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German: Random questions

  Tags: Syntax | German
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Gemuse
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 3881 days ago

818 posts - 1189 votes 
Speaks: English
Studies: German

 
 Message 81 of 126
24 September 2014 at 6:18pm | IP Logged 
Ms Diva, yeah, I just caught that - it's a weak noun. Thanks for your earlier link on weak nouns.

EDIT: OT, but this thread has 77 posts and 32,000+ views, which averages to 410+ views per post, which is insanely high. Strange. But also means that the answers and explanations that the knowledgeable HTLAL folk are posting are being read by many many people :P



Edited by Gemuse on 24 September 2014 at 6:27pm

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Gemuse
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 3881 days ago

818 posts - 1189 votes 
Speaks: English
Studies: German

 
 Message 82 of 126
26 September 2014 at 10:43pm | IP Logged 
Is there a difference between the following?
1a: Es ist ihr komisch zumute.
1b: Etwas ist ihr komish zumute.

And what is the difference, if any, between "Etwas" and "Irgend etwas"?

Thanks.
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Doitsujin
Diglot
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 5119 days ago

1256 posts - 2363 votes 
Speaks: German*, English

 
 Message 83 of 126
27 September 2014 at 12:42am | IP Logged 
Gemuse wrote:
Is there a difference between the following?
1a: Es ist ihr komisch zumute.
1b: Etwas ist ihr komish zumute.

1b doesn't make sense.

If you want to use "etwas", you'll have to put it before "komisch:"

Ihr ist etwas komisch zumute.

You really may want to stick with the sentence patterns taught in textbooks and stop trying to come up with your own.

Gemuse wrote:
And what is the difference, if any, between "Etwas" and "Irgend etwas

"Irgendetwas" [= anything/something] is slightly more emphatic and vague than "etwas" [=something] which is more neutral.

For example:

Hat der Verdächtige irgendetwas gesagt? = Did the suspect say anything [at all]?
Hast Du etwas gesagt? = Did you say something?

Note that in spoken German you might hear "irgendwas" instead of "irgendetwas" and "was" instead of "etwas."

Edited by Doitsujin on 27 September 2014 at 8:31am

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Cabaire
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 5398 days ago

725 posts - 1352 votes 

 
 Message 84 of 126
27 September 2014 at 10:44am | IP Logged 
For me, "jemandem ist komisch zumute" cannot have an object. I would rather say "Ihr ist komisch zumute" like in this famous one (0:35). In "Es ist ihr komisch zumute" I would suppose "es" to be a dummy subject, but in "Ihr ist etwas komisch zumute", the word "etwas" does not mean "something", but "a little", like "Ich bin etwas müde = I am a little tired".
If you need an object, you may say something like: "Sie findet das komisch".
How to use "zumute" yoo can see examples here.

Edited by Cabaire on 27 September 2014 at 10:46am

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Gemuse
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 3881 days ago

818 posts - 1189 votes 
Speaks: English
Studies: German

 
 Message 85 of 126
28 September 2014 at 11:59am | IP Logged 
Cabaire wrote:
in "Ihr ist etwas komisch zumute", the word "etwas" does not mean "something", but "a little", like "Ich bin etwas müde = I am a little tired".


AHA!!
Thanks!!!! The confusion between "Es" and "Etwas" was exactly what was tripping me up.
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Gemuse
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 3881 days ago

818 posts - 1189 votes 
Speaks: English
Studies: German

 
 Message 86 of 126
04 October 2014 at 3:42am | IP Logged 
I encountered:

1.Er schrieb vor aller Augen.
Why is it "aller" and not "allen"?

2. Er hatte beschlossen, das jeder seiner drei Söhne tausend Mark in sein Grab werfen sollte.
Why is it not "seinem"?
The past participle of werfen goes with haben, so the no movement clause should make
sein -> seinem?

Edited by Gemuse on 04 October 2014 at 3:57am

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Doitsujin
Diglot
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 5119 days ago

1256 posts - 2363 votes 
Speaks: German*, English

 
 Message 87 of 126
04 October 2014 at 8:09am | IP Logged 
Gemuse wrote:
1.Er schrieb vor aller Augen.
Why is it "aller" and not "allen"?

It's the genitive.

Er schrieb vor aller Augen = Er schrieb vor den Augen aller [Anwesenden].

This construction is only used in formal German and only in a couple of fixed expressions.

Gemuse wrote:
2. Er hatte beschlossen, das jeder seiner drei Söhne tausend Mark in sein Grab werfen sollte.
Why is it not "seinem"? The past participle of werfen goes with haben, so the no movement clause should make sein -> seinem?

It's the accusative. "In seinem Grab" would mean that the sons are standing in his grave and are throwing money around. "Werfen" is a verb of movement, and since the action is target oriented (Wohin sollen sie das Geld werfen?), it requires the accusative.
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Cabaire
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 5398 days ago

725 posts - 1352 votes 

 
 Message 88 of 126
04 October 2014 at 12:07pm | IP Logged 
Another example is "in aller Munde" = said by everyone ("im Munde aller Menschen").


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