eiskalte Leidenschaft
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This is the time to really enjoy life, after all!
Das ist der Frühling...
This is spring...
alle freuen sich: die Tiere, die Pflanzen, die Menschen.
everyone rejoices: the animals, the plants, the people.
Captions 10-11, Jahreszeiten - Der Frühling
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Further Learning:
Gardening is also a very popular spring and summer activity. Go to this extensive garden glossary and then go outside and see if you can put some of your new vocabulary to practical use in nature! After getting some fresh air, see if you can find some of the newly-learned springtime terms in context in a video on German Yabla!
Has anyone ever had the audacity to doubt you, despite your obvious inborn genius and natural talents? The best response to such outrageous treatment is, of course, to put the disbelievers firmly in their place, and this is best accomplished through modifiers that express certainty, ways of emphasizing that there can simply be no doubt: you are the greatest, and they are just going to have to live with the fact.
Former German president Christian Wulff may have been forced to resign in a 2012 scandal, but nobody ever doubted his support for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup:
Die Unterstützung des Schirmherrn aus dem Schloss Bellevue
The support of the patron from Bellevue Castle
ist also gewiss.
is certain.
Captions 13-14, Frauenfußball-WM - Der Bundespräsident am Ball
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As to life after the resignation, Wulff may be facing difficulties similar to those of an animal shelter in Nied:
Die Zeiten werden rauer, so viel steht fest.
The times are getting rougher, that is for sure.
Caption 48, Für Tierfreunde - Tierheim Nied
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Though Wulff's smile is still looking good, there's always room for improvement, as suggested by Diane and Franca:
Wenn ich weniger Schokolade essen würde,
If I ate less chocolate,
wäre mein Zahnarzt bestimmt zufriedener mit mir.
my dentist would certainly be happier with me.
Captions 30-31, Konjugation - Das Verb „essen“
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And were Wulff to be accused of smuggling a polar bear into the Frankfurt Zoo, he would surely respond:
Doch wie Sie sicherlich wissen,
But as you surely know,
gibt's im Frankfurter Zoo keine Eisbären.
there aren't any polar bears in the Frankfurt Zoo.
Caption 11, Umfragen - Zootiere im Winter
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Further Learning:
Gewiss, feststehen, bestimmt, and sicherlich are just a few examples of the many ways of expressing certainty in German. Go the the aforementioned interview with former German president Christian Wulff on Yabla and see if you can find other examples of Mr. Wulff expressing certainty. As the old saying goes, Hochmut kommt vor dem Fall.
The German combination of wo with a preposition is good for asking questions to clarify specific situations when warum (why) is too general. Since wo is generally translated as "where" in English, the wo + preposition combination can cause confusion among German beginners, since in this case wo is usually translated as "what." If the man is waiting (Er wartet), you may be tempted to ask what he is waiting for. Für was wartet er? would be wrong and a typical beginner's mistake — correct is Worauf wartet er? This translates as "What is he waiting for?", thus worauf is "what for."
Wo can be combined with the following prepositions: an, auf, aus, bei, durch, für, gegen, in, mit, nach, über, unter, von, vor, and zu. Note that when combining wo with a preposition that starts with a vowel, the letter r is added between wo and the preposition: woran, worauf, woraus, worin, worüber, worunter. This may seem complicated at first, but in context you will find it much easier than expected! Here are some examples from Yabla:
Der Höhepunkt des Abends,
The highlight of the evening,
worauf alle gewartet haben...
which everybody had been waiting for...
Caption 35, Rund um den Flughafen - Der neue Airbus A-380
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Es macht viel Spaß,
It's a lot of fun,
wobei die Füße jetzt langsam anfangen doch etwas zu schmerzen.
although the feet now are indeed slowly starting to ache somewhat.
Captions 10-11, IAA - Traumland für Autobegeisterte
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Ich weiß nicht, wovon Sie sprechen!
I don't know what you're talking about!
Caption 10, Kein Kredit - im Land der Klone
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Further Learning:
Go the the main Yabla German page and search for some of the following wo + preposition combinations: woran = on what, of which; worauf = at which, whereupon; woraus = from what, whence; wobei = whereby, although; wodurch = by which means, whereby; wofür = for what; wogegen = against what; worin = in what, wherein; womit = whereby, wherewith; wonach = after what, whereupon; worüber = about what, whereat; worunter = under which, from what; wovon = from what, whereof; wovor = of what, in front of what; wozu = what for, why.
