German Language Stack Exchange
German Language Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
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6 answers

Do Germans use “Okay” or “OK” to agree to a request or confirm that they’ve understood?

For example, in English: P1: Can you keep this suitcase for me for an hour? P2: Okay. Or in the case of confirmation of information processed by the receiving person of the dialogue: P1: I need the book now. P2: Okay. Do Germans use Okay or…
Kim Ngo
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What does “m/f” or “m/w” mean in German job postings?

When looking at Stack Overflow jobs posted by German companies, I see a lot of them having a marking of m/f or m/w: Security Architect (m/f) for embedded Linux Systems and AUTOSAR Hackers wanted — Senior Developer / Team-Lead (m/w)…
jpa
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Man "spricht mit Akzent" - aber mit was "schreibt" man?

Oft hört man dem gesprochenen Deutsch eines Menschen dessen Herkunft an, wenn es sich nicht um die Muttersprache handelt, und sagt "er spricht mit Akzent". Sehr viel ungenauer ist es, die Muttersprache dem geschriebenen Wort zu entnehmen (hat man…
Olaf
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How do you say “geek”/“IT guy” in German?

How do you call the kind of people who either work in IT or spend a lot of time with this kind of stuff? The only word I’ve found is Streber but it seems to have a negative connotation (like nerd).
optim1st
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1 answer

What means my car's displayed diagnosis "KÜHLMITTLE NIEDR MOTOR ABSTELLEN"?

I'm French and I purchased a used (2001) Volvo V70 which was initially buyed in Switzerland, and where diagnosis are displayed in German, so for me it's often a painful task to understand what the messages mean. I inquired for a possible software…
cFreed
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5 answers

"Don't all shout at once" in German

Suppose you are giving a talk, or some sort of presentation, and every now and then you ask a question, in order to give the audience an opportunity to take part in the discussion. Now, it often happens that, after asking a question, complete…
Zvonimir
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Kann man zwei Punkte am Satzende zusammenfassen

Wenn ich einen Satz mit einer Abkürzung schließe (etc.) oder z. B. mit einem abgekürzten Firmennamen (Activision Publishing, Inc.), sieht es etwas merkwürdig aus, wenn zwei Punkte hintereinander gesetzt werden: ... dieses und jenes etc.. Ist es…
MoritzLost
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In which situations would you use either "Toilette", "Klo", "WC" or "Bad"?

Inspired by this question on the English StackExchange sister site, I'm asking the following question. Which of the following synonyms is suitable for different situations (formal, colloquial, ...)? Is there a difference at…
splattne
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Groß- und Kleinschreibung und Bindestrich bei Substantiv-Adjektiv-Zusammensetzungen

Werden zwei Substantive mit Bindestrich zusammengefügt, wie z. B. im Druck-Erzeugnis, werden beide großgeschrieben. Bei zwei Adjektiven, wie z. B. das deutsch-französische Wörterbuch, werden beide kleingeschrieben. Wie wird aber eine Kombination aus…
Leviathan
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7 answers

Is there any difference between "laufen" and "rennen"?

This question also has an answer here (in German): Wann benutzt man “laufen” und wann “rennen”? I can’t quite grasp the difference between laufen and rennen. I know they both mean running. In Italian, my native language, we just have this one…
E.V.
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8 answers

Difference between “sollen” and “müssen”

I can’t quite grasp the difference between sollen and müssen. They both express a duty, something that has to be done. In Italian, my native language, we just have one word for both, and so I can’t decide when I can only use one of them. In some…
E.V.
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Woher stammt der umgangssprachliche Ausdruck „Boah ey“?

Woher kommt der umgangssprachliche Ausdruck „Boah ey“? Für mich sieht er sehr seltsam aus.
jcao219
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Wie kann man wissen, ob ein Verb trennbar ist?

Gibt es eine bewährte Regel für Nicht-Muttersprachler, um zu entscheiden, ob ein Verb trennbar ist?
Tim
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How do German speakers translate sounds that animals make?

I have always been interested in the ways that animal sounds are "translated" in foreign languages. Presumably, the sounds are the same to our ears. In English: Dog: woof Cat: meow Cow: moo Duck: quack Frog: ribbit How are these translated by…
kmm
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7 answers

How often is 'zwo' actually used in place of 'zwei'

Just starting learning German and a number of texts I've read say that 'zwei' takes on a morphological change to 'zwo' in spoken speech to differentiate with 'drei'. How often do people actually use this alternative in everyday speech, or is this…
Ryan
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