25th November, 2009

10 ways to say “to work” in #German

posted 2 years ago

1.) arbeiten

2.) ackern

3.) schuften

4.) malochen

5.) Lebensunterhalt verdienen (in the sense of (to) make a living)

6.) Brötchen verdienen (in the sense of (to) make a living)

7.) schaffen

8.) schinden

9.) tätig sein

10.) werkeln


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24th November, 2009

Some German loan words Part 2

posted 2 years ago

Part 1

Here are some more German loan words :)

1.) der Kindergarten

2.) der Kitsch

3.) die Wanderlust

4.) das Waldsterben

5.) die Angst


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20th November, 2009

This is kinda awesome, don’t you think?
das Schaf = sheep
der Hirte = herder
der Esel = donkey
der Ochse = ox
der König = king
johncabrera:

nickholmes:

Modern nativity set.

That German efficiency.

This is kinda awesome, don’t you think?

das Schaf = sheep

der Hirte = herder

der Esel = donkey

der Ochse = ox

der König = king

johncabrera:

nickholmes:

Modern nativity set.

That German efficiency.



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18th November, 2009

Some German loan words Part 1

posted 2 years ago

The English langauge has borrowed a couple of words that originate from German. In German, these are actually used, too.

Here are a couple of important loan words which you’ll probably recognize:

1.) der Doppelgänger

2.) der Poltergeist

3.) der Übermensch

4.) der Zeitgeist

5.) der Rucksack


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16th November, 2009

“Ein Hotdog unten am Hafen” (A hotdog down by the harbor) by the German band “Element of Crime”.

I like their sound a lot. They also have pretty awesome lyrics. Very poetic. :)


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15th November, 2009

Zungenbrecher

posted 2 years ago

I’ve already introduced you to some German tongue twisters - but here are some more to have fun with! :D

egyptianreggae:

some german tonguetwisters. i mainly posted this for bearsimjealousof because he likes to speak in german.

Acht alte Ameisen assen am Abend Ananas.
Eight old ants ate pineapple in the evening.

Allergischer Algerier, algerischer Allergiker.
Allergic Algerian, Algerian allergic.

Bäcker Braun bäckt braune Brezeln.
Braune Brezeln bäckt Bäcker Braun.

Baker Brown bakes brown pretzels.
Brown pretzels bakes baker Brown.

Bierbrauer Bauer braut braunes Bier.
Beer brewer Bauer brews brown beer.

Der dicke Dachdecker deckte das dicke Dach.
Dann trug der dicke Dachdecker, die dicke Dame durch den dicken Dreck.
Dann dankte die dicke Dame dem dicken Dachdecker,
dass der dicke Dachdecker die dicke Dame durch den dicken Dreck trug.

The fat roofer roofed the thick roof.
Then the fat roofer carried the fat lady through the thick mud.
Then the fat lady thanked the fat roofer
for (the fat roofer) carrying the fat lady through the thick mud.

Esel essen Nesseln nicht, Nesseln essen Esel nicht.
Donkeys don’t eat nettles, nettles don’t eat donkeys.

Es klapperten die Klapperschlangen,
bis ihre Klappern schlapper klangen.

The rattlesnakes rattled
until their rattles sounded run-down.
(This is a Schüttelreim, or “goat rhyme” - as is the following…)

Es sprach der Herr von Rubenstein,
mein Hund der ist nicht stubenrein.

So spoke Mr. von Rubenstein,
my dog, he’s not house-trained.

Es grünt so grün, wenn Spaniens Blüten blühen.
It turns so green when the flowers in Spain flower.
(The German version of “The rain in Spain falls
mainly in the plain”)

Fischers Fritz ißt frische Fische,
frische Fische ißt Fischers Fritz.

Fischer’s Fritz eats fresh fish;
fresh fish eats Fischer’s Fritz.
(Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers…)

Graben Grabengräber Gruben?
Graben Grubengräber Gräben?
Nein!
Grabengräber graben Gräben.
Grubengräber graben Gruben.

Do gravediggers dig ditches?
Do ditchdiggers dig graves?
No!
Gravediggers dig graves.
Ditchdiggers dig ditches.

