Basically, I think you're better off with a German learner's dictionary or school dictionary than any given German-English dictionary once you've got a year or two under your belt.
― Three Word Username, Tuesday, 14 August 2012 06:48 (twelve years ago) link
mittwoch
― the late great, Tuesday, 14 August 2012 07:04 (twelve years ago) link
my favorite german sentence
ich habe ein audi
― the late great, Tuesday, 14 August 2012 07:07 (twelve years ago) link
not sure about the conjugations in that one, i did manage four years but it was half a lifetime ago
The conjugation is correct. The pronunciation is "eech bean ayn oarschloch."
― Three Word Username, Tuesday, 14 August 2012 07:22 (twelve years ago) link
du bist ein affe
― the late great, Tuesday, 14 August 2012 07:35 (twelve years ago) link
i think mostly get what those words mean. the one-word definitions there are my own, for this thread. but yeah i should probably graduate to a D-D dictionary.
― caek, Tuesday, 14 August 2012 08:33 (twelve years ago) link
http://megacycles.tumblr.com/post/13800349009/schones-foto
― Nilmar Honorato da Silva, Friday, 24 August 2012 00:19 (twelve years ago) link
what is the plural of Glas, Glassen oder Glaese?
Ich habe zwei Glassen Wein getrunken, wer werden mit mir Deutsch sprechen?
― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Friday, 24 August 2012 00:22 (twelve years ago) link
bitte, ich möchte gern ein Glas Bier.
― KARLOR CAN FUCK ANYTHING! AND HE WILL AND HAS!!! (Eisbaer), Friday, 24 August 2012 00:59 (twelve years ago) link
und auch Wurst für meine Schlange.
:D
you want a wurst for your schlong?
― look at this quarterstaff (Hurting 2), Friday, 24 August 2012 01:52 (twelve years ago) link
ilx history:
I got an A in German GCSE but can now remember nothing at all of the language except for one poem I wrote when we had to write a poem. It went like this:
Ich habe eine SchlangeMeine Schlange hast viel DurstEr geht in zum KafeEr hat Getranke und eine Wurst
I may not have remembered the proper grammar.
― Tom, Monday, August 20, 2001 8:00 PM (11 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― KARLOR CAN FUCK ANYTHING! AND HE WILL AND HAS!!! (Eisbaer), Friday, 24 August 2012 02:17 (twelve years ago) link
schlong = schlange....... i never made that connection.
neither. when ordering drinks, it's glas ("zwei glas bier"), for all other purposes it's gläser.
― ☆, Friday, 24 August 2012 06:18 (twelve years ago) link
haha, E you will like this: Ted has been dubbed in bayerisch dialect rather than german for release here.
― caek, Friday, 7 September 2012 13:07 (twelve years ago) link
lol, nice. Boston accents = Barvarian. I like it.
― (✿◠‿◠) (ENBB), Friday, 7 September 2012 13:09 (twelve years ago) link
in the spot where they usually warn you it has subtitles (which people don't like here), they warn you that ted is in bayerisch
http://www.munig.com/kino/kinoprogramm.html?suche_tag=2012-09-07&suche_zeit=&suche_genre=&suche_art=kino&x=8&y=1&options=ov
― caek, Friday, 7 September 2012 13:10 (twelve years ago) link
Bayerischer Dialekt
How funny! It's been a long time since I was there so I don't really remember much about the dialect. How is it viewed over there?
I took a German class when I lived in London and I remember the teacher there telling me that the accent in the area my dad comes from and where my fam still lives (Rheinland Pfalz) is the worst in Germany and considered to be a farmers accent and is looked down upon. He likened it to a really thick US Southern accent.
― (✿◠‿◠) (ENBB), Friday, 7 September 2012 13:19 (twelve years ago) link
i get the impression it's not really looked down on because bavaria is historically so rich, but i'm not sure tbh. as an accent, it sounds pretty idiotic to me. when people are speaking full on bayerisch i can't understand any of it.
you should check out small town murder songs by the way. it's not a great film, but it's only 75min. lots of canadian plattdeutsch. i didn't know about that going in, so all the way through i was like, 'what is this crazy language and why do i feel like i understand it?'