False Friends ("Falsche Freunde") - Part 1
False Friends ("Falsche Freunde") - Part 3
False Friends ("Falsche Freunde") - Part 4
In our last lesson on false friends, we discussed a few false cognates that begin with the letter A. Today, we're moving one stop further down the alphabet to learn about some falsche Freunde starting with B:
das Bad: the bath or bathroom (room with a bath, not the toilet!)
False friend: bad: of low quality or poor standard (German: schlecht)
Jetzt packe ich noch die Sachen vom Bad in den Koffer.
Now, I'll still pack the things from the bathroom into the suitcase.
Caption 18, Christiane - fährt in den Urlaub
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bekommen: to get or receive
False friend: become: to begin to be, to develop into (German: werden)
Ich hab' noch nie einen Preis bekommen in Deutschland.
I've never received an award in Germany.
Caption 17, DIVA-Verleihung - Schauspieler des Jahres
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brav: good, well-behaved
False friend: brave: possessing or exhibiting courage (German: tapfer, mutig)
Und wer nicht brav war, der soll auch noch darum bitten.
And those who were not good, they should even beg for it.
Caption 14, Jan Wittmer - Weihnachtslied
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Further Learning:
Try to find more words in German and English that sound similar but have different meanings. For a thorough list of German false friends, take a look at this extensive chart.
If you are a soccer fan, you are probably already familiar with many soccer terms, but here are few that may be new for you!
A referee is a Schiedsrichter, but just as "ref" is often used as a shorter form for "referee" in English, so too in German is Schiri a shortening of Schiedsrichter:
Am besten holt sich jeder Schiri... knöpft sich einen Spieler vor.
It would be best if every ref got... to button up a player.
Caption 30, Die OLElympischen Spiele - Laotischer Hühnertanz
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The slang term Gelb sehen, literally to "see yellow," means a player has been penalized with a yellow penalty card:
Dafür habe ich aber 'ne gelbe Karte wegen Foulspielen an 'n Rasen bekommen,
For that, however, I received a yellow card for foul play against the field,
Caption 49, Rhein-Main-TV aktuell - Kick für Kids
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In the above caption you see the football terms das Foulspiel (foul play) and der Rasen (the playing field) too!
A penalty shot is called an Elfmeter, literally an "eleven meter," in reference to the distance from the goal, and in this case the shot was verschossen or "missed":
Aus Scham über den verschossenen Elfmeter pumpt Vettel erst mal ein paar Liegestütze.
From shame over the missed eleven meter [penalty shot], Vettel first pumps a few push-ups.
Caption 40, Fußball - Prominente beim Benefizspiel
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Here we manage to get four football terms in a single sentence!
Es ist ein Laufduell, ein Pass, der vor die Abwehr kommt, und ein Zweikampf.
It's a sprinting duel, a pass that comes before the defense, and a tackle.
Caption 37, Fußball - U21-Nationalmannschaft
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Further Learning:
Pop quiz: without peeking, what do the terms we just read about mean? Der Schiri, die gelbe Karte, das Foulspiel, der Rasen, verschossen, der Elfmeter, das Laufduell, der Pass, die Abwehr, der Zweikampf. If you would like to go beyond vocabulary and into some very funny German soccer philosophy, read the article in der Spiegel entitled "German Football's Greatest Sayings."
Perhaps you are interested in German because you fell in love, or maybe there is that "special someone" in German class you have a bit of a crush on. We all know the basic Ich liebe dich — the Beatles even did a version of “She Loves You” in German ("Sie liebt dich") — but how about some other ways to express your attraction for somebody?
It might not be a great idea to say you love somebody too soon, so to play it safe, let’s just say you like him or her, in which case the verb mögen is perfect:
Oh nein, niemand mag mich!
Oh no, no one likes me!
Caption 43, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Das hässliche Entlein
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Another way of expressing that you like someone is to say you “have them gladly” (gern haben) or care for them (lieb haben):
Wenn man jemanden richtig gern und lieb hat...
