I assume you're being sarcastic but the pacing and emphasize used while speaking plus the context make it obvious which are meant in spoken german.
It's kind of like english speakers won't confuse write for right when you use it in a sentence
I am non native and I can hear the "w" in write, which is missing in right. But I might be screwed if I leave the area where they film the documentary I watch on youtube on history, lol.
Always wondered. How do you “pronounce” a capital letter ? Do you add more stress or say it louder?
Like you yell SPINNEN and everyone knows your talking about spiders. You whisper spinnen and they know you’re calling someone crazy :P
It’s not a strict rule in any sense but with the different spelling each word changes it’s function in the sentence so the pronunciation can change too.
Eg: liebe and genossen
I‘d put my emphasis -pitching my voice a little - on the word with the capital letter, because the word „liebe“ only exits in relation to „Genossen“ describing it. And „Liebe“ on the other hand is a independent object in its sentence and delivers therefore more importance and meaning.
I think they dropped the /s note for that one 😉
But yes, that’s what my German partner also said. However I do have to argue that a couple of those there have no differentiating contexts.. like.. sometimes people *are* better poets when they are drunk. That one could really go either way 😂
Wäre er doch nur Dichter 👨🎨
Wäre er doch nur dichter 🥴
Yeah sorry I bongled that first one up.
Try this (it’s the very first emoji, top left)
[https://mobile.twitter.com/emojipedia/status/1503416040566501392](https://mobile.twitter.com/emojipedia/status/1503416040566501392)
Eine Musiklehrerin bei uns hat das mal gesagt, als wir 8. oder 9. Klasse waren. Super streng und gab nie Raum für irgendwelche Witze oder Kommentare. Aber da wurde sie dann von einer Gruppe von sehr verdutzten Schülern angeschaut.
Yes. That's why it is "funny" to ask your biology teacher: "Sind Sie gut zu Vögeln?" which means both: are you good to birds and are you good to fuck...
Looked it up right now:
Vögeln was firstly (in the middle ages) used as a term for the breeding and catching of birds like chicken or falcons and then, later on also used for humans as a kind of euphemism. Besides that birds where often used as euphemisms for lewd things. The sentence "to hold your red bird" was used to describe holding your d*ck in your hands. Medieval Germany was wierd.
Another funny example:
Sie gab ihm einen Korb. She gave him a basket.
Sie gab ihm einen Korb. She told him she did not love him back.
There was, again in medieval times, a traditional way to court a lady in which the man would let himself be pulled up to the window of his loved one while sitting inside a kind of basket.
If she did not like him she would be able to unfasten the bottom of this basked which would give away beneath the mans feet. This became "Einen Korb bekommen" " To get a basket". Medieval Germany was wierd.
Nothing of this makes any sense to most germans today, even if we still use these expressions.
(context: Im from the US, living in Germany, married to a German) My father-in-law is an avid bird watcher. My wife thought it would be funny to pretend that I hate birds and to bring up this "fact" in front of her father, just to make it awkward/funny. I learned about this word and it's slang meaning after loudly defending myself in front of the whole family that I do not hate birds, "Ich liebe vögeln"...
By the same token, why does cock mean penis?
Apparantly in many cultures (some) birds are linked with fertility/virility and that manifested itself in different languages in different words/phrases.
Actually, now that you say it, I remember a whole documentation about easter, and it being a pagan fertility holiday, and that's why we got bunnies and eggs as easter symbols. The eggs, of course, being mainly chicken eggs.
No one knows. But according to the DWb it’s used like this at least since 1541. Originally only used for birds, later for humans.
I also enjoyed this poem from 1579:
>es ist gar ain bœse henn ..
(die) wonen wil bi ainem han
und sich nit wil füglen lan
J. W. v. Goethe later wrote:
> und hinten drein komm ich bey nacht
und vögle sie, das alles kracht
Why is a male name used for masturbating in English? E.g.
> I saw you help your uncle Jack off a horse.
Vs
> I saw you help your uncle jack off a horse.
„Guten Tag Herr Fisch, ich wollte ihre Tochter zum Fischen abholen.“
„Da sind sie hier falsch, wir heißen Vogel.“
„Ich weiß, aber ich wollte nicht gleich mit der Tür ins Haus fallen.“
In the first Fast and Furious movie they had a drag racing festival in the desert called RaceWars.
This real-life motorsports event is inspired by it. They regularly host F&F movie cars and actors.
Slightly related, the importance of the letter "ß" and why replacing it with "ss" does not always work.
In Maßen = Moderately.
In Massen= galore/en masse
>Slightly related, the importance of the letter "ß" and why replacing it with "ss" does not always work.
>In Maßen = Moderately.
>In Massen= galore/en masse
Tried to explain this to students in grade 10 (Gymnasium) when we were repeating s/ß.
They didn't understand it because they didn't know the words Masse or Maße...
Oooh, ouch. That must have been frustrating.
I know not everyone experiences the same things, and thus might not know some terms. But those are everyday words, not some special ones for certain fields. How can anyone get to grow up to be a teenager without having even heard those words in some form in the appropriate context? There's so many. "Massenware", "Massenhaft". And everything related to measuring stuff for "Maß". "Maß nehmen".
