The German Phrase ‘Ich Habe Zu Tun’ Posted by Constanze on Oct 20, 2021
Guten Tag! Today we’re going to look at a slightly unusual-sounding phrase in the German language. Maybe you’ve come across this phrase before, but thought a word was missing, or that it didn’t sound quite right. The phrase in question is this one: Ich habe zu tun. Ich habe zu tun This phrase, literally translated…
German has sentence tags, hasn’t it? – Tags in German Posted by Sten on Oct 15, 2021
English is a bit (in)famous for its use of sentence tags, those little endings of sentences to indicate that you are looking for agreement or confirmation. It’s nice, isn’t it? German, like many other languages, doesn’t have such tags. But we do ask for confirmation like this, too, of course! So, how does German do…
German Library Vocabulary Posted by Constanze on Oct 13, 2021
Guten Tag! Today’s post is all about German library vocabulary. Did you know that Transparent Language Online is available in many libraries all around the world? Perhaps you’re reading this post from a library right now! In this post we’ll look at German vocabulary related to libraries, and I’ll tell you a little about one…
Responding To ‘Wie Geht’s?’ In German Posted by Constanze on Oct 12, 2021
Guten Tag! Wie geht’s? In my last post, we looked at alternative ways of saying this phrase, which means ‘How are you?’ in German. In this post, we’re going to look at alternative responses you can give, aside from the standard ‘Gut, danke’ (‘Good, thanks’). After all, what if you’re not feeling good? Or what…
German Idioms 32: Rainy days! Posted by Sten on Sep 30, 2021
Summer is done, it’s time for der Herbst (autumn/fall)! And what comes with this time of the year? Well, der Regen (rain), of course. So let’s look at a idioms again. Here’s a Sprichwort (n, saying) and a Ausdruck (m, expression) that are related to Regen! For previous posts in the series on German Idioms, please follow this link. Sich regen bringt Segen Literally…
Alternative Ways To Say ‘How Are You’ In German Posted by Constanze on Sep 29, 2021
Guten Tag! Wie geht es dir? This is the go-to phrase you will learn in any German lesson to ask ‘How are you?’, along with its abbreviation, Wie geht’s? (‘How’s it going?’). You might be wondering if there are some other, more creative ways of saying this phrase, and the answer is, of course, ja!…
Election Day in Germany Posted by Larissa on Sep 28, 2021
Last Sunday, the 26th of September, was a very big day in Germany. There were three elections and one referendum. When there are these many elections it is called a Superwahljahr (this literally translates to a super-vote-year), which is a whole extra post that you can find here. There was the election for the Berlin…