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German "weil" confusion ...

  Tags: Syntax | German
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16 messages over 2 pages: 1
beano
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 Message 9 of 16
01 March 2013 at 1:24pm | IP Logged 
aspiringplyglot wrote:
I believe that there is some influence from English and in day-to-day chat, especially amongst the younger generations


I don't think English has had any real effect on the structure of the German language. Some vocabulary items have indeed crept in but a typical young German person doesn't really become confident with English until well into the teenage years, by which time grammar concepts in their mother tongue have long since solidified. Most Germans actually speak very little English in their day-to-day lives.

Where I do see English affecting the phrasing of other languages is in places like Ireland, where native Irish speakers are very much in the minority and extensive use of English is required from a very young age.
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tennisfan
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 Message 10 of 16
02 March 2013 at 5:48am | IP Logged 
You're probably better off just listening to the native German speakers, but when I watched the video it also seemed to me like it wasn't necessarily a colloquial usage of "weil," but instead that she simply began a new sentence, after not knowing how to finish the sentence with "weil." It happens often in English, too, for example:

"I don't want to go to the park, because... well, I just don't want to!"

etc.
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schoenewaelder
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 Message 11 of 16
04 March 2013 at 3:04pm | IP Logged 
Just wondering if I could (ever) write something like:

"Ich denke das: Es ist gut"

Or any thing similar?

Or maybe it shopuld be punctuated:

'Ich denke das:"Es ist gut"'

Edited by schoenewaelder on 04 March 2013 at 3:05pm

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tarvos
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 Message 12 of 16
04 March 2013 at 3:24pm | IP Logged 
I would rather say "ich denke dass es gut ist."

Edited by tarvos on 04 March 2013 at 3:28pm

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schoenewaelder
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 Message 13 of 16
04 March 2013 at 4:50pm | IP Logged 
I'm trying to subvert the grammar rules, though.
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tarvos
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 Message 14 of 16
04 March 2013 at 4:55pm | IP Logged 
schoenewaelder wrote:
I'm trying to subvert the grammar rules, though.


Then at least go: Ich denke, das ist gut.
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Josquin
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 Message 15 of 16
04 March 2013 at 4:56pm | IP Logged 
schoenewaelder wrote:
Just wondering if I could (ever) write something like:

"Ich denke das: Es ist gut"

Or any thing similar?

Or maybe it shopuld be punctuated:

'Ich denke das:"Es ist gut"'

It's theoretically possible, but no native speaker would put it thus.

Edited by Josquin on 04 March 2013 at 5:05pm

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Konanen
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 Message 16 of 16
29 March 2013 at 11:16pm | IP Logged 
As ", dass" inverts direct speech to an indirect one, you would doubley-wobble the sentence, giving "I think that: 'It is good'."

You can just drop the ", dass" to yield "Ich denke, es ist gut (so)." or you can say "Ich denke, dass es (so) gut ist."

But you would never subvert a ", dass".

It is true that German inverted subclauses are getting reverted, somewhat due to English influence and laziness (of the mind), especially by youth.

I even catch myself using a reverted ", weil ..."-clause sometimes. Of course, this continues with a few self-slaps and apologies to the language.
Then, everything's fine. :)


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