German Language Stack Exchange
German Language Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
35
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7 answers

How offensive is Fachidiot?

I'm trying to understand how offensive the word Fachidiot is. Is the idiot bit just tongue in cheek or does it imply a lack of intelligence? Does it somehow imply the person is at least an expert in his field? Could it be someone self-absorbed,…
Pierre Pieyet
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9 answers

How would you say, "I speak a little bit German"?

I put this into Google Translate, and it came up with, Ich spreche ein wenig Deutsch. Is this correct? I doubt so. When I look up wenig I find that it's an adjective, not an adverb, and obviously the sentence requires an adverb. What's the best…
ktm5124
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4 answers

What is the difference between “der Zug” and “die Bahn”?

What is the difference between der Zug and die Bahn (besides the gender of course)? When should one be used and not the other?
lucas
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35
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17 answers

What is a good way to start learning German?

There is already a question that asks for free resource for learning German. However, I would like to know what resources are good for learning German regardless of their cost. The online sources I've tried so far are Tell Me More, LiveMocha, and…
Bob
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4 answers

“Sprechen von” vs. “sprechen über”

I’m not very far into learning German, so I’m still extremely sketchy on prepositions. I thought über was more in line with a physical location than a concept, but then I’ve seen phrases like Ich spreche use both von and über seemingly…
Konfitüren
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10 answers

Schlussformel für Beschwerdebrief?

Diese Frage wurde auch hier (auf Englisch) beantwortet: How to end a complaint letter in German Standardschlussformel für förmliche Briefe ist ja „Mit freundlichen Grüßen“. Wenn ich nun aber einen förmlichen Beschwerdebrief schreibe, der nicht…
magnattic
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31 answers

Gibt es andere Sätze wie "Wenn Fliegen hinter Fliegen fliegen, fliegen Fliegen Fliegen hinterher"?

Man muss die Grammatik richtig verstanden haben, um diesen Satz zu verstehen: (zwei Varianten) Wenn Fliegen hinter Fliegen fliegen, fliegen Fliegen Fliegen hinterher. Wenn hinter Fliegen Fliegen fliegen, fliegen Fliegen Fliegen nach. Gibt es…
BudgieInWA
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4 answers

When is it OK to drop the first-person e, as in „Ich hab'“?

It seems common to drop the end-schwa of first-person verbs. I've both heard it and seen it written. Ich hab' eine Frage. Ich geh' zur Uni. I'm wondering: Does writing or talking like this seem juvenile? Would it be OK in a professional meeting…
Tim
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12 answers

What are the differences in punctuation between German and English?

Each language has its own ideas of how to punctuate, e.g. space before question marks in French. How is German punctuation different from English?
Tim
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34
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2 answers

Meaning and origin of 'Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof'

What does the following sentence mean and what is its origin? Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof. I've heard this expression from some friends – I guess it's what you say when you don't really understand what's going on.
Matt Fenwick
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34
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6 answers

What is the German word for “mind”?

Is there a word in German to refer to the mind? Gehirn is brain, but that’s the meat inside the head, not the mind. In Spanish it is mente. Is there a German equivalent? I have consulted my dictionary app and it gives me Geist, Seele, Sinn,…
Hernan
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34
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6 answers

Is there a rule that dictates whether to use the eszett (scharfes S) or double s?

It's clear in the case of compound nouns, double s should be used e.g. Bundesstraße, but with other words I cannot see a pattern. To me it appears to be used somewhat randomly, e.g.: besser das Maß die Masse beißen I also remember daß…
z7sg Ѫ
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5 answers

Do Germans count on fingers starting from the thumb?

I’ve watched the Inglourious Basterds movie. In the bar scene the English spy is ordering three beers and held his three fingers up and by this giving himself away. Is it true in the real life? When the natives count on fingers do they start from…
optim1st
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1 answer

Ursprung des Punktes bei Ordinalzahlen

Als ich diese Frage gelesen habe, wurde mir klar, dass ich keine Ahnung habe, warum wir im Deutschen Ordinalzahlen mit Punkten schreiben. In anderen Sprachen wird das ja anders gehandhabt, wobei man sich oft an der Aussprache orientiert und…
Chris
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5 answers

What is the German equivalent of "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."?

What is the German equivalent of "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."? That is: A phrase used for font selection that contains all the letters of the alphabet.
Phira
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