Archive for 'Language'
Ways To Use The German Word ‘Immer’ Posted by Constanze on Jun 6, 2018
Guten Tag! Today I’d like to bring you a seemingly simple, German word that can be used in a variety of ways to mean different things. That word is the German word immer – always. So the basic definition of immer is always: Ja, so ist es immer – Yes, it’s always like…
German Subordinating Conjunctions Posted by Constanze on May 30, 2018
Guten Tag! Today I’m bringing you a simple post on German subordinating conjunctions. If even the name of this makes you yawn, don’t worry – I’m going to keep it simple! German subordinating conjunctions are basically ‘joining words’ such as because, although, and before. In this post I’ll explain what these kinds of joining words…
Bombenentschärfung in Dresden Posted by Sten on May 25, 2018
Yesterday, something remarkable happened in Dresden, a city in Sachsen (Saxony), close to the Polish border. A Blindgänger (dud bomb) from the Zweite Weltkrieg (Second World War) was found close to the Altstadt (old city center) during Bauarbeiten (construction work). A bomb that was intended to destroy and kill and did not detonate 75 years ago. What did they do with it? Find out here! Gesprengt!…
The German Colour Eigengrau Posted by Constanze on May 23, 2018
When you walk around in pitch dark, you only see black in front of you, right? In German, you see a colour called Eigengrau. Eigengrau, which literally means own grey or intrinsic grey, is the shade of black seen by the eye in complete darkness. On the Hex colour chart, where black is #000000, Eigengrau…
German Surnames & Their Meanings Posted by Constanze on May 16, 2018
If I were to ask you to think of a German surname, what would be the first one to come to mind? Schmidt, maybe? Stein? In this post I will show you some of the most popular German surnames, give you their meanings, and provide some general information about German surnames, too. Let’s get started…
German Kofferwörter (Portmanteau Words) Posted by Constanze on May 9, 2018
Today the topic is all about German Kofferwörter. These are words that mix two or more existing words together to create a new word with a blended meaning. These are what the English call portmanteau words. Examples in English include Brexit (Britain + Exit, to describe Britain exiting the EU), smog (smoke + fog), and…
Untranslatable German Words: der Schickimicki Posted by Sten on May 3, 2018
A friend of mine told me this week: “Schickimicki is one of my favorite German words!” It made me realize, it is quite a cute word! It also made me wonder: How would you accurately translate it to English? It is harder than you might think. Let’s go! Click here for previous posts in this series of…