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1500 questions
28
votes
6 answers
Do people actually use the word "kaputt" in conversation?
Related: Is something "kaputt" just broken or completely ruined?
Do people actually use the word "kaputt" in conversation, or would this be a strange thing to say? For example, if I recently got a serious knee injury, would it be acceptable to say…
EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine
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28
votes
2 answers
Woher stammt die Verwendung des Infinitivs als Ersatz für den Imperativ?
Immer häufiger sehe ich den Infinitiv, wo ich den Imperativ erwarte:
Statt
Haltet die Einfahrt frei.
steht da also
Einfahrt freihalten.
oder sogar
Die Einfahrt ist freizuhalten.
Wikipedia erwähnt den Infinitiv als mögliche Ersatzform für den…
Urs Reupke
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28
votes
5 answers
German equivalents to the prefix "re"?
I was working with a translator and asked her to translate "Resend code", she gave me the translation of
Code erneut senden
I thought that was really long. I typed in "resend" into google translate and did in fact get "erneut senden". When I…
JGallardo
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28
votes
6 answers
What is the difference between "wie" and "was" in a certain context?
When do you use wie and was in German?
For example:
What is your name?
I understand you ask the question with wie instead of was.
Debbie
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- 3
28
votes
6 answers
What does "krass" mean?
During conversations with native German speakers, I have heard the word "krass" used in different contexts. But I still don't know how to translate it.
Any ideas?
Arnaud Gourlay
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- 6
28
votes
2 answers
Why are the German guillemets inverted?
I've been wondering for some time,
Why do Germans use inverted guillemets (»…«) in contrast with the original French use (« … »)?
When did such usage begin?
(They are originally French, right? Since they're named guillemets in both languages…
Dejan Govc
- 383
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- 6
28
votes
4 answers
Why do we have two equally used terms for "toe"?
There are two translations for toe that both are equally used. Both are pronounced almost the same but they have a different gender:
der Zeh, m
die Zehe, f
What is the origin of this difference?
Takkat
- 70,407
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- 165
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28
votes
4 answers
Does the verb "möchten" exist?
I have often encountered the forms möchte, möchtest.... Does the verb möchten exist? Is it some special form of mögen or an independent verb?
veljasije
- 783
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28
votes
2 answers
Eifersucht vs. Neid
Was ist der Unterschied zwischen Eifersucht und Neid? Mein Wörterbuch übersetzt beide Wörter nach jealousy.
Tim
- 16,600
- 18
- 86
- 165
28
votes
3 answers
Gibt es andere übliche Märchenbeginnformeln neben "es war einmal"?
Sehr viele Märchen beginnen auf Deutsch mit "Es war einmal", aber ich kenne auch ein Märchen, das anfängt mit "Zu der Zeit, als das Wünschen noch geholfen hat ...".
Gibt es noch andere Beginnformeln und wenn ja, kann man diese dem geographischen…
Phira
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27
votes
5 answers
How to write graph coordinates in German?
In English, graphical coordinates are given as (x, y). Since ',' represents the decimal separator in German, is some other punctuation used to prevent confusion?
SaadiSave
- 271
- 3
- 3
27
votes
3 answers
Was meint ein Österreicher, wenn er am Telefon fragt "Welche Klappe haben Sie bitte"?
Ich wurde einmal während eines Telefongespräches mit einem österreichischen Kunden überraschend gefragt:
Welche Klappe haben Sie bitte?
Was wollte er von mir wissen?
During a business call with an Austrian customer, he all of a sudden asked me:…
bernd_k
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27
votes
6 answers
Selbständig vs. selbstständig
Selbständig and selbstständig seem to share the same meaning. What are the differences in tone and usage?
Tim
- 16,600
- 18
- 86
- 165
27
votes
7 answers
Why is there a definite article precedent to a name?
I was talking to a native German speaker and he tends to introduce himself like this:
Ich bin der Philipp.
Why "der"?
user508
27
votes
8 answers
German words with three of the same letters in a row?
Today I stumbled upon the word Imbissstand and was pretty fascinated by it having three of the same letters in a row (in this case, s) and I was wondering if there were any other German words like that.
J. Bridges
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