If you really are really fond of someone and love them...
Caption 42, Valentinstag - in Karlsruhe
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Another possibility is du gefällst mir, or if you want to make it even stronger, du gefällst mir sehr. Then the next step is falling in love, sich verlieben:
Der Prinz hatte sich verliebt.
The prince had fallen in love.
Caption 9, Märchenstunde - Das Aschenputtel
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When you are ready to make the leap, however, there is always the classic standby:
John, ich liebe dich. -Adrianne, ich liebe dich!
John, I love you. -Adrianne, I love you!
Captions 13-14, Alexander Hauff - Showreel
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Followed ideally by the grand finale:
Ich möchte dich heiraten.
I want to marry you.
Caption 86, Märchen - Sagenhaft - Der Froschkönig
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Further Learning:
How do I love thee? Rather than getting into counting the ways and all the mathematics involved, why not try getting a taste of German love poems from the 16th to the 20th centuries, including an exclusive set from German women poets? Make a vocabulary list of words you are unfamiliar with, and then search on Yabla to find the ways the words are used in other contexts.
Many words in German look like words in English, but can be tricky because they actually have different meanings. These paired words are called false friends or false cognates and can be the source of many difficulties when starting to learn a new language. Here are a few examples from Yabla, all starting with the letter A:
absolvieren: to finish a course of study or exam
False friend: absolve: to declare (someone) free from guilt, obligation, or punishment (German: entlasten)
Auch wenn man ein Studium absolviert hat...
Even after finishing a study...
Caption 88, Lokalhelden - Art House
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aktuell: current, latest
False friend: actual: existing in fact; real. (German: eigentlich, wirklich)
Neunundsechzig: die aktuelle Diskussion.
Sixty-nine is the current debate.
Caption 46, Kurzfilm-Festival - Shorts at Moonlight
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die Argumentation: the reasoning, process of reasoning
False friend: argument: an exchange of diverging or opposite views, typically a heated or angry one (German: der Streit)
Das hessische Ministerium
The Hessian Ministry
hat kein Verständnis für diese Argumentation.
has no understanding for this reasoning.
Captions 28-29, Deutsche Autobahnen - Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzungen
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Further Learning:
Try to find more words in German and English that sound similar but have different meanings. For a very funny commentary in German containing false friends, read this dialog on Grimm Grammar. Bis bald! (No, this is not about hair loss…)
Expressing dates or the passage of time in German sometimes parallels English, and sometimes doesn't. Let’s take a closer look to get our dates straight.
The standard expression “on the [day] of [month]” is similar in form to English:
Am dreizehnten April zweitausendneunundzwanzig...
On the thirteenth of April, two thousand twenty-nine...
Caption 48, Unser Universum - Asteroiden - Gefahr aus dem All?
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The expression of passing time “from the [day] of [month] to the [day] of [month]" goes like this:
Vom achtzehnten Juni bis zum zwölften Juli...
From the eighteenth of June till the twelfth of July...
Caption 4, Das Tollwood-Festival - BAP und Clueso in der Musik-Arena
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Instead of vom, the preposition ab can be used to express the start of an event:
Ab Juni wird der Riesenvogel dann in Linienbetrieb gehen.
From June, the giant bird will be starting route service.
Caption 49, Rund um den Flughafen - Der neue Airbus A-380
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One German date-related expression that differs from English is "Wir haben gerade":
Wir haben gerade Oktober.
Just now, we have October.
Caption 5, Herbst - mit Eva
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Yabla has translated this very literally in order to show the language parallels, but another way of translating Wir haben gerade Oktober could be: “It is now October.”
Further Learning:
If you state the day of the week with the date, you use the form: Am Freitag, dem 21. Februar. Note the dative article dem used for the month. On the other hand, if you are writing a formal letter, you write the city name and the accusative article: Berlin, den 21. Februar. There has been a creeping tendency recently in German to express the year (in German) as in 2014, which is an Anglicism and considered poor style in formal German. Historically, German uses either just 2014 or im Jahr 2014, but not in 2014. Natives speakers of English learning German often get confused about this; luckily now you know better!