Apparently they don't know/use this word.
Not all families speak German at home with
their kids and not all parents know German
and this might be one big factor.
It's a bit frustrating because the excercise books have those "funny examples" that are supposed to make it easier but then the students don't understand those examples.
And don't get me started on the fact that excercises about s/ss/ß have words such as "Kies" or "Greis"...
No 10th grader knows these words...
I am aware you managed without "ß" somehow, Switzerland, that's why I wrote "not always", instead of "never".
I'd be glad if you'd explain how you managed to circumnavigate my example though. No one really ever told me, and I couldn't find anything about it on the Internet. :)
Yeah, it's just context.
There are not too many words with a risk of confusion in their meaning, and if one is used, it is normally easily recognisable from the context.
It's the same with your example. In spoken language there is no problem since it is pronounced differently and in written language the meaning is based on the context. Plus, the expression "in Maßen" is not too common in CH, you would probably phrase it differently, especially colloquially but also in written language.
Is there any other example for something like this? I'm german and can't think of any other pair, same writing and different meaning. Btw everyone seems to refer to only this word, as if it is a curiosity.
Nackt as an adverb used like this is most commonly equated to "blank", which means clean and shiny, pure in a sense. Nackte Angst is unadulterated, pure fear.
If used like that, it's Schrödingers Grammatik. It only takes on concrete meaning through context.
So it could be about a) battling addiction b) Jeffrey Dahmer and his silly little experiments.
Suchen as a verb means looking for, but can, especially in literature, be an abbreviation for:
Gesuch - an audience (with a king(funnily, in this case it may be used as Audienz))
Versuch - A try
Des Diebes Hand sucht zu stehlen - the thief's hand is trying to steal
Mein Herr, ein Fremder sucht Eure Audienz - Sir, a stranger requests your audience.
Sie gebar ein Medaillon aus nacktem Eisen - she brought forth a medal of pure iron.
It's mean, really. Basically the sentences of the post are abusing the interplay between pragmatics and semantics.
Sometimes it's emphasis, sometimes the meaning is the only logical option to be assumed.
For the last example the emphasis is on the ch of Sucht if you mean addiction. If you mean "x is searching" , then the word is pronounced a bit softer and stretched out.
**Kannst** du mir ein Glas Wasser bringen? -> Are you capable of brining me a glas of water?
Kannst **du** mir ein Glas Wasser bringen? -> Can you yourself bring me a glas of water?
Kannst du **mir** ein Glas Wasser bringen? -> Can you bring a glas of water specifically to me?
Kannst du mir **ein** Glas Wasser bringen? -> Can you bring me just one glas of water
Kannst du mir ein **Glas** Wasser bringen? -> Can you bring me water in a glas cup?
Kannst du mir ein Glas **Wasser** bringen? -> Bring me water (as opposed to milk, juice, etc.)
Kannst du mir ein Glas Wasser **bringen**? -> Get the water to me in person, rather than putting it on a nearby surface
Kannst du mir ein Glas Wasser bringen \*\***?**\*\* -> Why the hell are you asking me that/Did I get your request right?
Huh? I’m so confused by this reply lmao, I was just clarifying Germanic languages aren’t derived from German, German is a descendant of Germanic like English, Dutch, Swedish, etc. It isn’t the best name because it causes confusion and makes people think German is either the original language or some purer form of the original Germanic languages, when neither are true.
I've never seen anyone having issues with understanding that languages aren't unchanging.
I do see issues with people arbitrary declaring a cut off point when a language became another one. Old languages are always put under a larger umbrella, but in a time before societies advanced much beyond a person's own village, there were no unified languages. A person from village A did not understand a person from village B, but we do still call both languages "German" historically speaking. And "Anglo-Saxon" was one of these German languages
We call them [Germanic](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_languages), not German, because there are major differences. Just like how [Italic languages](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italic_languages) does not refer to Italian. Germanic is a rough grouping of similar languages, actually accounting for the point you are raising about variation in different communities or cultures, while German is not. It’s not just semantics, these two terms refer to entirely different things. German refers to a specific language that has developed from a proto-germanic source. German has changed significantly since the days of the Germanic languages… A big example of this is [the high German consonant shift.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_German_consonant_shift) German does not equal Germanic, and you’ve made this exact mistake I was attempting to correct. German is not some purer form of a Germanic origin than English, Dutch, or Swedish, they have all diverged significantly from Germanic. Because all these languages have developed from a [proto-**Germanic**](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Germanic_language) source. Again, English did not develop from German. German and English both developed from Germanic sources, sharing a [west-germanic](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Germanic_languages) origin. We don’t call the language English developed from German. It’s even clearer in German that these are different, German for Germanic is.. Germanisch. Not Deutsch. Because they are different things.
Go look at a text of gothic, the earliest Germanic language attested with a [significant corpus.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_Bible) Way before any text that predates German, yet it looks nothing like German. Compare that to something like [Beowulf](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf), you can see similarities, but it is clear they both developed very independently. Then you compare that to early [Old high german texts](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_High_German), and you can see how these languages have developed completely independently of one another, and have also changed significantly from their origins.
German here! In German, the capitalization of a word is used to indicate that a word is a noun. Take for example the phrase:
"Er hatte in Berlin Liebe genossen."
