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Let’s Count Insects! – Insektensommer 2018 Posted by Sten on Aug 9, 2018
It is a hot Sommer (summer), an besonderer (exceptional) one. But there is also something not that besonders about this Sommer: In general, more and more Germans say: Es gibt immer weniger Insekten (There are fewer and fewer insects). Some claim that they had to start the Scheibenwischer (windshield wiper) to remove all the Insekten from their Frontscheibe a few years ago. Now, they may have just a single Fleck (spot). Aber…
Sayings + Expressions 17: The Senf and the Salat Posted by Sten on Jul 26, 2018
In our series on sayings and expressions, we have gone through many different themes. Today, we will have a look at two food items, that don’t really go together, but work quite complementary in the realm of sayings and expressions. Let’s dive in, and as always, start with the saying! Da haben wir den Salat! Literally…
Untranslatable German Words: Der Saftladen Posted by Sten on Jul 24, 2018
In our series on untranslatable words, we look at words in German that have no direct English equivalent. Today, we look at the curious, but enjoyable Saftladen. What does Saftladen mean? According to the Duden, a Saftladen is a: “schlecht geführter Betrieb; schlecht geführter, schlecht sortierter Laden” (badly managed establishment; badly managed, badly assorted establishment) So basically, a Saftladen Nichtskönner is a place…
The difference between das, dass and daß Posted by Sten on Jul 12, 2018
You may have come across the word das. It is the article for neuter nouns, and so it shows up quite a lot. But then there is also dass. And daß? And they all sound the same! What are all these words? Let’s disentangle this Wortsalat (word salad) today! Der Artikel (the article) Das is the most common and straightforward one. It…
The German Subjunctive – Konjunktiv II Posted by Sten on Jul 5, 2018
On this blog, we have explained before how to use tenses in German. But we have not yet looked at a rather peculiar tense in German yet: the Konjunktiv (subjunctive mood)! It comes in two parts, Konjunktiv I and Konjunktiv II. Today, we look at number II! I will tell you what it is, how to use it and in which…
How the Germans cope with their World Cup Elimination Posted by Sten on Jun 29, 2018
On Wednesday, Germany lost the match against South Korea in the Football World Cup in Russia. The Weltmeister (world champion) had high hopes, everybody had faith that they would do a good job. But now, they ended last in their Gruppe (group), and are ausgeschieden (eliminated) already. But how do the Germans cope with this Blamage (humiliation)? Das Spiel The Spiel (game) itself was not…
The German Subjunctive – Let’s Talk Konjunktiv! Posted by Sten on Jun 28, 2018
On this blog, we have explained before how to use tenses in German. But we have not yet looked at a rather peculiar tense in German yet: the Konjunktiv (subjunctive mood)! It comes in two parts, Konjunktiv I and Konjunktiv II. Today, we look at number I! Let’s go! What is the Konjunktiv? Konjunktiv (subjunctive mood) is a word that comes from the…