{"id":12101,"date":"2020-10-21T23:00:20","date_gmt":"2020-10-21T23:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=12101"},"modified":"2020-10-21T11:36:51","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T11:36:51","slug":"the-german-word-gell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/the-german-word-gell\/","title":{"rendered":"The German Word ‘Gell’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guten Tag! In today\u2019s post, I\u2019m bringing you two German words that are the same, but have different meanings.<\/p>\n

There are several words like this in German, the difference sometimes being their gender (der Taube<\/em> \u2013 deaf person, and die Taube<\/em> \u2013 pigeon, for example), or that the word ending changes when plural (die Mutter (mother) becomes die M\u00fctter when plural, while die Mutter (screw nut) becomes die Muttern, for example). But in this case, the difference is a regional one.<\/p>\n

The word in question today is the word gell.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gell: Version one<\/h3>\n
\"\"

Photo by Seth Doyle on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n

The first way you might hear the word gell being used is from the German verb gellen<\/strong> \u2013 to yell\/scream\/cry out:<\/p>\n

\u201cEin Schrei gellt durch die Nacht\u201d<\/strong>
\n\u201cA scream cries out in the night\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The conjugation of the verb gellen<\/strong> is as follows:<\/p>\n

Ich gell(e) \u2013 I yell
\nDu gellst \u2013 You yell
\nEr\/sie\/es gellt \u2013 He\/she\/it yells
\nWir gellen \u2013 We yell
\nIhr gellt \u2013 You yell (plural)
\nSie gellen \u2013 You yell (formal)
\nsie gellen \u2013 They yell<\/p>\n

The word gell<\/strong> is also an adjective meaning \u2018shrill\u2019:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cEr hat eine gelle Stimme\u201d<\/strong>
\n\u201cHe has a shrill voice\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Synonyms for gellen include schreien, kreischen,<\/strong> and heulen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gell: Version two<\/h3>\n
\"\"

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n

The second \u2018gell\u2019 is totally different from the first. It is an interjection that means, \u2018Right?\u2019 or \u2018Agree?\u2019:<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Das war gut, gell?”<\/strong>
\n“That was good, right?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When used like this, the word \u2018gell\u2019<\/strong> is basically asking someone to affirm what has just been said. It\u2019s similar to saying \u2018Huh?<\/strong>\u2019 in English, to get a person\u2019s attention and encourage a response from them:<\/p>\n

“Das war gut! Gell, Karin?”<\/strong>
\n“That was good! Huh, Karin?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This particular usage of the word \u2018gell\u2019 is regional<\/strong>. You will hear it in Bavaria, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland, where it often gets shortened to \u2018gei\u2019<\/strong> (pronounced \u2018gay\u2019) or \u2018geh\u2019<\/strong> (like \u2018meh\u2019).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Guten Tag! In today\u2019s post, I\u2019m bringing you two German words that are the same, but have different meanings. There are several words like this in German, the difference sometimes being their gender (der Taube \u2013 deaf person, and die Taube \u2013 pigeon, for example), or that the word ending changes when plural (die Mutter…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":12104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[522213,117692,53,503854,63020,533804,95131,376023,980,522223,10668,1401],"class_list":["post-12101","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language","tag-austrian-german","tag-bavaria","tag-conversation","tag-curious-words","tag-filler-words","tag-gell","tag-german-language","tag-language","tag-same-words","tag-southern-germany","tag-switzerland","tag-words"],"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