― caek, Friday, 7 September 2012 13:49 (twelve years ago) link
"canadian plattdeutsch"
The language (or groups of dialects of Low German) is spoken by over 300,000 Mennonites (Russian Mennonites), most notably in the Latin American countries of Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay,[2] Honduras, Belize, and Argentina, as well as in the United States and Canada (particularly Manitoba and Saskatchewan).
I had no idea about any of this! So weird. Will check out.
― (✿◠‿◠) (ENBB), Friday, 7 September 2012 13:59 (twelve years ago) link
"For example, Homer Groening, the father of Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons), spoke Plautdietsch as a child in Saskatchewan in the 1920s, but his son Matt never learned the language."
― (✿◠‿◠) (ENBB), Friday, 7 September 2012 14:04 (twelve years ago) link
reygadas' last film silent light is set among the mennonites in mexico & mostly in low german dialect
― A.R.R.Y. Kane (nakhchivan), Friday, 7 September 2012 14:09 (twelve years ago) link
Yes, just saw that too. That is so weird. I'm into this though. Going to see if I can find these online.
― (✿◠‿◠) (ENBB), Friday, 7 September 2012 14:12 (twelve years ago) link
I remember the teacher there telling me that the accent in the area my dad comes from and where my fam still lives (Rheinland Pfalz) is the worst in Germany and considered to be a farmers accent and is looked down upon.
― квас (☆), Friday, 7 September 2012 14:25 (twelve years ago) link
Huh, Interesting! It is sort of funny accent. My cousin's is so so thick. I actually love listening to him and his friends talk but it can be tough for me to understand sometimes if they're speaking really fast and using slang on top of the dialect.
― (✿◠‿◠) (ENBB), Friday, 7 September 2012 14:33 (twelve years ago) link
on the last day of my course we did a "spot the accent" exercise. the only ones anyone could get was schwäbisch
― caek, Friday, 7 September 2012 15:40 (twelve years ago) link
lol i was under the impression that the Saxon dialect is the one German accent that people in Germany make fun of.
― spicy bacon, bitch! (Eisbaer), Thursday, 13 September 2012 03:48 (twelve years ago) link
avoid:01 fränkisch02 sächsisch03 pfälzisch
instead learn to speak in these cool dialects:01 plattdeutsch02 kölsch03 münchnerisch
― the europan nikon is here (grauschleier), Thursday, 27 September 2012 23:11 (eleven years ago) link
03 pfälzisch
>:O
― (✿◠‿◠) (ENBB), Thursday, 27 September 2012 23:47 (eleven years ago) link
03 münchnerisch
ugh no
― groovemaaan, Friday, 28 September 2012 06:43 (eleven years ago) link
Zugzwang
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Friday, 28 September 2012 06:50 (eleven years ago) link
Sächsisch drives Austrian women wild, apparently.
― Three Word Username, Friday, 28 September 2012 07:09 (eleven years ago) link
Also, "Zugzwang" is a terrific word which is used very often in colloquial speech, to refer to real life situations where, oh shit, I have to DO something. It should be borrowed into English immediately.
― Three Word Username, Friday, 28 September 2012 07:12 (eleven years ago) link
as that wiki article says, it's used in English to refer to a chess situation
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Friday, 28 September 2012 07:48 (eleven years ago) link
I read that as well. I them described a non-chess usage in German, and suggested that that usage should be borrowed into English. Now that I have repeated this, would you like me to comprehend it for you as well?
― Three Word Username, Friday, 28 September 2012 07:56 (eleven years ago) link
when you put "it should be borrowed into English immediately", I read that as meaning the word itself, not that particular usage
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Friday, 28 September 2012 08:02 (eleven years ago) link
Fair enough.
