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| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3720 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 9 of 25 04 August 2014 at 1:37am | IP Logged | |||||
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I started playing World of Warcraft on a German server to put myself in an all-German environment (the game itself and the players are German). I noticed that the in-game text refers to me, a single person, with the Ihr form. Can someone explain why? I figure it might be for more of an effect, like how earlier forms of English are used in stories/movies to seem more "medieval", or Middle-Ages-like (think Lord of the Rings). Is this the case?
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| Josquin Heptaglot Senior Member Germany Joined 4657 days ago 2266 posts - 3992 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Latin, Italian, Russian, Swedish Studies: Japanese, Irish, Portuguese, Persian | Message 10 of 25 04 August 2014 at 3:02pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Yes, "Ihr" is an outdated form of polite address (like French "vous"). It was replaced by "Sie" during the 19th century. Using it sounds archaic and can be used for effect. Edited by Josquin on 04 August 2014 at 3:03pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3720 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 11 of 25 23 August 2014 at 2:54am | IP Logged | |||||
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Thanks Josquin
In Assimil, lesson 95 line 4/5, it has the line: Als Täter konnte jetzt ein 28jähriger Maurer aus Heiden ermittelt und in seiner Wohnung festgenommen werden. (Assimil's translation: Now a 28-year-old mason has been identified as the perpetrator and has been arrested in his flat) 1) Can someone explain the use of "konnte" in this sentence? I don't understand its purpose. I showed it to my tutor, she said the only thing she could think of is that it is saying something along the lines of "a 28 year old that could be the perpetrator has been arrested" but even that doesn't make sense since the context of the rest of the story indicates that it was, in fact, definitely the perpetrator. Why is "konnte" there? 2) Can someone translate this sentence to something that is a little closer to a direct translation? I don't understand the "Als Täter...." part in the beginning. The book doesn't explain it, except for als = as, which I already knew but doesn't help. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5133 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 12 of 25 23 August 2014 at 7:10pm | IP Logged | |||||
In this context, "konnte ermittelt und festgenommen werden" simply means that the police was able to identify and arrest the suspect. For example: Die Geisel konnte sich selbst befreien. = The hostage managed to free herself/himself. Als Regisseur konnte XXX gewonnen werden. = The producers managed to sign up XXX as the director. Edited by Doitsujin on 23 August 2014 at 7:41pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3720 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 13 of 25 29 August 2014 at 2:09am | IP Logged | |||||
Thanks Doitsujin. I've seen können used this way a few times since and it makes more sense now. Before, I was thinking of it strictly meaning "can". 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3720 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 14 of 25 29 August 2014 at 4:38pm | IP Logged | |||||
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PREPOSITIONAL USAGE (non-physical)
I've had to go back over prepositions numerous times now and I've figured out what my problem is. I have no problem when they are used in a physical context (Die Zeitung liegt auf dem Tisch, Ich gehe an die Tür, etc). It's their non-physical usages that I'm unsure about. Example: Ich sage das auf Deutsch. Ich denke an meinen Bruder. (I know these just from being familiar with them) Is it possible to be able to predict their usage in this way or it is something that I would just have to learn from exposure? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3720 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 15 of 25 09 October 2014 at 4:14am | IP Logged | |||||
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I'm reviewing some Assimil lessons and iI came across the line:
Man kommt eben zu nichts - You don't have time to do anything (anymore) Is this something that is commonly said in German? 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Doitsujin Diglot Senior Member Germany Joined 5133 days ago 1256 posts - 2363 votes Speaks: German*, English | Message 16 of 25 09 October 2014 at 8:09am | IP Logged | |||||
"Zu nichts kommen/nicht dazu kommen" is a relatively common German expression. E.g. Ich bin noch nicht dazu gekommen, das zu machen. = I haven't got around to doing that yet. Edited by Doitsujin on 09 October 2014 at 8:10am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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