|
 |
German synonym thread | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Ubik Senior Member United States ubykh.wordpress.com/ Joined 5317 days ago 147 posts - 176 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Latin, Arabic (Egyptian), German, Spanish | Message 1 of 55 15 November 2010 at 10:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
Hi all! Id been meaning to do this for a while as I have a few synonyms Id like to get cleared up and Im sure more will come to mind later. Anyone else can feel free to ask some of their own as well...
For now, can I get some input on these synonyms: 1. fast - nahezu - beinahe (Ive been told fast is the most common, but why?) 2. da druben - dort druben 3. üben - praktizieren 4. I know we have a fertig/bereit thread out there already, but can I add "parat" to the mix? 5. benutzen - verwenden - nutzen - einsetzen - bedienen - verwerten 6. schnell - beeilung Vielen dank! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Tropi Diglot Groupie Austria Joined 5432 days ago 67 posts - 87 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: Mandarin | Message 2 of 55 15 November 2010 at 11:41pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
1. Yes, "fast" is the most common. I don't know why but it's also quite hard to distinguish these 3.
2. "da" is usually referring to a place nearer than "dort". But "drüben" (it's spelled with "ü") relativates things a bit 3. "praktizieren" is a false friend of practice, it doesn't mean the same thing as "üben". 4. I hardly ever use "parat". But "parat" never refers to a person. 5. These could mean the same thing depending on the context. The best thing would to look up the exact meaning in a dictionary but I try to explain in which contexts they are used: bedienen -> used for (complex) machines benutzen/nutzen/verwenden -> used for common things einsetzen -> used in complex scenarios, e.g. "Zur Herstellung von Glas werden spezielle Maschinen eingesetzt." verwerten -> doesn't really fit here. 6. schnell is an adjective, Beeilung is a noun (hint: everything with -ung is a noun) Edited by Tropi on 15 November 2010 at 11:41pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Ubik Senior Member United States ubykh.wordpress.com/ Joined 5317 days ago 147 posts - 176 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Latin, Arabic (Egyptian), German, Spanish | Message 3 of 55 16 November 2010 at 12:00am | IP Logged | |||||
|
So for #4 would you say: "Abendessen ist parat"
For #3, how would you use praktizieren then? Is there an even better word than üben? Vielen dank for your help so far! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Jinx Triglot Senior Member Germany reverbnation.co Joined 5694 days ago 1085 posts - 1879 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Catalan, Dutch, Esperanto, Croatian, Serbian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Italian, Spanish, Yiddish | Message 4 of 55 16 November 2010 at 3:40am | IP Logged | |||||
|
Along with "benutzen/nutzen/verwenden," I also hear "gebrauchen" used a lot, and strangely it often seems to be shortened to "brauchen.
e.g. "Das kann ich nicht brauchen" to mean "I can't use that" instead of (what it would seem at first glance) "I can't need that." Can anyone check me on this? Is this a common shortening? Or am I just not hearing the "ge-," and they actually *do* say it? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| TheBB Pentaglot Newbie Switzerland sam.math.ethz.ch/~efRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5243 days ago 9 posts - 23 votes Speaks: Danish, Norwegian*, English, German, Swedish Studies: Russian, Swiss-German | Message 5 of 55 16 November 2010 at 4:29pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
If I'm not mistaken, "üben" means practice in the sense of "I practice German two hours a day to get better", and "praktizieren" means practice in the sense of "to use", i.e. "In Germany I practiced German" (= talked to Germans in everyday life), or "I practice the art of calligraphy" (= I am a calligraphist). Edited by TheBB on 16 November 2010 at 4:30pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Bao Diglot Senior Member Germany tinyurl.com/pe4kqe5 Joined 5767 days ago 2256 posts - 4046 votes Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 6 of 55 16 November 2010 at 5:26pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
üben = to exercise, to practise; not register-bound
praktizieren = to peruse a high prestige skill you worked hard for; high spoken/written register It's possible to say 'Er praktiziert als Anwalt' or 'Sie ist eine praktizierende Ärztin' Jinx, that's actually not a shortening, but the way it is said. Brauchen is the root word of which gebrauchen is derived. I am only speculating on this, but it wouldn't surprise me if brauchen (or rather its origin) used to mean both to need and to use, and that then 'gebrauchen' came up (ge- adds a kind of cessative notion to many of its compound verbs), which lead to the distinction 'brauchen/to need' and 'gebrauchen/to use' - just that the alternative meaning stayed in phrases like 'brauchen können'; after all it wouldn't make sense to say 'to be able to need'. 'Gebrauchen können' sounds odd to my ears. Edited by Bao on 16 November 2010 at 5:27pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5321 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 7 of 55 16 November 2010 at 5:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
No, most Germans would say "Das Abendessen ist fertig." "etwas parat haben" is often used in written German to indicate readiness and/or preparedness: E.g., eine Ausrede/Antwort parat haben = to have an excuse/answer ready
etwas gebrauchen können = to come in handy / to be useful IMHO, "Das kann ich nicht brauchen" is a bit slangy. I'd use "gebrauchen." brauchen without "ge" is an auxiliary verb = to need. E.g. Sie braucht davon ja nichts zu erfahren. = She doesn't need to know about this. See also Zwiebelfisch-Abc - brauchen/zu brauchen (German link). Edited by Doitsujin on 16 November 2010 at 5:58pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Jinx Triglot Senior Member Germany reverbnation.co Joined 5694 days ago 1085 posts - 1879 votes Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Catalan, Dutch, Esperanto, Croatian, Serbian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Italian, Spanish, Yiddish | Message 8 of 55 16 November 2010 at 10:52pm | IP Logged | |||||
|
Thanks, Bao, that's good to know! I had been finding myself saying "brauchen" for "to use" without really understanding why, merely from hearing other people do it that way. But it's much better to actually know where that usage comes from. Your explanation was great, thank you.
ETA: Whoops, didn't see Doitsujin's post. Hmm, that's interesting... so I guess it's not a hard-and-fast rule, at least. Edited by Jinx on 16 November 2010 at 11:02pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