― Three Word Username, Friday, 28 September 2012 08:19 (eleven years ago) link
Today I have learnt that ein Otter (masculine) is an otter, and eine Otter (feminine) is an adder. As in the poisonous snake.
(just crossing out any plans to work in a zoo in Germany, in case confusion of the two could lead to my demise or that of several cute, if also slightly vicious, aquatic mammals)
― still small voice of clam (a passing spacecadet), Sunday, 30 September 2012 20:23 (eleven years ago) link
even worse than otter: umfahren.
― квас (☆), Sunday, 7 October 2012 19:27 (eleven years ago) link
I'm trying to learn German and decided to get a subscription to a magazine so I can practice. So far I've narrowed my choices to de:bug and texte zur kunst, but since this is all internet research maybe I'm doing it all wrong and was wondering if you guys could recommend something?
― lil touch of ecology and catastrophe to unite the social classes (wolves lacan), Monday, 8 October 2012 15:50 (eleven years ago) link
Der Spiegel is always an interesting read.
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Monday, 8 October 2012 16:01 (eleven years ago) link
But it can be a tough one. A very specific style of writing, but would fit with the other stuff.
― Three Word Username, Monday, 8 October 2012 16:03 (eleven years ago) link
empfohlen: http://www.dw.de/dw/0,,8030,00.html
― caek, Monday, 8 October 2012 16:05 (eleven years ago) link
vielen Dank
― lil touch of ecology and catastrophe to unite the social classes (wolves lacan), Tuesday, 9 October 2012 13:22 (eleven years ago) link
Möchte jemand meine Hausaufgaben machen?
I know collective nouns always take a singular verb in German, unlike English (especially UK English?). So, if I say "das junge Paar" in one clause, and then want to use a pronoun, do I use "es", because "Paar" is neuter?
Feels wrong going "the young couple goes to dinner, because it is celebrating its anniversary" but I can't think of any other way to do it!
― still small voice of clam (a passing spacecadet), Monday, 15 October 2012 20:59 (eleven years ago) link
that is probably correct though? tbh I don't remember that grammar detail but exceptions to rules don't usually follow the same pattern as English IIRC
― The Owls of Ja Rule (DJP), Monday, 15 October 2012 21:12 (eleven years ago) link
well, it's the logical thing to do, it's just I'll feel extra silly if it isn't right, since it sounds so horrible in English! I'm sure there are about 50 worse mistakes I haven't even noticed on my homework sheet however
(thank you)
― still small voice of clam (a passing spacecadet), Monday, 15 October 2012 21:21 (eleven years ago) link
No, that's right. After speaking German long enough that you get out of the translation phase, it becomes more natural -- er, sie, and es aren't he, she, they, and it. English pronouns base themselves on actual or perceived gender and number of the object or concept described by the antecendent, while German pronouns are based on the grammatical gender and number of the antecedent. In English, Larry and Horst are always "they" because they they are two people; in German, they are "they" if you use a plural noun and "es" if you use a singular neuter noun.
― Three Word Username, Tuesday, 16 October 2012 07:51 (eleven years ago) link
the young couple thing has another pitfall: "das junge paar geht fein essen, denn es feiert seinen jahrestag" - this could refer to some obscure anniversary of the male half of the couple, because "seinen" is the accusative case of "its" as well as "his".
saying "denn sie feiern ihren jahrestag" is actually common in colloquial use, because if you stick with the singular neuter, later on people will have a hard time associating the freshly formed idea of your couple with this "it" you keep referring to. nb "ihren" is the accusative of "their" and "her", so this might refer to the female half's obscure anniversary ;)
― квас (☆), Tuesday, 16 October 2012 09:21 (eleven years ago) link
yeah I remember this discussion around "das Mädchen" as well, it seems to be correct to follow that up with "es" rather than "sie" although it feels intuitively wrong
― my father will guide me up the stairs to bed (anagram), Tuesday, 16 October 2012 09:22 (eleven years ago) link