German Language Stack Exchange
German Language Stack Exchange

Most Popular

more tags
1500 questions
15
votes
3 answers

Why do we use the dative case even when the object isn't receiving anything?

I am a beginner learner, and I recently discovered the German (metal) song "Blut im Auge". I found out that "im" is a contraction of "in dem" which is okay, but then, why would we use the dative case in an incomplete sentence? Using the dative case…
Kyle Alexander Buan
  • 153
  • 6
15
votes
4 answers

Welchen Ursprung hat das Wort "Pustekuchen"?

Laut Wikipedia gibt es zwei Erklärungsversuche für Pustekuchen: Es stammt aus einer abgewandelten Form des jiddischen Ausdrucks: Ja cochem, aber nicht lamdon ("Zwar gerissen, aber kein Gelehrter" oder "Schlau, aber nicht schlau genug"). Daraus soll…
John Smithers
  • 9,814
  • 44
  • 61
15
votes
1 answer

Genitive ending of proper nouns ending in "s" or "z"

Lars has a book. Fritz has a house. How do I show possession using the genitive ending "s" for a proper noun that ends in an "s" or "z"? Das ist Lars(?) Buch. Das ist Fritz(?) Haus.
alufolie
  • 153
  • 7
15
votes
5 answers

Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder

I recently got a Deutsche Grammophon CD with recordings of songs by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. When reading the texts, I noticed the translation of the title of one of the songs. Intuitively I knew it wasn't correct. The only reason why I'm posting…
user26693
  • 151
  • 5
15
votes
4 answers

Verwendet man Abkürzungen in (technischen) Texten?

Ich schreibe als Software-Entwickler viele Dokumente, meist technischer Natur (doch halbwegs verständlich für Nichttechniker), aber auch "direktorensicher". Dabei geht es mir nicht um ein paar Tabellen mit kurzen Sätzen, sondern um richtigen…
OregonGhost
  • 14,206
  • 1
  • 59
  • 83
15
votes
5 answers

Is there a list of German words that occupy the zero position in a sentence/clause?

My understanding of the typical construction of a sentence/clause in German is that the 2nd position is occupied by a verb so "Ich glaube das nicht." and "Das glaube ich nicht." are both valid. However, certain words occupy the 0th position.…
ghshtalt
  • 1,938
  • 3
  • 19
  • 20
15
votes
4 answers

Using "nötig" vs "notwendig"

What is the difference between "nötig" and "notwendig"? When would one be preferred over the other, or are they always interchangeable?
Kevin
  • 4,585
  • 28
  • 28
15
votes
10 answers

What is the best German translation for the verb phrase “to upgrade software”?

When writing IT German, I try find the balance between using accepted German words (e.g. Festplatte instead of Harddrive even though anyone reading the text would understand Harddrive) but not using the German translation if it sounds odd (e.g. use…
Edward Tanguay
  • 3,557
  • 5
  • 27
  • 45
15
votes
2 answers

Gender of German rivers?

I am curious whether there is a rule when it comes to the grammatical gender of river names. As I have understood it, non-German rivers are using der as an article, unless we are talking about those that end with e or a, in which case the article is…
TheRetardin
  • 151
  • 1
  • 3
15
votes
6 answers

»Fut« = »Gesäß«? Wo im deutschen Sprachraum?

Mit dem Substantiv »Fut« bezeichnet man in Österreich auf sehr grob-abwertende Art das Geschlechtsorgan einer Frau. Es ist ein Wort aus der Gossen-Sprache, wird auch als grobes Schimpfwort benutzt, und ist eines der abwertendsten und schmutzigsten…
Hubert Schölnast
  • 122,799
  • 17
  • 211
  • 403
15
votes
2 answers

When to call non-pharmacy shops "Apotheke (pharmacy)"?

I often hear people refer to common shops as pharmacy (so, "Apotheke" in German) even though they are no pharmacies. This appears to be totally random. Sometimes they mean grocery stores, sometimes specialist shops and so on. Person A: "Ich war in…
OddDev
  • 1,147
  • 7
  • 21
15
votes
3 answers

How would I translate “I slipped him a twenty” into German?

What’s a good translation of slipped in the following context? I slipped him a twenty. Which means: I discreetly handed him twenty dollars
Aufgeschissener Kunde
  • 315
  • 2
  • 6
15
votes
3 answers

Why is Geschwister gender neutral and not Gebrüder?

What is the difference between “Brüder” and “Gebrüder”? asks about the difference between the words "Brüder" and "Gebrüder". There is the gender neutral Geschwister for brothers and sisters. Geschwister is a generic feminine gender (generisches…
knut
  • 9,282
  • 2
  • 27
  • 50
15
votes
2 answers

Kann ich »i.e.« auch im Deutschen verwenden?

Im Englischen wird alle naslang i.e. verwandt, und zwar quer durch sätmliche Sprachschichten. Es liest sich mit that is auch wunderbar flüssig und kann ständig eingesetzt werden. Im Deutschen habe ich oft den Impuls es zu verwenden, stoppe dann aber…
dakab
  • 2,233
  • 2
  • 14
  • 28
15
votes
6 answers

When should one use singular form of "hair", when plural?

I wonder if there's a rule for which form of "hair" should I use, For example: Sie hat dunkle Haare. I'd use the singular form there, as in the English equivalent: She's got dark hair.
user508
1 2 3
…
99 100