Most Popular
1500 questions
26
votes
11 answers
Is Yiddish a dialect of German?
I would call it a dialect of German, and I wonder if people would agree with that characterization? I am posting a link to my musical translation of the epic Yiddish poetic ballad "Monisch" so people can compare for themselves. I hope the closed…
Marty Green
- 2,647
- 2
- 16
- 21
26
votes
10 answers
Is there an online German dialect dictionary?
I've recently stumbled upon some words that my dictionary can't translate:
nitt (nicht)
passt scho (passt schon)
zwoa (zwei)
Is there an online resource for finding out what such words mean, and from which dialect/language they come? I do realise…
Tim
- 16,600
- 18
- 86
- 165
26
votes
7 answers
What does “g’suffa” mean?
Oans, zwoa, drei, g’suffa!
The first three words in the above quote are Bavarian for “eins, zwei, drei”. Is g’suffa also Bavarian, and what does it mean?
Tim
- 16,600
- 18
- 86
- 165
26
votes
1 answer
Woher kommt der Dativ in »Wie dem auch sei«?
Ich verstehe nicht, was der Dativ in diesen bekannten Konstrukten zu suchen hat:
Wie dem auch sei, …
Dem ist nicht so.
Folgende Alternativen ergäben für mich Sinn:
Wie es auch sein mag, …
Dies ist nicht so.
Diese Ausdrücke werden aber so gut wie…
John Smithers
- 9,814
- 44
- 61
26
votes
4 answers
"Kommt ein Mann in eine Kneipe..." - Wieso haben Witze diesen besonderen Satzbau?
Wenn jemand einen Satz in der Form
"Kommt ein Mann in eine Kneipe..."
beginnt, kann der Zuhörer ziemlich sicher sein, dass gerade ein Witz erzählt wird.
Aber wieso gibt es im Deutschen diese besondere Satzform? Wird sie noch für andere Anlässe…
Jan
- 11,406
- 10
- 61
- 86
26
votes
8 answers
What's the German expression for 'In a nutshell'
The closest I was able to find is in Kürze.
Is there a translation that means something similar as it does in English?
Mefhisto1
- 655
- 2
- 6
- 9
26
votes
8 answers
Can I use ‘fahren’ when the mode of transport is not decided?
Suppose I am in London, and I am going to Paris. If I am just mentioning to someone the fact that I’ll soon go to Paris, can I use fahren as a generic translation of to travel?
I might go by Eurostar, or I may fly, or I may drive, or catch the…
user18778
26
votes
6 answers
What is the German equivalent of the English "aka"?
In English, the abbreviation aka means "also known as".
A literal German translation might be "auch bekannt wie". Is this, in fact, the correct German equivalent? And is the abbreviation ABW (or the correct one) in common use?
Tom Au
- 12,750
- 4
- 38
- 78
26
votes
4 answers
Is there a rule which preposition to use for a place?
Is there a rule for choosing between the prepositions zu, in, bei, nach, an for a special place or does one have to memorize all of them?
For example:
Beim Arzt
An den See
Nach Berlin
Zur Bäckerei
Ins Büro
user508
26
votes
1 answer
Rechtschreibung zusammengesetzter Wörter unterschiedlicher Sprachen
Wie sollten, nach neuer Rechtschreibung, zusammengesetzte Wörte aus englischen und deutschen Begriffen geschrieben werden?
Zum Beispiel:
„Standby-Betrieb“, „Standbybetrieb“
„Empfangs-Thread“, „Empfangsthread“
Markus
- 2,052
- 1
- 19
- 26
26
votes
14 answers
How do Germans refer to people without caring about the gender
In German, a noun always has its own gender. However, there is a case I don't know.
Suppose that there is a class with many students, both males and females, and then when I want to refer to all students in that class, which word should I use when…
aukxn
- 1,101
- 11
- 16
26
votes
13 answers
Wie viele sind »ein paar«?
It’s pretty clear that “ein Paar Schuhe” is exactly two. Nevertheless, if I ask: "Gib mir doch bitte mal ein paar Zettel.", I would not expect exactly two. Three or even more, actually.
I’ve learned that in English, “I’ll be back in a couple of…
teylyn
- 3,814
- 1
- 20
- 33
26
votes
4 answers
When should you use "erst" rather than "nur"?
It seems that in many situations where I might use the word only in English, either nur or erst is used in German. I have the rather fuzzy idea that erst is used for only in the sense of something that only happened once (e.g. He only went there to…
Mark Longair
- 363
- 1
- 3
- 6
25
votes
3 answers
Free online resources for beginner course
Along the lines of the same question on French Language & Usage, what are good, free online resources for an English-speaker to learn German properly from scratch?
Ideally, important areas such as grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation should be…
user245
25
votes
13 answers
Is "dingsbums" offensive, rude, vulgar, etc?
I've heard that my favourite word "dingsbums" might not be acceptable in some circumstances due to it being related to "bumsen" which, I'm told, is some kind of a word for intimate relations.
Yet when I've visited friends' families in Germany,…
hippietrail
- 1,484
- 1
- 16
- 22