Tag Archives: German language
German Suffixes And Word Genders Posted by Constanze on Mar 31, 2021
Guten Tag! Today we’re revisiting the subject of German word genders (articles), and how you can recognise if German words are masculine (der), feminine (die) or neuter (das), by looking at their suffixes. Learning the genders of every single German noun is no small task – especially when there is no hard and fast rule…
German Words Relating To Marriage Posted by Constanze on Mar 24, 2021
Guten Tag! I recently had a request to explain words relating to marriage, such as die Ehe, die Heirat, and der Ehemann. In fact, the German language has a handful of words on this subject that are easily muddled up, as their similarity of meaning can be confusing to learners. So in this post I…
4 Tips to Improve Your German Accent as an American Posted by Sten on Mar 11, 2021
Learning German can be hard enough. But then there’s also the German pronunciation. As an American, it can be daunting to get this right, especially because German sounds so different from American. But it can be done! I remember meeting an American some years ago, and before he told me that he was from the…
Zuhause, zu Hause, Haus… What’s The Difference? Posted by Constanze on Feb 24, 2021
Guten Tag! Recently we have been talking on here about the home: das Zuhause. Or is it zuhause? Or zu Hause? Or even… das Haus? Heimat? Daheim?? What’s the difference?? If this topic confuses you, you’re not alone! In this post I will try to clear up the confusion surrounding all these different ways of…
How the German Word “Fräulein” Disappeared Posted by Sten on Feb 18, 2021
Language moves and evolves, often along the lines of what a culture still deems acceptable or not. German is not immune to this, of course, and this week marked the 50th anniversary of the disappearance of a belittling word: Fräulein. A “little woman”. It disappeared in legal ways, at least. That doesn’t mean you won’t…
Zoom Meetings In German Posted by Constanze on Feb 3, 2021
Guten Tag! I hope you are all well, and have had a great start to 2021. We are nearing March, which will, unbelievably, mark one year since the start of the Coronavirus Pandemie (pandemic) lockdown here in the UK. We have discussed the more serious matters regarding the pandemic throughout the year on this blog…
More German ‘Non-Words’ of 2020 Posted by Constanze on Jan 27, 2021
Guten Tag! Today’s post is a follow-up to the Unwort des Jahres 2020 – the German ‘non-word’ of the year 2020. To fall into the category of an ‘Unwort’, the word must do one or more of the following: violate the principles of human dignity; violate the principles of democracy; discriminate against social groups; or…