Many German expressions having to do with money are very similar to those in English, in fact the expressions may have been derived from and adapted by one or the other of the two languages. Some examples are: Geld waschen (to launder money), Das Geld zum Fenster hinauswerfen (to throw money out the window) and nach Geld stinken (to be filthy rich). Some expressions are not quite so direct, however, such as: Geld regiert die Welt (money makes the world go round, literally "money rules the world"), Im Geld schwimmen (to roll in money, literally "to swim in money"), and Das Geld liegt nicht auf der Straße (money doesn't grow on trees, literally "money doesn't lie on the street"). Here are some more examples from Yabla videos:
This one is pretty obvious:
Zeit ist Geld und Geld ist gut
Time is money and money is good
Caption 9, Jan Wittmer - Leben für den Lebenslauf
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Here the expression Es geht ins Geld means it will get expensive:
Dann geht es aber auch irgendwann mal ins Geld.
Then at some point, however, it will also start costing money.
Caption 29, Endlich glücklich - Liebe im Netz
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But this is the most important thing of all to remember about money:
Geld allein ist nicht alles.
Money alone isn't everything.
Caption 62, Für Tierfreunde - Tierheim Nied
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Learning Suggestions:
See if you can understand the correct English meanings for the following German money-related expressions without resorting to a search engine or online dictionary by just using the vocabulary you already have: Geld allein macht nicht glücklich; Wer den Pfennig nicht ehrt, ist des Talers nicht wert (a hint on this one: a Taler is an old-fashioned currency like the dollar or euro); Sie haben Geld wie Heu; Es geht nur ums Geld; and last of all, the most difficult one: Unrecht Gut gedeihet nicht.
A light verb (Funktionsverb, also called vector verb or empty verb) is a verb that has very little intrinsic meaning on its own and requires an additional expression, usually a noun, to give it meaning. Some light verb expressions in German are similar to English, and therefore easy to understand, such as Einfluss ausüben (to exert infuence), zu Ende sein (to be at an end, to be over) or in Sicht bleiben (to remain in view). But many other German light verbs do not have direct parallels in English and are somewhat more difficult to understand. Let's look to some Yabla videos for some examples!
in Angriff nehmen (to attack, to tackle, to proceed with):
Und dann mal schauen, ob wir eventuell irgendwas Live-mäßiges in Angriff nehmen.
and then [we'll] see if we perhaps take on something live.
Caption 16, rheinmain Szene - Selig
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unter Druck stehen (to be under pressure):
Ich denke, dass die Russen natürlich genauso unter Druck stehen.
I think that the Russians are certainly under an equal amount of pressure.
Caption 13, Fußball - Die deutsche Nationalmannschaft
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auf etwas Rücksicht nehmen (to show consideration for):
Wenn die Menschen doch nur mehr Rücksicht aufeinander nehmen würden.
If only people would show more consideration for one another.
Caption 10, Rücksicht im Verkehr - Christophorus - Die Mission
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Learning Suggestions:
See if you can find out the proper English meanings for the following German expressions containing light verbs: eine Anwendung finden, in Verlegenheit geraten, eine Mitteilung machen, eine Wahl treffen, unter Beobachtung stehen, zu Ansehen gelangen, in Druck geben, sich in Abhängigkeit befinden, in Erfahrung bringen, in Auftrag geben, in Frage stellen.
Are you bored with the same old clichés every year about the upcoming year? Let's go "back to the future" and take a look at some original aphorisms from classic German authors, followed up with a word from the aphorism used in another context in a Yabla video:
Wird's besser? Wird’s schlimmer? fragt man alljährlich.
Seien wir ehrlich: Leben ist immer lebensgefährlich!
Will it get better? Will it get worse? You ask every year.
Let's be honest: Life is always life-threatening!
Erich Kästner (1899–1974)
Ein paar Jahre zuvor wäre das noch lebensgefährlich gewesen.
A few years prior, this would still have been life-threatening.
Caption 14, Curly Horses - Pferdeglück auch für Allergiker
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Ich kann freilich nicht sagen, ob es besser wird, wenn es anders wird,
Aber soviel kann ich sagen: Es muss anders werden, wenn es gut werden soll.
I cannot say, of course, if it will be better when it is different,
But this much I can say: It must be different, if it is going to get better.