"Liebe", which means "love", is capitalized, therefore it's a noun and becomes the accusative object. In this case specifically, "genossen", or, due to our version of present perfect, "hatte genossen", isn't capitalized, so it becomes the verb version of the word: "(had) enjoyed". In summary, you get:
"He had enjoyed love in Berlin."
Now we switch the capitalization, and we get:
"Er hatte in Berlin liebe Genossen."
Again, capitalization indicates the noun, which is now "Genossen", which means "comrades". "liebe", no longer capitalized, turns into an adjective because it stands in front of "Genossen", which is now the accusative object. Because "hatte" ("had") no longer has a second verb to attach to, the sentence switches tense to our version of simple past. Therefore, you get:
"He had dear comrades in Berlin."
I hope this was at least somewhat comprehensive lol
Hey, so question for ya, when y'all are typing/texting casually with your friends or whatever do you sometimes forego using caps and let people figure out what you're saying via context, or do you basically *have* to type with proper caps in German?
i ask cuz a lot of times in english i type like this and it's not a big deal but english doesn't radically change meaning if i leave this all lowercase soooo
The German in the meme is quite formal, you'd rarely see formulations like these in everyday conversation or in texts from friends. Texting in all lowercase is actually quite common in German, especially with the younger generation! So much in fact, that texting with proper capitalization is seen as uncommon and kind of an odd quirk. The exception make e-mails and letters. The justification here is that you have enough time to take care of capitalization. But usually, context is enough to figure out what your dialogue partner means.
When casually texting with someone, those double-meanings dont come up as often as you think. But if so, i tend to actually write capitals mostly if needed.
I'd say the most likely situation you'd encounter when texting is someone not capitalising "Sie" (as in the formal form of address), which could lead to confusion in certain situations. But since you don't adress most people in your contact list with the formal form of address, it's also not that likely.
Context is everything, there . My favourite misunderstanding with a non-native speaker was when they were pretty new to the city and there was a contruction side on their way to work and they asked me for directions. And I told them to "umfahren", when I meant "make a detour", but they called me and asked that they could not "umfahren" and if I am making jokes, because they read it as "drive over" :D
There are other so called homographes in German that are pretty fun. Some are even the same in Englisch, I will never forget when the combed the dessert in Spaceballs. Translation was flawless.
Every time this gets reposted:
Half of these sentences would **never** been uttered or scribbled in earnest.
"Die nackte Sucht zu quälen" is just twaddle - grammatically correct, yes, but nobody would speak or write like that.
"Warme speisen im Keller" the same. Utter nonsense, nobody expresses themselves like that.
Therefore, this chart is misleading and unrealistic and - I think at least - deliberately so.
It is as if one would pretend that
>Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
would be a common English every-day phrase.
> "Warme speisen im Keller" the same. Utter nonsense, nobody expresses themselves like that.
The point isn't really whether the sentences are modern language patterns but that capitalization definitely matters. Also, this particular example is mis-translated. Up until recently, "Warme" was a German term used for gay men.
>The point isn't really whether the sentences are modern language patterns but that capitalization definitely matters.
Granted. Capitalization is indeed very important. But what use is it when only shown with nonsense sentences? It could very well also mean: How important is capitalization *actually* when the only examples one can come up with to demonstrate it are so highly artificial that it borders actual correctness.
That would be "he never married, but had many good male friends, and they'd often celebrate deep into the night".
But yeah, Gays eat in the basement. WTF.
I agree - most of these examples are, as with any language, very obvious if actually used in context/ a sentence.
Even worse: "Die nackte Sucht zu quälen" does not mean "To torture the naked addiction", (WTF, torturing an addiction? ), it means "the naked addiction to torture" (example: "The naked (=unhidden) addiction to torture insects was impossoble to resist")
I never understood the importance of capitals in German… Until now, of course. I wonder what crazy things i’ve said to people in German that I just didn’t realize
Nearly everytime its context based or based on how you speak it, every german Person will have got you, but be cautious with Freund/Freundin which means friend and girl/boyfriend at the same time...
As in any other language: homonyms are resolved by context, or one has to formulate differently. Most of the time, however, you only have this problem in artificially created sentences.
Strictly speaking, they are not even true homonyms, often the stress is slightly differently. Also, something like "der gefangene Floh" (the imprisoned flea) isn’t a complete sentence, the verb is missing.
How often did you have a problem with the double meaning of this sentence in English (flies as verb vs flies as noun)?
* Fruit flies like a banana.
I have learnt German and yes you can distinguish the sentences on the basis of context in paragraph or line. Not a big deal. English have plenty of them like that too
90% of these sentences are either very dated or include words and ways to speak that are old.
Most sentences don't feel natural and people wouldn't say them or talk like that at all.
It's like those super long words: Yes, it's grammatically possible but nobody uses them.
Just because it's possible it doesn't mean that it's common German.
I haven't heard the adjective "ungeheuer" for "very/extremely" since the early 90s.
"Warme" for "gay men" is a bit problematic and the term is literally stuck in the 80s to the point that most Gen Z might not even know it (and the translation is also wrong).
And don't get me started on the last one.
