{"id":10588,"date":"2019-03-27T06:00:08","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T06:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=10588"},"modified":"2019-03-22T09:59:57","modified_gmt":"2019-03-22T09:59:57","slug":"little-german-words-na-ja","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/little-german-words-na-ja\/","title":{"rendered":"Little German Words: Na Ja"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guten Tag! Today we\u2019re 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 \u2018What do those little sounds mean?\u2019 Today you can find out! The word we\u2019re looking at in this post is na ja.<\/b><\/p>\n

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image via pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

Na ja<\/h3>\n

<\/b>Sometimes spelt as one word (\u2018naja\u2019), the closest translation of na ja<\/em> would be \u2018Well\u2019. But, just like how in English the word \u2018well\u2019 can be used in different ways and depend on tone of voice, so can na ja<\/em> in German!<\/p>\n

Na ja<\/strong> often comes at the beginning of a sentence and is often used as a dampener for the statement that is about to follow, or if something is not black and white. For example:<\/p>\n

-Habe ich das jetzt richtig gemacht?<\/strong>
\n-Na ja \u2026 falsch ist es nicht, aber richtig ist es auch nicht.<\/strong><\/p>\n

-Have I done it right this time?<\/em>
\n-Well \u2026 it\u2019s not wrong, but it\u2019s not right, either.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can use it if you\u2019re about to disagree with someone:<\/p>\n

Hans ist so nett!<\/strong>
\nNa ja, so nett ist er auch nicht.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hans is so nice!<\/em>
\nWell, he\u2019s not all that nice<\/em>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Do you like potato salad? Na ja..<\/p><\/div>\n

Another example would be if you are saying something is just OK. It’s not your favourite, but you don’t hate it, either:<\/p>\n

-Magst du Kartoffelsalat?<\/strong>
\n-Na ja \u2026 mein Lieblingsgericht ist es nicht.<\/strong><\/p>\n

-Do you like potato salad?<\/em>
\n-Well\u2026 it’s not my favourite dish.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Na ja can also be an answer to the question ‘how are you’<\/em>? In this context, it is a way of saying so-so:<\/em><\/p>\n

Guten Tag! Wie geht es dir?<\/strong>
\nNa ja…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hello! How are you?
\nSo-so…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I hope this has been helpful. And if you liked this post on little German words, then you might like this one about a similar word, Tja.<\/p>\n

Bis bald! (See you soon!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Guten Tag! Today we\u2019re 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 \u2018What do those little sounds mean?\u2019 Today you can find out! The word we\u2019re looking at in this post is na ja. Na ja Sometimes spelt…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":10584,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10588","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t