Tag Archives: Language
The German Prefix ‘Ur’ Posted by Constanze on Apr 10, 2019
Guten Tag! Today we’re going to look at the German prefix ur. This is a very interesting prefix, because it is used only to talk about ‘original’, ‘primitive’, and ‘earliest’ things. Let’s get into it. The prefix ur is pronounced ooh-ah – exactly how you’d pronounce the German word for clock, die Uhr (but note…
Little German Words: Tja Posted by Constanze on Mar 25, 2019
Guten Tag! Today we’re going to look another, kleines Wort (little word). Sometimes these small German words are more interjections than words, so you might hear them and think ‘What do those little sounds mean?’ Today you can find out! The word we’re looking at in this post is Tja. Tja Basically, this is the…
The German Phrase ‘Passt Schon’ Posted by Constanze on Feb 27, 2019
German is full of tiny phrases that have a huge range of meanings. In this post, we will look in more depth at the phrase ‘Passt schon’. This literally translates to ‘Fits already’, ‘Fits yet’ or ‘Does fit’. But what this little phrase actually means is ‘it’s OK’, ‘no worries’, ‘it’s all good’, ‘never mind’…
The German Phrase ‘Es Passt’ Posted by Constanze on Feb 26, 2019
Guten Tag! In my last post I talked about the phrase ‘Es steht dir (gut)’, the German way of saying ‘It (really) suits you’. A question people often have when they learn this phrase is: What is the difference between saying ‘Es steht dir’ (it suits you) and a similar phrase, ‘Es passt dir’ (it…
German: It Suits You! Posted by Constanze on Feb 13, 2019
Guten Tag! How do you tell someone in German that something ‘suits them’? Read on to find out! So you’re out shopping with a German friend and they want your opinion on the t-shirt they’ve just tried on. It looks really good. What do you tell them? You could say “Es sieht gut aus!” (“It…
Did JFK Really Call Himself A Doughnut In German? Posted by Constanze on Feb 8, 2019
It happened way back in 1963, but still the question comes up: Did John F. Kennedy really call himself a doughnut during his famous speech in West Berlin? At the end of a speech in which the president showed solidarity with the citizens of West Berlin following the erection of the Berlin Wall, Kennedy said…
100 Years Of Women’s Suffrage In Germany Posted by Constanze on Jan 30, 2019
Guten Tag! There has been uproar in German politics recently because a German mayor was not invited to a charity event – simply because she is a woman. This comes shortly after Germany celebrated 100 years of women having the vote. Karoline Linnert is the finance senator and substitute mayor for the city of Bremen…