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German: Nuanced Meanings of Modal verbs | ||
Tags: Meaning of words | German | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 4027 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes  Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 1 of 7 18 March 2014 at 8:40pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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I'm trying to figure out the nuances of some of the modal verbs based on some of the
sentences in the Hugo German book (the "standard" meanings, given usually on web pages are all fine). 1. mögen: may(possibility) 1a. Er mag wohl reich sein, er kommt trotzdem nicht in den Club. 1b. Er kann wohl reich sein, er kommt trotzdem nicht in den Club. Is the second sentence legit? If so, is there any difference in the meanings? 2. Lassen. to make/have someone do, to let/allow someone to do. These two meanings are very different, perhaps even opposite. Struggling with this one a bit. 2a. Der Chef lässt seine Sekratärin unwichtige Briefe unterschreiben. ^^ Does the Chef "makes" or "allows"? Is this completely context dependent? 2b. Mein Vater lässt grußen. The translation says "My father sends his regards". Is there a verb missing? Is the following sentence correct: 2c. Mein Vater lässt das Buch. "My father sends the book". 3. Not a question, but just something interesting: Sollen can mean "to be said to". Er soll ein sehr guter Klavierlehrer sein. Edited by Gemuse on 19 March 2014 at 7:35pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5711 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 2 of 7 18 March 2014 at 9:06pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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1)
I think both are used to mean the same, but in writing I'd expect 'mag'. And maybe people use other patterns in spoken German, for example sein + adverbs 2) It is completely context dependent and sometimes puns are made with this word 2b) It's "Mein Vater lässt (mich) [dich/Sie] grüßen." My father makes (me) greet [you]. (You could even say say 'for him' is also dropped.) So, 2c is incorrect. 3) I thought that usage is even closer to 'is supposed to' - you can use that expression to mean that something should be a certain way, but you can also say it to mean that something is said to be a certain way. Edited by Bao on 18 March 2014 at 9:07pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5265 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 3 of 7 18 March 2014 at 9:38pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
AFAIK, "lassen" is a cognate of "let." For example: Let my people go. = Lassen Sie meine Leute gehen. However, since "let" cannot be used with a third party, "have + past participle" needs to be used in English, which corresponds to "lassen + infinitive" in German. For example: Ich ließ ihn den Brief schreiben. = I had him write the letter. "Lassen" also covers some of the meanings of "leave." For example: Leave me alone. = Lassen Sie mich in Ruhe. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 4027 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 4 of 7 19 March 2014 at 7:44pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
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^^ Thanks!
Found another use of Lassen: 4. Hoffentlich, lassen wir kein Bier mehr ins Haus bringen. 5. Ich lasse beim Metzger vier extra magerer Steaks schneiden. Here, it seems the meaning is "will have". Question: "muss nicht" means need not. Does "muss kein" mean like "must not". 6. Er muss kein Bier trinken. Does this mean "He must drink no Beer"? 7. Er muss nicht kein Bier trinken. Does this mean "He need not drink no Beer"? Ie, he may drink beer. Edited by Gemuse on 19 March 2014 at 7:44pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Josquin Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4789 days ago 2266 posts - 3992 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Latin, Italian, Russian, Swedish Studies: Japanese, Irish, Portuguese, Persian | Message 5 of 7 19 March 2014 at 9:35pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
The first sentence is a bit nonsensical. It means something like "Hopefully, we don't have any beer delivered to our house." The second one is okay. It means "I have four extra lean steaks cut at the butcher's".
No, it means "He need not drink any beer". "Must not" is "nicht dürfen": "Er darf kein Bier drinken."
No, it's simply nonsense. Double negations don't really work in German although they're theoretically possible and people of low educational levels sometimes use them. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 4027 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 6 of 7 19 March 2014 at 9:44pm | IP Logged | ||||||||
Thanks.
I took that sentence from Hugo German. It was part of a narrative where someone is planning to lose weight, and must not eat this and that, and plans to stop drinking beer. And he says that sentence to his family. Edited by Gemuse on 19 March 2014 at 9:45pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||||||||
| Gemuse Senior Member Germany Joined 4027 days ago 818 posts - 1189 votes Speaks: English Studies: German | Message 7 of 7 06 April 2014 at 10:53am | IP Logged | ||||||||
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The auxilliary verbs sollen, lassen, and werden are tripping me up. Anyone know of a
site with lots of examples of different uses for these 3 verbs? 1 person has voted this message useful |
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