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799)
Ja, freilich! So machen wir das, jedes Jahr aufs Neue.
Yes, of course! We do it like this every year again and again.
Caption 17, München - Krampuslauf auf dem Christkindlmarkt
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Gut ist der Vorsatz, aber die Erfüllung ist schwer.
Good is the resolution, but the fulfillment is difficult.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832)
Die Arbeit mit den Tieren ist die Erfüllung eines Lebenstraums.
The work with the animals is the fulfillment of a life's dream.
Caption 62, Für Tierfreunde - Falknerei Feldberg
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Learning Suggestions:
The "Happy New Year!" greeting is different in different parts of Germany: Frohes neues Jahr (Northern Hesse); Frohes neues (Middle Rhein and Hesse); Gesundes neues Jahr (Eastern Germany); Gesundes neues (Dresden region); Gutes neues Jahr (Austria); Gutes neues (Baden-Württemberg, Switzerland and parts of Bavaria); Prosit Neujahr (Eastern Austria, Vienna); and Prost Neujahr (parts of Western Germany). But are you familiar with the German New Year's greeting "Ich wünsche dir einen guten Rutsch"? See last year's Yabla German Lesson Rutsch and rutschen: A Good “Slide” into the New Year! to find out more! ou can also read something by the authors quoted above. For beginners, Erich Kästner's Emil und die Detektive makes for a fun read. Readers of all levels can enjoy the many clever sayings of physicist Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, who is known as the father of the German aphorism. For the very advanced, there is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, which is considered the most important work in all of German literature.
In keeping with the holiday spirit, let's take a look at a few German words that can be formed using Weihnachts- (Christmas-) as a root. Many of today's standard Christmas traditions originated in Germany, but as you can see from the Krampuslauf video, Germany still has a few Christmas traditions that remain very unique!
If you haven't done your Christmas shopping yet, you only have a couple of days left! Better head down to the Weihnachtsmarkt, which, although traditionally Southern German, can also be found in other parts of Germany:
Hier am Berliner Gendarmenmarkt
but here at the Berlin Gendarmenmarkt [a square in Berlin-Mitte],
gibt es auch einen kleinen tollen Weihnachtsmarkt.
there is also a great little Christmas market.
Caption 7, Weihnachtsmärkte - mit Eva
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And while you are there, you'd better pick up something delicious at the Weihnachtsbäckerei, because:
In der Weihnachtsbäckerei gibt es manche Leckerei.
In the Christmas bakery there is many a treat.
Caption 23, Der Sternschnuppenmarkt - in Wiesbaden
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Of course, your main purpose there is not to snack on pastries, but to pick up some Weihnachtsgeschenke:
Hier kann man schöne Weihnachtsgeschenke kaufen.
You can buy beautiful Christmas presents here.
Caption 14, Diane - auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt
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When you get home, it may be time to decorate the Weihnachtsbaum!
Also der Weihnachtsbaum
Well, the Christmas tree
wird bei uns am Vierundzwanzigsten aufgestellt.
will be set up at our place on the twenty-fourth.
Caption 27, Weihnachtsinterviews - Cettina in Linkenheim
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Learning suggestions:
Can you figure out what some of these other words based on Weihnachts- (Christmas-) mean?
Weihnachtssachen, Weihnachtsbaumständer, Weihnachtsspenden, Weihnachtstrubel, Weihnachtsferien, Weihnachtsmann, Weihnachtsessen
Search for videos on Yabla that use these words to better understand their meaning and 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!
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.
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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!
Many of you probably know the stock line Halt oder ich schieße! (Stop or I’ll shoot!) from old American and British WWII movies, but did you know there are many other ways to say “stop” in German? The German verbs halten and stoppen are easy to remember, since they have the English equivalent verbs “halt” and “stop,” but separable verbs such as aufhören and anhalten are a bit trickier!
Let’s first take a look at a couple of examples using the verb halten in the imperative mood, both from the classic children’s book series Der Struwwelpeter:
Halt! Das ist noch gutgegangen
Stop! That just barely turned out ok
und die Fischlein sehen's mit Bangen.
and the little fish watch it with fear.