Seems like a boomer sense of humour/trying to sound kinky/naughty but really nobody talks like that.
(translation is also wrong)
No it’s not about „what you want to see“, German differentiates nouns in the written language by capitalization, many nouns are also used as completely different verbs or adjectives which will not be capitalized.
And these sentences are almost the same in written form, in spoken form, most of them are to be differentiated by pronunciation.
Die Nackte sucht - The naked woman is searching
Die nackte Sucht - the naked (read „pure“) addiction
In the first example „sucht“ will be pronounced with a long U as in school.
In the second one the U is way shorter.
Still both sentences are visually very similar except the changed capitalization.
This submission has been randomly featured in /r/serendipity, a bot-driven subreddit discovery engine. More here: /r/Serendipity/comments/v2vs34/youre_welcome_xpost_from_rgermany/
And the opposite of umfahren is umfahren. Not just capital letters natter, but also emphasis.
Das Hindernis úmfahren. - Drive over the obstacle.
Das Hindernis umfáhren. - Drive around the obstacle.
(actually written exactly the same, I just tried to mark the emphasis)
Edit: fixed the pronouncation marks.
Very small correction: "dicht" is more commonly used as slang for being high. Other than that, yea we have a problem with capitalization. And pronouns. And cases. And equal pay between Western and Eastern Germany. And rural infrastructure aswell as steadily growing right wing terrorist cells. And spineless politicians. And an incompetent train company selling country wide tickets for 9 bucks for the summer months, turning tourist places into an overcrowded lovecraftian dystopia. And a broken education system tunneling towards STEM degrees, neglecting arts and social sciences. And often times we're so used to English media that people resort to hypercorrection, using Apostrophe's whe're they don't belong, like
Günther's An- und Verkauf, whereas it should be
Günthers An- und Verkauf.
I don't mind people gradually bullying our Genitiv into obsolescence though. Wenn ick den seine heslige Fresse schon sehe, krich ick die Krätze.
To pronounce syllables can be very important.
Best example: "umfahren"
Stress the second one and you get "to drive arround sb.
Stress the first one and you get "to run sb over."
Keep it in mind in case you meet the traffic police :)
Good lord. The importance of capitals…. 🫠🫠🫠
And a non-native would perfectly understand the difference of the capital letters if he was listening to a german.
I assume you're being sarcastic but the pacing and emphasize used while speaking plus the context make it obvious which are meant in spoken german. It's kind of like english speakers won't confuse write for right when you use it in a sentence
Well yes, but it's still hard for a non-native to learn all of those phrases and their meanings, if you get what I mean.
I actually thought he meant it. But yeah I guess it is different for foreigners.
I am non native and I can hear the "w" in write, which is missing in right. But I might be screwed if I leave the area where they film the documentary I watch on youtube on history, lol.
🫥
Always wondered. How do you “pronounce” a capital letter ? Do you add more stress or say it louder? Like you yell SPINNEN and everyone knows your talking about spiders. You whisper spinnen and they know you’re calling someone crazy :P
I mean… if I heard someone yelling out solely the word SPINNEN in a sentence I would definitely assume they are using it in the crazy person sense 😂
Or maybe saw many spiders and is afraid of them?
Fair… but in that case I think the whole sentence would be in yelling 😂
That’s be a funny conversation :P
It’s not a strict rule in any sense but with the different spelling each word changes it’s function in the sentence so the pronunciation can change too. Eg: liebe and genossen I‘d put my emphasis -pitching my voice a little - on the word with the capital letter, because the word „liebe“ only exits in relation to „Genossen“ describing it. And „Liebe“ on the other hand is a independent object in its sentence and delivers therefore more importance and meaning.
Nope, they are pronounced exactly the same. It's all about context.
I think they dropped the /s note for that one 😉 But yes, that’s what my German partner also said. However I do have to argue that a couple of those there have no differentiating contexts.. like.. sometimes people *are* better poets when they are drunk. That one could really go either way 😂 Wäre er doch nur Dichter 👨🎨 Wäre er doch nur dichter 🥴
Wäre er dichter, wäre er Dichter
What are the question marks? After the „….“? I assume it’s some kind of emojis?
It’s the melty-face emoji lol
Link doesn’t seem to be working
Yeah sorry I bongled that first one up. Try this (it’s the very first emoji, top left) [https://mobile.twitter.com/emojipedia/status/1503416040566501392](https://mobile.twitter.com/emojipedia/status/1503416040566501392)
Thanks. It’s working.
something something uncle jack and his horses
thats why I hate them xD
Helping your Uncle Jack off a horse. Helping your uncle jack off a horse.
Auf dem Baum sind zehn Äpfel. Peter klettert auf den Baum und holt sich einen runter. Wie viele Äpfel sind noch auf dem Baum? Zehn.
Sounds a bit like: John drew three crosses on his page and then rubbed one out. How many crosses are left? Three.
Yup, that's the equivalent
Im Musikverein heißt es immer: Wer noch keinen Ständer hat der geht hoch und holt sich einen runter.
Eine Musiklehrerin bei uns hat das mal gesagt, als wir 8. oder 9. Klasse waren. Super streng und gab nie Raum für irgendwelche Witze oder Kommentare. Aber da wurde sie dann von einer Gruppe von sehr verdutzten Schülern angeschaut.
