{"id":13902,"date":"2022-03-11T14:29:19","date_gmt":"2022-03-11T14:29:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/?p=13902"},"modified":"2022-03-11T14:29:50","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T14:29:50","slug":"dont-let-it-confuse-you-the-german-words-all-and-samtlich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/dont-let-it-confuse-you-the-german-words-all-and-samtlich\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Let It Confuse You: The German Words All and S\u00e4mtlich"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you see the German word\u00a0All<\/em>, you might easily see the English word\u00a0all<\/em> – however, this appears to be a false friend! So, what does All\u00a0<\/em>mean? And how do you say\u00a0all<\/em>? And what’s with s\u00e4mtlich<\/em>? There are multiple answers to these questions, so let’s have a look at the German word All<\/em> and\u00a0all<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Click here to read more posts in the series Don’t Let It Confuse You!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Universe<\/strong><\/h1>\n
\"s\u00e4mtlich<\/a>

Photo by Guillermo Ferla<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

The German word\u00a0das All\u00a0<\/em>means “universe” or simply “space”. So you can say:\u00a0das All ist riesig\u00a0<\/em>(the universe is enormous), but also\u00a0die ISS schwebt im All\u00a0<\/em>(the ISS floats in space). A more accurate translation of “space” would be\u00a0der Weltraum\u00a0<\/em>(“world space”), but in German,\u00a0All\u00a0<\/em>is also used as a synonym in cases like this.<\/p>\n

But like the English “universe”, the German\u00a0All\u00a0<\/em>is related to the world\u00a0all <\/em>and “all” (think of universal, which also exists in German with the same meaning). More generally, German uses\u00a0allgemein\u00a0<\/em>(general, universal) as a translation of “all”.<\/p>\n

Alle <\/em>or s\u00e4mtliche<\/em>?<\/strong><\/h1>\n
\"s\u00e4mtlich<\/a>

Photo by Dolapo Ayoade<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

To say “all” can get a little complicated. Let’s look at the following sentences:<\/p>\n

S\u00e4mtliche<\/strong> Lieder des S\u00e4ngers wurden nach seinem Tod ver\u00f6ffentlicht.<\/em><\/p>\n

(All<\/strong> songs of the singer were published after his death.)<\/p>\n

To me,\u00a0s\u00e4mtlich\u00a0<\/em>always seems confusing. It feels like “some” or “many”, not like a synonym of:<\/p>\n

Alle<\/strong> Lieder des S\u00e4ngers wurden nach seinem Tod ver\u00f6ffentlicht.<\/em><\/p>\n

(All<\/strong> songs of the singer were published after his death.)<\/p>\n

But that’s what\u00a0s\u00e4mtlich\u00a0<\/em>means!<\/strong> It comes from the German word\u00a0gesamt\u00a0<\/em>(total)<\/strong>. If you’re wondering how\u00a0gesamt\u00a0<\/em>is different from\u00a0insgesamt<\/em>, it’s pretty simple. Think of\u00a0gesamt\u00a0<\/em>as “total” and of\u00a0insgesamt\u00a0<\/em>as “in total”.<\/p>\n

But back to\u00a0s\u00e4mtlich.\u00a0<\/em>It’s weirdness becomes perhaps more clear in other sentences:<\/p>\n

“Der Ausstieg aus der Istanbul-Konvention ist in konservativen Teilen der Gesellschaft so aufgefasst worden, als w\u00fcrden damit s\u00e4mtliche<\/strong> Rechte der Frauen gestrichen.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Tagesschau.de<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

(In conservative parts of society, the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention was interpreted as if all<\/strong> rights of women would be abolished.)<\/p>\n

“F\u00fcnf Jahre Brexit: S\u00e4mtliche<\/strong> Vorw\u00fcrfe perlen an Johnson ab”<\/em><\/p>\n

Zeit.de<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

(Five years Brexit: All<\/strong> allegations roll off Johnson)<\/p>\n

In both of these sentences, the German reads in the same way as if we put “some” or “many”:<\/p>\n

“…als w\u00fcrden damit manche\/einige\/viele<\/strong> Rechte der Frauen gestrichen.”<\/em><\/p>\n

(as if some\/several\/many<\/strong> rights of women would be abolished.)<\/p>\n

“F\u00fcnf Jahre Brexit: Manche\/einige\/viele<\/strong> Vorw\u00fcrfe perlen an Johnson ab”<\/em><\/p>\n

(Five years Brexit: Some\/Several\/Many<\/strong> allegations roll off Johnson)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So how are\u00a0alle\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0s\u00e4mtliche\u00a0<\/em>different?<\/p>\n

The difference is pretty subtle, but it’s an important one. While\u00a0alle\u00a0<\/em>is a rather neutral, general term<\/strong>,\u00a0s\u00e4mtliche<\/em> emphasizes that it’s really ALL. In German terms, s\u00e4mtlich\u00a0<\/em>means\u00a0ausnahmslos alle\u00a0<\/em>(all, without exception)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

So in the above example, the Zeit<\/em>-article emphasizes that really ALL allegations roll off the British PM – without exception!<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To me,\u00a0s\u00e4mtlich\u00a0<\/em>still feels weird, even as a native speaker. And it seems like I’m not alone<\/a>. The fact that it doesn’t only mean all, but\u00a0really all<\/em> throws me off!<\/p>\n

Just remember that\u00a0s\u00e4mtlich\u00a0<\/em>relates to\u00a0gesamt<\/em>, and you should be fine.<\/p>\n

Are there words that confuse you, throw you off? Do you also find s\u00e4mtlich <\/em>a weird one? Let me know in the comments below!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"s\u00e4mtlich

When you see the German word\u00a0All, you might easily see the English word\u00a0all – however, this appears to be a false friend! So, what does All\u00a0mean? And how do you say\u00a0all? And what’s with s\u00e4mtlich? There are multiple answers to these questions, so let’s have a look at the German word All and\u00a0all. Click here…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":13904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8,376076],"tags":[503854,517059,263,264],"class_list":["post-13902","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language","category-vocabulary","tag-curious-words","tag-dont-let-it-confuse-you","tag-false-cognates","tag-false-friends"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13902"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13907,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13902\/revisions\/13907"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/german\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}