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Nouns with MULTIPLE Articles?! Posted by Sten on Mar 5, 2020
Willkommen zu Transparent Language! Der Blog für deine Portion Deutsch! Oder… Das Blog für deine Portion Deutsch? In a recent post, I told you everything you need to know about German Artikel (articles). But there is something I left out. And that is the strange case where one single Nomen (noun) can have multiple Artikel. Why and how does this…
German Prepositions: All You Need To Know Posted by Sten on Feb 20, 2020
Hello dear German learners! Have you struggled with prepositions like aus, bei, mit, entlang, anhand, während or wegen? German is famous for being hard – but there are rules for all of it! Let’s have a look at how to use German prepositions and to uncover what preposition to use. Known in German as Präpositionen, prepositions are…
German Articles: All You Need To Know Posted by Sten on Feb 13, 2020
German Artikel (articles) seem quite confusing. The infamous der/die/das scheme spooks many students – but fear not, there is some logic to it all. Let’s have a look at this today! First, an overview Want to go deeper? Check out our free eBook on German basics here! Artikel belong to their corresponding Nomen (noun). They’re helpful to identify what Nomen is being referred to…
Don’t Let It Confuse You! – Wenn Posted by Sten on Feb 6, 2020
In previous posts in this series, we’ve looked at words that exist in English, yet really mean something else in German. Today, we’ll take a look at a word that sounds pretty much the same as the English word, and mostly means the same, but it can get pretty confusing: the word wenn. Doesn’t it just mean…
How Germans Turned Into Almans Posted by Sten on Jan 27, 2020
Ah, the Germans. Attached to stereotypes of Pünktlichkeit (punctuality), Ordnung (order) and Gesetzestreue (law abidance) above all else, they have a distinct culture and lifestyle. But how could you encapsulate this in a term? What says “German” like nothing else? Alman, apparently. Let’s have a look. Making fun of Germans Don’t think we Germans are not aware of all these…
German Sayings + Expressions 27: Feeling Old Posted by Sten on Jan 9, 2020
It’s 2020! Finally, a new Jahrzent (decade) – but for a lot of people that second 2 in the year gives them a feeling of being… old. Perhaps rightfully so. The Mauerfall (Fall of the Berlin Wall), which sparked German reunification? Almost 31 years ago! The end of the Zweiter Weltkrieg (Second World War)? 75 years this…
What’s for Dinner with German Christmas? Posted by Sten on Dec 29, 2019
German Christmas has a lot of interesting traditions. But when it comes to Essen… We are just not that traditional about it, it seems! Where other cultures have traditional Christmas dishes, like the French bûche de Noël or Venezuelan hallacas, the Germans don’t. While we make dozens and dozens of Weihnachtsplätzchen (Christmas cookies) and other sweets to cover the…