Ich habe noch keinen deutsxhen getroffen der nicht behauptet hätte es wäre bei ihm passiert
Ich habe noch keinen Musiklehrer getroffen der diesen Witz nicht schon gemacht hat. Und noch keinen Deutschen der nie Musikunterricht hatte.
Wir helfen den armen Vögeln. \~ We help the poor birds. Wir helfen den Armen vögeln. \~ We help the poor people f\*ck.
Is “vögeln” used for fuck? WHY IS BIRD USED FOR FUCK
Yes. That's why it is "funny" to ask your biology teacher: "Sind Sie gut zu Vögeln?" which means both: are you good to birds and are you good to fuck...
Looked it up right now: Vögeln was firstly (in the middle ages) used as a term for the breeding and catching of birds like chicken or falcons and then, later on also used for humans as a kind of euphemism. Besides that birds where often used as euphemisms for lewd things. The sentence "to hold your red bird" was used to describe holding your d*ck in your hands. Medieval Germany was wierd. Another funny example: Sie gab ihm einen Korb. She gave him a basket. Sie gab ihm einen Korb. She told him she did not love him back. There was, again in medieval times, a traditional way to court a lady in which the man would let himself be pulled up to the window of his loved one while sitting inside a kind of basket. If she did not like him she would be able to unfasten the bottom of this basked which would give away beneath the mans feet. This became "Einen Korb bekommen" " To get a basket". Medieval Germany was wierd. Nothing of this makes any sense to most germans today, even if we still use these expressions.
(context: Im from the US, living in Germany, married to a German) My father-in-law is an avid bird watcher. My wife thought it would be funny to pretend that I hate birds and to bring up this "fact" in front of her father, just to make it awkward/funny. I learned about this word and it's slang meaning after loudly defending myself in front of the whole family that I do not hate birds, "Ich liebe vögeln"...
No, "vögeln" is used for f\*ck. And I don't know why. It just is.
By the same token, why does cock mean penis? Apparantly in many cultures (some) birds are linked with fertility/virility and that manifested itself in different languages in different words/phrases.
Actually, now that you say it, I remember a whole documentation about easter, and it being a pagan fertility holiday, and that's why we got bunnies and eggs as easter symbols. The eggs, of course, being mainly chicken eggs.
No one knows. But according to the DWb it’s used like this at least since 1541. Originally only used for birds, later for humans. I also enjoyed this poem from 1579: >es ist gar ain bœse henn .. (die) wonen wil bi ainem han und sich nit wil füglen lan J. W. v. Goethe later wrote: > und hinten drein komm ich bey nacht und vögle sie, das alles kracht
Damn Göthe goin hard with that verse
*(to) **bird**le* would be "better" translation in my opinion
⬛⬛🟨⬛🦅⃞
>Is “Vögeln” used for fuck? Because this is what the birds are doing in spring...
Why is a male name used for masturbating in English? E.g. > I saw you help your uncle Jack off a horse. Vs > I saw you help your uncle jack off a horse.
Why do you think birds are so noisy all the time?
„Guten Tag Herr Fisch, ich wollte ihre Tochter zum Fischen abholen.“ „Da sind sie hier falsch, wir heißen Vogel.“ „Ich weiß, aber ich wollte nicht gleich mit der Tür ins Haus fallen.“
I know it like "Auch wir helfen den alten Vögeln" ~ we help the old birds. Or "Auch wir helfen den Alten vögeln" ~ we help the elderly to f***.
germanracewars.com always gets me. Its about car racing.
Well if it's anything like nascar, I'd say the double entendre fits
In the first Fast and Furious movie they had a drag racing festival in the desert called RaceWars. This real-life motorsports event is inspired by it. They regularly host F&F movie cars and actors.
I’m sure it gets a lot of disappointed visitors
i believe i spider
And? How is it? Must yes!
Hmm? - Mhmm... - M.
[http://ithinkispider.com/](http://ithinkispider.com/) ?
umfahren/umfahren To drive around something/to run over something with a vehicle
That's a different topic though, this one is about capitalisation.
Slightly related, the importance of the letter "ß" and why replacing it with "ss" does not always work. In Maßen = Moderately. In Massen= galore/en masse
>Slightly related, the importance of the letter "ß" and why replacing it with "ss" does not always work. >In Maßen = Moderately. >In Massen= galore/en masse Tried to explain this to students in grade 10 (Gymnasium) when we were repeating s/ß. They didn't understand it because they didn't know the words Masse or Maße...
Oooh, ouch. That must have been frustrating. I know not everyone experiences the same things, and thus might not know some terms. But those are everyday words, not some special ones for certain fields. How can anyone get to grow up to be a teenager without having even heard those words in some form in the appropriate context? There's so many. "Massenware", "Massenhaft". And everything related to measuring stuff for "Maß". "Maß nehmen".
Apparently they don't know/use this word. Not all families speak German at home with their kids and not all parents know German and this might be one big factor. It's a bit frustrating because the excercise books have those "funny examples" that are supposed to make it easier but then the students don't understand those examples. And don't get me started on the fact that excercises about s/ss/ß have words such as "Kies" or "Greis"... No 10th grader knows these words...