Caption 12, Der Struwwelpeter - Hans Guck-in-die-Luft
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Robert, halt! Dein Schirm fliegt fort.
Robert, stop! Your umbrella is flying away.
Caption 11, Der Struwwelpeter - Der fliegende Robert
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Next we see the use of the verb stoppen:
Bislang konnte das die Ausbreitung der Läden aber nicht stoppen.
So far, however, this hasn't stopped the spread of the shops.
Caption 35, Perlentee - In allen Mündern
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And even an example using both halten and stoppen in the imperative mood:
Stopp! Stopp, stopp, stopp, stopp, stopp! Halt!
Stop! Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop! Hold on!
Caption 24, Deutschkurs in Blaubeuren - Der Relativsatz
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Note that Yabla purposefully translated halten as “hold on” in order to differentiate it from the translations of stoppen as “stop.”
Another very useful German word for “stop” is aufhören, which is a separable verb that is most commonly used when you want an activity to stop. Here in the conditional mood:
Nein, wenn wir keine Lust mehr hätten, würden wir ja aufhören.
No, if we had no more desire, yes, we would stop.
Caption 25, Die Beatles - in Deutschland
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In the imperative mood, the verb’s lexical core is separated from its particle:
Hör auf! -Du musst genau hinsehen.
Stop! -You must watch closely.
Caption 13, Filmtrailer - Wir sind die Nacht
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And here an example using the present perfect tense:
Sie hat überhaupt nicht mehr aufgehört mit Eismachen.
She just never stopped making ice cream.
Caption 6, Eis - Eiskalte Leidenschaft
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The separable verb anhalten, on the other hand, is used primarily to indicate the stopping of moving objects or vehicles:
Ein Mann fährt mit seinem Auto.
A man is driving in his car.
Dann wird er von der Polizei angehalten.
Then he is stopped by the police.
Captions 2-3, Sabine erzählt Witze - Die Pinguine
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It is possible to confuse anhalten with the verb for “to keep” (halten) and the preposition “on” (an). Usually the context makes it obvious:
Ihren Pfiffi sollten sie aber lieber an der kurzen Leine halten.
But you had better keep your Fifi on a short leash.
Caption 39, Für Tierfreunde - Geparden
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Another version of “stop” with a very specific context is stehen bleiben, alternately written as one word (stehenbleiben), which is when a person stops walking or running:
Das heißt, jedes Mal, wenn man ihn gefangen hat,
That means, every time you catch it,
muss man stehen bleiben.
you have to stop.
Caption 10, Ultimate Frisbee - Spielregeln
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How would you translate the following?
Stopp, halt, hör auf mit dem Anhalten!
Note that in the above sentence, the verb anhalten has been nominalized into the noun Anhalten. Many of the alternate German words for "stop" may be translated, depending on the context, with other English synonyms for “stop,” such as “cease,” “discontinue,” “interrupt,” “turn off,” “shut down,” “finish,” “break off,” “close,” or “end.”
Learning suggestions:
When you're watching Yabla videos, see if you can spot any other German versions of “stop.” You may learn some more synonyms for “stop” here.
Faster than a short sentence, more powerful than a rebuttal, and able to refute strong statements in a single syllable... DOCH
The multi-functional word doch, in some cases fulfilling the role of “but” (or “still” or “nevertheless”) in English, has the capability to do with one word what in English requires an entire phrase: to negate a preceding negative statement with an affirmative. In German, English phrases such as “On the contrary” and “Yes, I do” can be replaced with the monosyllabic doch.
Before you attempt to prematurely launch a speedy doch at an angry policeman or boss, however, let us first examine the simpler usages of doch translated as “but”:
Doch jeder weiß hier, das ist die Luft, die brennt
But everyone here knows, that's the air that's burning
Caption 45, 2raumwohnung - 36 Grad
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And “however”:
Doch am Ende dieses Weges wird Europa stärker aus der Krise hervorgehen.
However, at the end of this path Europe will go forth from the crisis stronger.
Caption 38, Angela Merkel - Neujahrsansprache
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And “indeed”:
Doch das scheint sich nun geändert zu haben.
Indeed, now this seems to have changed.
