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German: Formal Vs. Informal | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Ubik Senior Member United States ubykh.wordpress.com/ Joined 5318 days ago 147 posts - 176 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Latin, Arabic (Egyptian), German, Spanish | Message 1 of 24 19 May 2010 at 8:23pm | IP Logged | ||
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I took two years of German in high school (really only one considering year two we had multiple subsitutes who didnt know what they were doing) and I recall my teacher (the awesome one from 1st year German) making it a point to teach us BOTH formal and informal and state that when in doubt go with formal, but really talking with the people isnt as formal as the lesson plans like you to think. That was 13 year ago. A few years ago I ran into a succession of German tourists who said that if I were really to talk to random people in Germany that I would appear silly if I used ANY formality whatsoever (e.g. Moechten Sie vs. Moechst du, verzeihung vs. entschuldigung, etc). FYI: I happen to like the sound of verzeihung better.
Cut to now: Im getting back into German self-studying using various methods, one of which is Pimsleur. Its so far been a great tool, but Im noticing some things that go against what I learned previously. Everything is SUPER formal even when these people (Jean and Gunther) appear to be friends already. Also, I always learned Ich weiss nicht, but they are teaching Ich weiss es nicht. I thought a simple "I dont know" would be the former and you would only add a pronoun of some sort if you were specifically saying "I dont know it". Can someone please clarify for me? Thanks~! 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Declan1991 Tetraglot Senior Member Ireland Joined 6441 days ago 233 posts - 359 votes Speaks: English*, German, Irish, French | Message 2 of 24 19 May 2010 at 9:47pm | IP Logged | ||
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I think "Ich weiss es nicht" is more idiomatic, like the French "je l'espere", but that could be a false perception as people definitely say "Ich weiss nicht" as well.
Well I most certainly wouldn't use du (dutzen as people say) to anyone I didn't know, and I think that is still the norm in Germany. I agree with your teacher, err on the side of caution, but to be honest, I don't think it's silly or strange to use Sie to someone older than you, shop assistants etc. or people you don't know. There's a discussion here about the same issue, particularly in the Internet. The conclusion is that du is the norm on the Internet and that Sie is in reality. Edited by Declan1991 on 19 May 2010 at 9:49pm 4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| OlafP Triglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5437 days ago 261 posts - 667 votes Speaks: German*, French, English | Message 3 of 24 20 May 2010 at 12:12am | IP Logged | ||
Either they talked about a particular situation or they told you plain nonsense. In most situations you're on the safe side when being formal. If some people don't like formalities then you will see it at the first glance: punks, hippies, goths ... any type of subculture. Add to that any low-qualified people like construction workers, truck drivers, and so on. If you go to a university in Germany it would be equally inappropriate to say "Sie" to your fellow students as "du" to a professor. Some situations might be more difficult, but a foreign accent would a blessing, because you would get away with the wrong language level where a native speaker would not. As for "Ich weiß (es) nicht", this is less strict than in English. Usually both forms can be used interchangeabely. I thought about a couple of situations and I'd probably say "Ich weiß es nicht" most often, whereas in English I would say only "I don't know". If you don't find a rule than this might indicate that there is none. You shouldn't lose any sleep over that point. And to avoid any misunderstanding: this has absolutely nothing to do with formal or casual speech. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Ubik Senior Member United States ubykh.wordpress.com/ Joined 5318 days ago 147 posts - 176 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Latin, Arabic (Egyptian), German, Spanish | Message 4 of 24 20 May 2010 at 12:18am | IP Logged | ||
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Thank you guys so far! Btw, I am in the goth scene myself (industrial, really, but for most people outside of the scene theyre thought of as one and the same) so maybe that is an example of exactly what you were mentioning Olaf
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Ubik Senior Member United States ubykh.wordpress.com/ Joined 5318 days ago 147 posts - 176 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Latin, Arabic (Egyptian), German, Spanish | Message 5 of 24 02 June 2010 at 1:28am | IP Logged | ||
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I have another question. Right now Im using Pimsleur and they say the greeting "how are
you" as Wie gehtes Ihnen, but I recall from my German class in high school that it was said as Wie gehten Sie. Which is right? Also, I learned in high school: Wie Uhr ist es? for what time is it and now Im seeing references only to Wie Spät ist es. Which is right? Last one: I seem to remember my teacher sayingf Altschul (or Alt Shule or something similar), but everywhere else I see Oberschul. Danke schön 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Danac Diglot Senior Member Denmark Joined 5350 days ago 162 posts - 257 votes Speaks: Danish*, English Studies: German, Serbo-Croatian, French, Russian, Esperanto | Message 6 of 24 02 June 2010 at 1:53am | IP Logged | ||
"Wie geht es Ihnen?" is correct. The other one looks wrong. It might also be "Wie geht es dir?" (less formal) or just "Wie geht es?". "Wie viel Uhr ist es?" or "Wie spät ist es?" are fine. The one is "What time is it?" and the other one is "How late is it?", but they'll probably lead to the same answer. "Oberschule" is right. I'm not sure what the other one should be. Old school? :P Edit: Wie viel, not Wieviel... :\ Edited by Danac on 02 June 2010 at 2:02am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tracker465 Senior Member United States Joined 5354 days ago 355 posts - 496 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Dutch | Message 7 of 24 02 June 2010 at 1:57am | IP Logged | ||
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I am not a native German, but I have always learned the following:
1) Wie geht es Ihnen. 2) Wie viel Uhr ist es? I think "Wie spät ist es" also sounds good to me, although I cannot remember if I've actually heard it used this way or not. Edit: Scratch the "um" part, that is such as "At what time" Edited by tracker465 on 02 June 2010 at 2:03am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Ubik Senior Member United States ubykh.wordpress.com/ Joined 5318 days ago 147 posts - 176 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Latin, Arabic (Egyptian), German, Spanish | Message 8 of 24 02 June 2010 at 2:20am | IP Logged | ||
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Danac, for informal, Ive also heard of Wie geht's which I assume is the Wie geht es just
contractualized. Thank you both for your responses! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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