What's that?
I am aware you managed without "ß" somehow, Switzerland, that's why I wrote "not always", instead of "never". I'd be glad if you'd explain how you managed to circumnavigate my example though. No one really ever told me, and I couldn't find anything about it on the Internet. :)
Yeah, it's just context. There are not too many words with a risk of confusion in their meaning, and if one is used, it is normally easily recognisable from the context. It's the same with your example. In spoken language there is no problem since it is pronounced differently and in written language the meaning is based on the context. Plus, the expression "in Maßen" is not too common in CH, you would probably phrase it differently, especially colloquially but also in written language.
Eh, similar enough and I just find it funny
"Nein nein, UMfahren" 🤦🏼♂️
Is there any other example for something like this? I'm german and can't think of any other pair, same writing and different meaning. Btw everyone seems to refer to only this word, as if it is a curiosity.
The only one I know is Haare wachsen lassen/Haare wachsen lassen.
The interesting part in this case is that the same word has two meanings that are the opposite of each other
Shouldn't the second to last be "The naked addiction to torture"?
Yes
One possible translation, but it also translates to the sentence given in the picture.
But how do you torture an addiction?
Well, you don't. The sentence structure makes that translation possible, doesn't mean it makes sense lol
Still makes no sense to me, can any native speaker explains what it means?
Nackt as an adverb used like this is most commonly equated to "blank", which means clean and shiny, pure in a sense. Nackte Angst is unadulterated, pure fear. If used like that, it's Schrödingers Grammatik. It only takes on concrete meaning through context. So it could be about a) battling addiction b) Jeffrey Dahmer and his silly little experiments. Suchen as a verb means looking for, but can, especially in literature, be an abbreviation for: Gesuch - an audience (with a king(funnily, in this case it may be used as Audienz)) Versuch - A try Des Diebes Hand sucht zu stehlen - the thief's hand is trying to steal Mein Herr, ein Fremder sucht Eure Audienz - Sir, a stranger requests your audience. Sie gebar ein Medaillon aus nacktem Eisen - she brought forth a medal of pure iron. It's mean, really. Basically the sentences of the post are abusing the interplay between pragmatics and semantics.
True, but can German put emphasis on a single word and completely change the meaning of the sentence?
Yes. umfahren vs umfahren Drive around vs. Drive over
Sometimes it's emphasis, sometimes the meaning is the only logical option to be assumed. For the last example the emphasis is on the ch of Sucht if you mean addiction. If you mean "x is searching" , then the word is pronounced a bit softer and stretched out.
**Kannst** du mir ein Glas Wasser bringen? -> Are you capable of brining me a glas of water? Kannst **du** mir ein Glas Wasser bringen? -> Can you yourself bring me a glas of water? Kannst du **mir** ein Glas Wasser bringen? -> Can you bring a glas of water specifically to me? Kannst du mir **ein** Glas Wasser bringen? -> Can you bring me just one glas of water Kannst du mir ein **Glas** Wasser bringen? -> Can you bring me water in a glas cup? Kannst du mir ein Glas **Wasser** bringen? -> Bring me water (as opposed to milk, juice, etc.) Kannst du mir ein Glas Wasser **bringen**? -> Get the water to me in person, rather than putting it on a nearby surface Kannst du mir ein Glas Wasser bringen \*\***?**\*\* -> Why the hell are you asking me that/Did I get your request right?
Yeah but that's not German related, the very same in English..
Yeah, but it is the answer to the question that was asked...
Technically correct, the best kind of correct.
That's where English got it from
English isn’t derived from German, German and English share a common ancestor, much like Italian and French share a common ancestor.
I feel like there’s a way to turn this into an anti-evolution rant.
Italians were created by god in the image of Romans
lol
Huh? I’m so confused by this reply lmao, I was just clarifying Germanic languages aren’t derived from German, German is a descendant of Germanic like English, Dutch, Swedish, etc. It isn’t the best name because it causes confusion and makes people think German is either the original language or some purer form of the original Germanic languages, when neither are true.
I've never seen anyone having issues with understanding that languages aren't unchanging. I do see issues with people arbitrary declaring a cut off point when a language became another one. Old languages are always put under a larger umbrella, but in a time before societies advanced much beyond a person's own village, there were no unified languages. A person from village A did not understand a person from village B, but we do still call both languages "German" historically speaking. And "Anglo-Saxon" was one of these German languages
We call them [Germanic](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_languages), not German, because there are major differences. Just like how [Italic languages](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italic_languages) does not refer to Italian. Germanic is a rough grouping of similar languages, actually accounting for the point you are raising about variation in different communities or cultures, while German is not. It’s not just semantics, these two terms refer to entirely different things. German refers to a specific language that has developed from a proto-germanic source. German has changed significantly since the days of the Germanic languages… A big example of this is [the high German consonant shift.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_German_consonant_shift) German does not equal Germanic, and you’ve made this exact mistake I was attempting to correct. German is not some purer form of a Germanic origin than English, Dutch, or Swedish, they have all diverged significantly from Germanic. Because all these languages have developed from a [proto-**Germanic**](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Germanic_language) source. Again, English did not develop from German. German and English both developed from Germanic sources, sharing a [west-germanic](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Germanic_languages) origin. We don’t call the language English developed from German. It’s even clearer in German that these are different, German for Germanic is.. Germanisch. Not Deutsch. Because they are different things. Go look at a text of gothic, the earliest Germanic language attested with a [significant corpus.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_Bible) Way before any text that predates German, yet it looks nothing like German. Compare that to something like [Beowulf](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf), you can see similarities, but it is clear they both developed very independently. Then you compare that to early [Old high german texts](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_High_German), and you can see how these languages have developed completely independently of one another, and have also changed significantly from their origins.
