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German modal particles | ||
Tags: Colloquial Language | German | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages |  | |
| Alexander Diglot Newbie GreeceRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5928 days ago 31 posts - 31 votes Speaks: Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: German | Message 1 of 6 10 February 2008 at 8:50am | IP Logged |
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Hello!
Another thing that I really find difficult in German is the use of particles. I was wondering if there is a way to know when and how each particle is used and what their meaning is every time. The grammar books I have don't say a lot on this and searching the Internet I didn't find anything particularly helpful... Αλέξανδρος 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Kualidu Triglot Groupie Mexico Joined 5993 days ago 93 posts - 102 votes  Speaks: Spanish*, French, EnglishC2 Studies: GermanB1 | Message 2 of 6 10 February 2008 at 12:46pm | IP Logged |
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Hello,
What particles are you referring to here ? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Alexander Diglot Newbie GreeceRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5928 days ago 31 posts - 31 votes Speaks: Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: German | Message 3 of 6 10 February 2008 at 2:16pm | IP Logged |
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Hi!
Aber, doch, schon, ja, mal, eben, eigentlich, einfach usw. usw. Αλέξανδρος 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Sprachprofi Nonaglot Senior Member Germany learnlangs.comRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6257 days ago 2608 posts - 4866 votes Speaks: German*, English, French, Esperanto, Greek, Mandarin, Latin, Dutch, Italian Studies: Spanish, Arabic (Written), Swahili, Indonesian, Japanese, Modern Hebrew, Portuguese | Message 4 of 6 10 February 2008 at 2:57pm | IP Logged |
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I will try to help you here, but I believe that these are best learned through exposure, as they are hard to learn consciously.
Aber illustrates a real or perceived contrast, like "but" or "however" but much more often used. Doch affirms your opinion. Its regular use is "Gehst du heute nicht zur Schule? - Doch." - it's re-affirming, in contrast to "Ja.", but in its particle use it could be translated as "surely", "surely not?", somewhat doubting. Ja as a particle also affirms, but it's not doubting at all, it's secure in the knowledge. Aber das kannst du doch nicht machen! - (But) (surely) you can't do that! (aber = objection to whatever was suggested; doch = affirmation) = Aber das kannst du ja nicht machen! - (But) you can't do that, (I know that)! Schon regularly means "already" and in other cases the meaning is not easy to translate... 5000 Euro wären schon schön! - 5000 Euros would (really) be (quite) nice! Mal implies a leisurely activity, something that doesn't necessarily have to be done or doesn't have to be done right now. The Chinese verb-doubling is a very good equivalent: Guck! = Nǐ kàn! = Look! Guck mal! = Nǐ kànkàn = Take a look! Have a look! Eben implies an activity that can be done quickly without disrupting the schedule: Ich gehe eben Zigaretten holen. - I'm going to buy cigarettes (real quick). Mal is often found together with eben: Ich gehe mal eben Zigaretten holen. Eigentlich means something like that there are reasons not to do something but you still do it, or there are reasons something other should have happened and yet it didn't. Er wollte eigentlich Polizist werden, aber jetzt ist er Detektiv. - He (actually / originally) wanted to become a policeman, but now he is a detective. Ich dachte eigentlich, dass du Schnitzel nicht magst. - I (actually / originally) thought that you didn't like schnitzel. Einfach can be translated as "just" and it's often encouraging: Geh einfach hin! - (to somebody doubting whether to go or not:) Just go there [and you'll see] ! Ich kannte ihn nicht, aber ich habe ihn einfach angesprochen. - I didn't know him, but I just started talking to him. I hope this helps. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me, but I can't guarantee that I'll be able to answer them. It's all intuitive knowledge. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Alexander Diglot Newbie GreeceRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5928 days ago 31 posts - 31 votes Speaks: Greek*, EnglishC2 Studies: German | Message 5 of 6 10 February 2008 at 7:20pm | IP Logged |
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Hello Sprachprofi!
Oh, that helps a lot! It really does. I would really like to learn how to use the particles since they are very common in everything I read or hear. I'll try to write a small paragraph using some of these particles and see what I can do with what you've just told me! Gestern ging ich zu meiner Schwester in Münich. Sie war sehr krank, also musste ich mal eben nach ihrem Hause gehen um ihr zu helfen. Sie hatte mir gesagt, dass sie gut war und dass sie zu ihrem Hause allein bleiben konnte, aber ich habe sie nicht gehört, weil ich ganz sicher war, dass es ja besser wäre, wenn ich mit ihr wäre. Drei Stunden nach unserem Gespräch kam ich in Münich an und ging nach ihrem Hause. Meine Schwester war doch ernstlich krank und sie hat sich bedankt dafür, dass ich mit ihr war. Ich habe sie nur gesagt, dass alles einfach gut gehen würden und danach ging sie ins Bett... ... and I think this is enough. I didn't use them in many places and I am not sure about mal eben and einfach. I don't know if I used them correctly. Thanks again for your clarifications and for your help! Αλέξανδρος 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Walshy Triglot Senior Member Australia Joined 6729 days ago 335 posts - 365 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German | Message 6 of 6 11 February 2008 at 4:47am | IP Logged |
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I'll add a couple, but remember, I don't think a single one has only a single meaning. This website is useful, but not complete.
Zwar - Used when making a concession, "sure (zwar) there's a risk, but I'll do it anyway". Doch - The first use you will hear is as a positive answer to a negative question, i.e. aren't you going? If you are in fact going, you would say "doch". - When you say something that is blatantly obvious, you might want to add "doch" to show that you realize it is obvious. I'm listening to the Rammstein song "Los" right now, and some lyrics say "wir sind sanglos, dafür nicht klanglos, das hört man doch". - Another use for "doch" is for when "but" and "regardless" or "nevertheless" are said together. For example, if I said "sure (zwar) there is a risk involved, but (doch) I did it regardless". I heard on a Deutsche Welle broadcast "Zwar wurde vor dem Streik noch so viel wie möglich gedreht, doch es besteht die Gefahr dass TV Serien aus Mangel an neuen Geschichten den Sendebetrieb stoppen", in reference to the writer's guild strikes in the US, which translates as "sure, as much as possible was filmed before the strike, but regardless there is a risk that TV series, for want of new episodes, will stop broadcasting". - The last use I can think of is as a suggestion. If I say "geh' doch einkaufen", it would mean "why don't you go shopping?". Mal - Moderates a command. It's like adding sugar to bitter coffee. If I say "go (mal) to the dentist" it would be perceived as sort of between a command and a suggestion. If you don't say 'mal' it would probably be perceived as rude. I guess it's like "just" in English. If I say "wart' mal" it would mean "just wait". It can be said about yourself too, like "I'm just (mal) going to the store. - It can also be used as short for "einmal" meaning "once". Last one I'll add Eben/Halt - In the north it's eben, and in the south it's "halt". It implies a fact that may be undesirable, but is true nonetheless, for example "so war's eben", which would mean "that's just how it was". I heard an old lady on Fokus Deutsch say that when talking about her childhood in Nazi Germany (she had photos of herself as a young child waving a swastika flag, she said that her father was no nazi, but "so war's eben"). Anyway, check that website out, there's no need to memorize each one's individual uses, just keep the various usages in mind when you see them, the right meaning will become obvious. I hope the native Germans can back up what I've posted here. Edited by Walshy on 11 February 2008 at 5:06am 1 person has voted this message useful |
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