Caption 7, Apple-Trojaner - Wie man ihn beseitigt
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And as an affirmative:
Aber wir hatten 'nen guten Start in Braunschweig
But we had a good start in Braunschweig
und machen eigentlich ganz gut weiter, doch.
and have actually continued quite well, really.
Caption 8, Cassandra Steen - Interview
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Here are some examples showing the full power of doch as a negation:
Der Eierkumpel von nebenan, der wusste nämlich nicht, was Pi ist!
The egg pal [egg seller] next to you, he didn't know what pi is!
-Doch!
-Yes, he did!
Captions 22-23, Welt-Pi-Tag - Unser Leben mit der Kreiszahl
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Ich weiß nicht, ob man als Frankfurter mal nach Mainz fährt.
I don't know if you'd go to Mainz as someone from Frankfurt.
-Doch, war ich auch schon...
-Yes, you would. I've been there too...
Captions 19-20, Museumsuferfest - Jazzmusiker Daniel Stelter
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Here we see doch first in the affirmative sense, then in the more sophisticated negation sense, all in a single caption:
Männer kommen doch nicht hierher, oder? -Doch, natürlich.
Men don't really come here, or? -Yes they do, of course.
Caption 24, Waxhouse - Brasilianische Haarentfernung
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So remember the the two main uses of doch:
1. As a simple affirmative (“really”), negating adverb (“however”), or transitional word (“but”):
Er hat es doch nicht getan.
He did not really do it.
Doch wissen wir, was es bedeutet.
But we know what it means.
2. As an all-powerful negation to a previous negative statement:
Er hat es nicht getan. -Doch.
He did not do it. -Yes, he did do it.
Sie waren nicht dort. -Doch.
They were not there. -Yes, they were there.
By learning the use of the powerful doch, you will be able to negate, with a minimum of syllables, any negative statements with which you disagree!
Hast du nicht verstanden? -Doch!
Learning suggestions:
Get some great explanations and examples of doch here and (as a PDF) here.
More advanced learners will enjoy this explanation in German, from Wiktionary.
In English we are pretty casual about the word “same,” but German makes some important distinctions. Let’s see how.
Earth has only one moon, so when we say we see the “same” moon, there’s no question. We're talking about one and the same. That’s when, in German, we use the demonstrative pronoun, derselbe (or any of its declensions, which you can see here). In this particular case we have a masculine noun, der Mond in the accusative case, so derselbe becomes denselben:
Wir sehen denselben Mond
We see the same moon
Und wir sind größer, denn die Sterne bleiben stehen
And we are bigger, because the stars stand still
Captions 13-14, Kolkhorst - Der Mond
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In the next example, we can see that Charlie and Raymond have discovered they are brothers. They have the same parents. Once again, we want derselbe. Der Vater is masculine and is in the accusative case, so it gets denselben. Die Mutter is feminine so it gets dieselbe.
...als Charlie erfährt, dass Raymond und er
...when Charlie learns that Raymond and he
denselben Vater und dieselbe Mutter haben.
have the same father and the same mother.
Caption 23, Theater - Rain Man
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But sometimes we say things are the same when they only appear to be. They may be very similar, or one a copy of the other. That’s when we use gleich or der gleiche. It’s a normal adjective, so it changes depending on gender and case. Below, the speaker describes a recurring event:
Es ist leider noch immer jedes Jahr das Gleiche.
Unfortunately it is still the same every year.
Caption 1, Für Tierfreunde - Tierheim Nied
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Singer-songwriter Cassandra Steen talks about making mistakes: two separate ones, but of the same kind. You guessed it. It has to be der gleiche!
Wenn Aussagen ignoriert werden.
When statements are ignored.
Wenn der gleiche Fehler zweimal passiert.
When the same mistake happens twice.
Caption 4, Cassandra Steen - Interview
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Note that when we use der gleiche, the article is separate from the word. But when we use derselbe, dieselbe, or dasselbe, the article is connected to the word. In either case, the article to use and the ending of "gleich" or "selb" depend on the gender and case of the noun being modified.
Hopefully you’ve gained some insight on the German way of talking about things that are “the same.” You may never think about the word “same” in the same way again!
Learning suggestion:
More advanced learners will enjoy this explanation, in German, from Spiegel Online Kultur.
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