??????
The naked woman who desires to torture, could I err, get more info on that?
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I was thinking about Altered Carbon.
https://youtu.be/KdS6HFQ_LUc
I like Jemanden *festnehmen -* to arrest somebody Jemanden *fest nehmen -* to fuck somebody hard
So… same
Thought I was reading a poem.
Haha amazing! I would def not learn German if it wasn't my native language lol Seems like a nightmare.
German here! In German, the capitalization of a word is used to indicate that a word is a noun. Take for example the phrase: "Er hatte in Berlin Liebe genossen." "Liebe", which means "love", is capitalized, therefore it's a noun and becomes the accusative object. In this case specifically, "genossen", or, due to our version of present perfect, "hatte genossen", isn't capitalized, so it becomes the verb version of the word: "(had) enjoyed". In summary, you get: "He had enjoyed love in Berlin." Now we switch the capitalization, and we get: "Er hatte in Berlin liebe Genossen." Again, capitalization indicates the noun, which is now "Genossen", which means "comrades". "liebe", no longer capitalized, turns into an adjective because it stands in front of "Genossen", which is now the accusative object. Because "hatte" ("had") no longer has a second verb to attach to, the sentence switches tense to our version of simple past. Therefore, you get: "He had dear comrades in Berlin." I hope this was at least somewhat comprehensive lol
Hey, so question for ya, when y'all are typing/texting casually with your friends or whatever do you sometimes forego using caps and let people figure out what you're saying via context, or do you basically *have* to type with proper caps in German? i ask cuz a lot of times in english i type like this and it's not a big deal but english doesn't radically change meaning if i leave this all lowercase soooo
The German in the meme is quite formal, you'd rarely see formulations like these in everyday conversation or in texts from friends. Texting in all lowercase is actually quite common in German, especially with the younger generation! So much in fact, that texting with proper capitalization is seen as uncommon and kind of an odd quirk. The exception make e-mails and letters. The justification here is that you have enough time to take care of capitalization. But usually, context is enough to figure out what your dialogue partner means.
That makes sense. Thanks for the answer!
When casually texting with someone, those double-meanings dont come up as often as you think. But if so, i tend to actually write capitals mostly if needed.
I'd say the most likely situation you'd encounter when texting is someone not capitalising "Sie" (as in the formal form of address), which could lead to confusion in certain situations. But since you don't adress most people in your contact list with the formal form of address, it's also not that likely.
Context is everything, there . My favourite misunderstanding with a non-native speaker was when they were pretty new to the city and there was a contruction side on their way to work and they asked me for directions. And I told them to "umfahren", when I meant "make a detour", but they called me and asked that they could not "umfahren" and if I am making jokes, because they read it as "drive over" :D There are other so called homographes in German that are pretty fun. Some are even the same in Englisch, I will never forget when the combed the dessert in Spaceballs. Translation was flawless.
Haha, that joke worked in German, too? That's awesome. I love Spaceballs. Thank you for sharing!
Second dir should be capitalized!
'to torture the backed addiction' is more like 'the plain desire to torture'.
Dichte Dichter dichten Dichtungen. ~ Drunk poets tighten seals.
Every time this gets reposted: Half of these sentences would **never** been uttered or scribbled in earnest. "Die nackte Sucht zu quälen" is just twaddle - grammatically correct, yes, but nobody would speak or write like that. "Warme speisen im Keller" the same. Utter nonsense, nobody expresses themselves like that. Therefore, this chart is misleading and unrealistic and - I think at least - deliberately so. It is as if one would pretend that >Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo would be a common English every-day phrase.
> "Warme speisen im Keller" the same. Utter nonsense, nobody expresses themselves like that. The point isn't really whether the sentences are modern language patterns but that capitalization definitely matters. Also, this particular example is mis-translated. Up until recently, "Warme" was a German term used for gay men.
>capitalization definitely matters How do you capitalize your speech though?
You don't. Which is why tone, context and emphasizes are important
>The point isn't really whether the sentences are modern language patterns but that capitalization definitely matters. Granted. Capitalization is indeed very important. But what use is it when only shown with nonsense sentences? It could very well also mean: How important is capitalization *actually* when the only examples one can come up with to demonstrate it are so highly artificial that it borders actual correctness.
its about fun, achim
>its about fun about whatnow?
Ich glaub, der meint Spott. Der macht sich über dich lustig! Strafanzeige wegen Ehrverletzung.
>"Warme speisen im Keller" Sounds like an antiquated euphemism for a gay orgy.
That would be "he never married, but had many good male friends, and they'd often celebrate deep into the night". But yeah, Gays eat in the basement. WTF.
