Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 7 posts:

• "We've moved. Find us on /r/german" by u/quink
• "Wörter oder Worte?" by u/molotschna
• "The German you: duzen und siezen" by u/germanwithantrim
• "Difference between neben ann nächste?"
• "Would like some help with text."
• ""regarding" and "in regard to""
• "Warum sagt man "Ich gehe im Sommer..." und "Ich gehe diesen Sommer...""

I think they both mean next? But how do you know when to use one and not the other.

I just came back from a two week trip to Munich and Vienna, and while the locals were generally pretty impressed with my German speaking abilities, they sometimes laughed when I'd use a word considered too "schriftlich" for conversation, such as "beziehungsweise" and "hinsichtlich". I used "hinsichtlich" while drinking with some students in a square, and one replied, "'Hinsichtlich'??? Dieser Typ spricht besseres Deutsch als ich! Du wirst der nächste Günter Grass oder?" A woman who I went on a date with said that one would never say "hinsichtlich", "bezüglich" or "in Bezug auf" in the course of a conversation. Of course, this brings up the question of what one would use, and I can't always come up with examples of how I would use the word on the spot, so I never got a clear answer while I was there.

One can use "regarding" in two ways -- before a noun and before a description of an action.

Examples:

1. I have to call the doctor regarding my illness.

2. Do you have any recommendations regarding what I should do?

Previously, I would have used "hinsichtlich" for both sentences, but given that this word sounds pretentious or hochnäsig in everyday conversation, I'm trying to figure out something better. I'm guessing that when a noun follows regarding, one can simply use "wegen": "Ich muss den Arzt wegen meiner Krankheit anrufen."

For the second, I'm not too sure. Instead of "Hast du irgendwelche Empfehlungen, hinsichtlich was ich machen soll?" (which I think is grammatically incorrect to begin with, as "hinsichtlich" is a preposition, not a conjunction) or "Hast du irgendwelche Empfehlungen, in Bezug auf was ich machen soll?", I could just say, "Hast du irgendwelche Empfehlungen, was ich machen soll?" However, that sounds incomplete, like "Do you have any recommendations what I should do?"

Thoughts?

See here:

###/r/german###

More info: http://www.reddit.com/r/LANL_German/comments/26329k/were_planning_a_move_from_rlanl_german_to_rgerman/

Why is it in the first example, Sommer is in the Dativ case but Akkusativ in the second? Shouldn't it be diesem Sommer in the sentence?

Hello!

So as I cover my German vocab for the day on the computer, I like to write the new words down in my notebook to improve recall (they say handwriting these things helps). I've been heading these entries "Die heutig Deutsch Wörter" in my journal, but I discovered the alternate plural of words, "Worte," today. If I'm trying to say "today's German words," which is correct?

Thanks!

Hi I have a writing assignment I have to finish due to tomorrow, I was hoping someone could give me some help. The text is long enough but I had to use a lot of translation applications to get to this text. Everyone willing to help by giving me some feedback or correcting is very welcome to do so and will be thanked by me from the botom of my barely german speaking heart. Here's what I've got so far:

Mein Favorit ist der Urlaub der Tag der Deutschsprachigen Gemeinschaft. Deutsch ist natürlich die dritte wichtigste Sprache in unserem Land. Und damit ein guter Grund für einen Urlaub. Ich würde lügen, wenn ich mich an der Kantons, siehe die anual zeigt, aber ich kann sagen, dass ich die Erinnerung an den Tag, und es hat einen ganz besonderen Platz in meinem Herzen. Auf diesen Tag denke ich über die 74000 deutschsprachige Belgier, die sich unserer glorreichen land 1919. Dieser Urlaub ist auch zum Teil mein absoluter Favorit, da die Tatsache, dass ich nicht wie eine Familie Urlaub an und wir sind nicht die Mühe gemacht mit diesem. In unserer Umgebung ist es ein ruhiger Urlaub. Eine sanfte, aber starke Urlaub fallen zurück, als sie das Gefühl, dass Weihnachten ist nur ein kleines bisschen zu weit weg.

(P.S The text is meant to be sarcastic as this was the assignement. P.P.S If anyone was wondering I'm from Belgium.