Eine gut gebratene Gans ist eine gute Gabe Gottes.
A well-roasted goose is a good gift of God.

Hottentottenpotentatentantenattentat
Hottentot potentate’s aunt assassination
(It only uses 7 letters from the alphabet)

Im dichten Fichtendickicht sind dicke Fichten wichtig.
In the thick spruce thicket thick spruces are important.

In Ulm, um Ulm, um Ulm herum.
In Ulm, around Ulm, all around Ulm.
(Ulm is a city in Germany)


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12th November, 2009

10 ways to say “to kiss” in German

posted 2 years ago

1.) küssen

2.) knutschen

3.) busseln

4.) busserln

5.) abküssen

6.) abschmatzen

7.) abbusseln

8.) schnäbeln

9.) Bussi geben

10.) Kuss geben


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11th November, 2009

Survival phrases 6

posted 2 years ago

Hatschi! I hope most of you haven’t caught a cold yet… I’m about to - I can already feel it :S

Here are some survival phrases / vocabulary for you:

Ich habe eine Erkältung. / Ich bin erkältet. = I have a cold.

Ich habe Schnupfen. = I have a runny / stuffed nose.

Ich habe Husten. = I have a cough.

Ich habe Halsschmerzen. = I have a sore throat.

der Hustensaft = cough syrup

das Nasenspray = nasal spray

Hatschi! = Achoo!


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8th November, 2009

Ich habe eine Frage an meine deutschen Freunde

posted 2 years ago

I suppose some of you are having a similar problem, so maybe this helps!

“wenn” is used in the sense of both “when(ever)” (a) and “if” (b) as well as for expressing something that happens in the future (c).

a) Wenn es regnet, bleibe ich zu Hause.

b) Wenn ich im Lotto gewinne, werde ich reich sein.

c) Wenn wir morgen aufwachen, wird die Sonne scheinen.

naaak:

johncabrera:

“wenn” auf englisch ist beides “if” und “when”, oder? Also wenn ich sage…

“Wenn ich ein fließender Sprecher auf deutsch werde, werde ich ‘Planet Erde’ auf deutsch sehen”

…, wie kann man wissen, dass ich “when” gemeint habe?

I guess it’s a matter of interpreting this sentence. It depends on the context. Germans could read both out of this sentence.

There are different ways of arranging the phrases:

(1) “Ich werde mir ‘Planet Erde’ auf deutsch ansehen, wenn ich fließend Deutsch spreche.”
(2) “Wenn ich fließend Deutsch spreche, werde ich mir ‘Planet Erde’ ansehen.”

In the first sentence there is more emphasis on “wenn” and the moment of time (when). In the second possible sentence is more emphasis on “werde ich ‘Planet Erde’ ansehen”. So in this case it’s not so important if you meant “when” or “if”…

The “wenn” would be more interpreted as an “if” if you were saying “Wenn ich fließend Deutsch sprechen könnte, würde ich mir ‘Planet Erde’ auf deutsch ansehen.”

Hope I could help you a little bit. Still think it’s a way of interpreting what you meant in the context. Perhaps other Germans would say it differently.. ;)


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6th November, 2009

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Numbers from 0-10

Numbers from 11-20

Ok, the biggest difficulty which English-speakers experience with German numbers is that cardinal numbers above twenty appear to be formed “backwards”. When English speakers say “twenty-four”, German speakers say “four and twenty” = “vierundzwanzig”. When they are written out, each number is one continuous word - i.e. “achtundsiebzig”.

Examples:

45 -> 5 und 40 (fünfundvierzig)

99 -> 9 und 90 (neunundneunzig)

27 -> 7 und 20 (siebenundzwanzig)

30 (dreißig), 40 (vierzig), 50 (fünfzig), 60 (sechzig), 70 (siebzig), 80 (achtzig), 90 (neunzig), 100 (hundert).

Forming those numbers is quite easy. Simply take the first single number e.g. VIER and add the suffix “-zig”. The only exceptions are DREIßIG and SiebZIG, so don’t say dreizig or siebenzig.


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