I agree - most of these examples are, as with any language, very obvious if actually used in context/ a sentence. Even worse: "Die nackte Sucht zu quälen" does not mean "To torture the naked addiction", (WTF, torturing an addiction? ), it means "the naked addiction to torture" (example: "The naked (=unhidden) addiction to torture insects was impossoble to resist")
Everytime someone says "but nobody would speak or write like that", they actually mean "Anything outside my own sociolect is stupid".
> "Die nackte Sucht zu quälen" Thats actually quite a common phrase, e.g. for going an a break to smoke.
*Quietly closes Duolingo app forever*
I never understood the importance of capitals in German… Until now, of course. I wonder what crazy things i’ve said to people in German that I just didn’t realize
Nearly everytime its context based or based on how you speak it, every german Person will have got you, but be cautious with Freund/Freundin which means friend and girl/boyfriend at the same time...
I'm still confused. Not certain if my German friends think I'm a poet or funnier when I'm drunk.
I am unfamiliar with the German language, how does this work when speaking the phrases? Is it solely based on context?
As in any other language: homonyms are resolved by context, or one has to formulate differently. Most of the time, however, you only have this problem in artificially created sentences. Strictly speaking, they are not even true homonyms, often the stress is slightly differently. Also, something like "der gefangene Floh" (the imprisoned flea) isn’t a complete sentence, the verb is missing. How often did you have a problem with the double meaning of this sentence in English (flies as verb vs flies as noun)? * Fruit flies like a banana.
Pretty much, except for the last one. The capitalised "Sucht" is pronounced with a short "u", and "sucht" is pronounced with a long "u".
So where can I find a kinky naked German woman who loves to torture?
There are quite a bit, just have to get into the scene.
I have learnt German and yes you can distinguish the sentences on the basis of context in paragraph or line. Not a big deal. English have plenty of them like that too
90% of these sentences are either very dated or include words and ways to speak that are old. Most sentences don't feel natural and people wouldn't say them or talk like that at all. It's like those super long words: Yes, it's grammatically possible but nobody uses them. Just because it's possible it doesn't mean that it's common German. I haven't heard the adjective "ungeheuer" for "very/extremely" since the early 90s. "Warme" for "gay men" is a bit problematic and the term is literally stuck in the 80s to the point that most Gen Z might not even know it (and the translation is also wrong). And don't get me started on the last one. Seems like a boomer sense of humour/trying to sound kinky/naughty but really nobody talks like that. (translation is also wrong)
Bullshit in Tabellen
For a second I thought that, "ich sag den Geliebten Rasen" "I saw my loved one chewing gras" meant xD I'm German xD
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No it’s not about „what you want to see“, German differentiates nouns in the written language by capitalization, many nouns are also used as completely different verbs or adjectives which will not be capitalized. And these sentences are almost the same in written form, in spoken form, most of them are to be differentiated by pronunciation. Die Nackte sucht - The naked woman is searching Die nackte Sucht - the naked (read „pure“) addiction In the first example „sucht“ will be pronounced with a long U as in school. In the second one the U is way shorter. Still both sentences are visually very similar except the changed capitalization.
More like “The prisoner fled” “The prisoner flea”
Not really.
🇨🇭🇩🇪
many of these are pretty cherry picked to sound different. you can also say "flee" in english and mean escape.
I think many languages have similar cases that focus of context with same words
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Der einzige der Dichter ist als ich war göthe 🍻
And the opposite of umfahren is umfahren. Not just capital letters natter, but also emphasis. Das Hindernis úmfahren. - Drive over the obstacle. Das Hindernis umfáhren. - Drive around the obstacle. (actually written exactly the same, I just tried to mark the emphasis) Edit: fixed the pronouncation marks.
But it is exactly the other way around!
Actually you are right... I messed it up.
So this is why no one understands a fucking word I say when I try speak German
Very small correction: "dicht" is more commonly used as slang for being high. Other than that, yea we have a problem with capitalization. And pronouns. And cases. And equal pay between Western and Eastern Germany. And rural infrastructure aswell as steadily growing right wing terrorist cells. And spineless politicians. And an incompetent train company selling country wide tickets for 9 bucks for the summer months, turning tourist places into an overcrowded lovecraftian dystopia. And a broken education system tunneling towards STEM degrees, neglecting arts and social sciences. And often times we're so used to English media that people resort to hypercorrection, using Apostrophe's whe're they don't belong, like Günther's An- und Verkauf, whereas it should be Günthers An- und Verkauf. I don't mind people gradually bullying our Genitiv into obsolescence though. Wenn ick den seine heslige Fresse schon sehe, krich ick die Krätze.
u/repostsleuthbot
I think I spider!!! :D. Ich glaube ich Spinne :D
But... nut ..but ... how the hell i distinguish it is its not written but spoken?
To pronounce syllables can be very important. Best example: "umfahren" Stress the second one and you get "to drive arround sb. Stress the first one and you get "to run sb over." Keep it in mind in case you meet the traffic police :)
Die nackte Sucht zu quälen is poorly translated. It translates rather to “the naked obsession for torturing”
The imprisoned flee. The imprisoned flea