Cheers and thanks in advance

Does anyone know where I can get hold of transcripts for the Pimsleur German course? I find it quite a useful resource for vocab, but it's so damn slow and boring that I gave up. It would be great to be able to read it instead.

Hallo,

Ich bin erste Jahr Deutsch-Studentin, und habe eine Rezept für Brezen ich möchte kochen. Das Rezept sagt:

Die Brezen einzeln für 30 Sekunden in das kochende Natronwasser geben (die Brezen schwimmen), mit einem Schaumlöffel herausholen, abtropfen lassen und mit dem groben Salz nach Geschmack bestreuen. Danach auf ein gut eingefettetes Backblech legen (kein Backpapier verwenden, die Lauge zerstört es!). Wenn das Blech voll ist, in den kalten (!) Backofen schieben.

Einen Wecker auf ca. 18 Minuten stellen und auf 220°C (Gas: Stufe 4) heizen. Wenn die Brezen nach ca. 18 - 20 Minuten goldbraun sind, sind sie fertig.

So, soll ich das Brezen in ein kalte Ofen beginnt? Oder, soll ich das Brezen in zu ein heisse Ofen schieben? Ich verstehe kein. :(

I don't understand how some of the spelling works, like Sie haben rote Blumen. Why is Blumen capitalized? or Milch und Brot. Why are they both capitalized?

I've watched pretty much all the German movies on Netflix, but would like more practice in listening comprehension. Thanks.

EDIT - Thanks for all the suggestions, y'all. Will check these out!

I'm pretty confident with my German pronunciation, except for one sound: the "ir" sound, such as in "wirft" or "wird". Here is an example from DFE. I just can't quite pronounce it the way I hear it. How can I do this?

I'm confused in how to say "I am cold" or "I am hot." it seems like both "Ich bin Kalt." and "Mir ist Kalt." Should be correct, but which one is more appropriate? To add to the confusion, the song Keine Lust uses both phrases. Are they interchangeable?

So I am learning german on duolingo, but I keep getting confused when I have to choose between ein or einen.

For exemple why do we say:

Du hast einen Vogel and not ein Vogel

I thought you guys might help

Hi, everyone. I'm learning German and Latin at the same time, and I actually have a question about a German sentence in my Latin text book.

In the introduction to Wheelock's Latin, it says "Wer fremde Sprachen nicht kennt, weiß nichts von seiner eigenen," which if I understand correctly basically means something like, "Someone who doesn't know foreign languages, knows nothing of his own."

What I'm wondering is why the first part of the sentence uses "kennt" and the second part uses "weiß." I'm still a little unclear about the difference between the two. Thanks!

Sorry I had a typo in the title, I mean ä and ö. I'm going to Germany in a little over a week and I'm practicing my pronunciation. Because I know another language that uses the long and short sound of "ü" it is one of the easier German sounds for me, but the long "ä" and long and short "ö" sounds are difficult for me. I've looked at a ton of tutorials but I still can't quite get it.

I want a single word tattoo on my wrist which would connote the same meaning as the english verb "dream."

German is a very important language to me and I took it for several years but am confused about what the most correct form of the word would be.

Would it need to be "träumen" or "träume" as in "Ich träume"

I want to know what makes more sense. Thanks!

.

In the sentence "Ist ein Apfel ein echter Frucht?" why does the adjective echt have an -er ending and why is ein...Frucht not eine....Frucht since Frucht is a feminine word? If I translate a very similar sentence "is an apple a red fruit?" I get "Ist ein Apfel eine rote Frucht?" which is what I would expect. So why the difference in declension?

Like if I were to translate "When I was at the store, I bought pizza."

What I mean is that is it a real true infinitive, such as nehmen, or is it just a form of a verb?

Hallo! I'm doing a translation into German and am really stuck on one sentence. I can understand the individual words, but don't really see what it means as a whole. Can anyone help? :)

Here's the context:

"In Großbritannien geht es nicht ganz so gut, wie es manchmal scheint, und in Deutschland nicht ganz so schlecht. Dafür ließen sich mancherlei Begründungen mühelos geben: Großbritannien ist noch immer ein Land mit einer sehr großen Armutsquote."