Germans Don’t know German
It gives me great confidence to know that Germans constantly get stuff wrong… and everyone speaks and sounds different to each other.
A long standing question of mine is how to say “Ich” (I) which I recently found can be pronounced “ick”, “Itch”, “Ichhhh”. I always thought it was the last one, but the flat mates I’m staying with atm seem to think it can be any.
I’ve also found out the verb ‘to use’ is used differently depending on the object/context.. “I used the car” or “I have used it”… I have to clarify the difference, but I know the word comes out differently. Apparently “you just know it… I don’t know why it is like this but we just learn it” spoken by west German person downstairs.
Asking for a dance has given: “Darf Ich auf bitte” (may I up please) or “Darf Ich Sie bitten” (may I you please).
I’m a bit lost on that one.. perhaps I should use one of Seans recommended Deutsch compliments. How did it go again?
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“Ick” is dialect, you’ll see that a lot with people from Berlin. It can also be “Icke” (I think when emphasized). I’ve never heard “Itch” except maybe from non-native speakers.
In Bavaria you will also hear just “i” (as you would spell “e” in English, not as in “Ei” in German).
But dialects are used a lot for comedy – for example, you’ll occassionally hear “Isch ‘abe gar kein Auto” (which tries to imitate an Italian accent: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmpTaQBQOkE ) when you’d really like to help some lady but are unable to.
Not sure about what you mean with the second part. I believe you might be referring to the “to have” vs. “to be” difficulties?
But I think that exists in English as well: you can “be lucky”, you can “be in luck” or you can “have luck” (albeit that seems to be uncommon).
There are rules for that, although most native speakers aren’t able to explain them but just follow their “instinct”. The rules are along the lines of: “sein” (to be) is correct if it describes an (ongoing for a certain time) state, whereas “haben” (to have) is correct when it’s “occasionally”.
So: “Letztes Wochenende bin ich gesegelt” (I sailed last weekend) and “In meiner Jugend habe ich viel gesegelt” (I often sailed in my youth). If you would put in a word like “used to”, “often”, “occasionally”, “sometime” then “haben” should usually be correct. If it’s a well defined time interval, “sein” is usually correct.
“An meinem Geburtstag waren wir im Urlaub.” (= all of my birthday -> ‘sein’). “Ich habe xxx zum Geburtstag bekommen.” (= at one point in time sometime around my birthday -> ‘have’)
“Ich bin gestern mit dem Auto gefahren.” (“I used the car yesterday”) vs. “Ich habe das Auto gestern gefahren.” (“I used the car yesterday”).
Both make sense, and convey a subtle difference. The first one indicates that it was probably just a single trip, and one knows very well when one used the car and when not. The second one indicates that one didn’t really keep track of when one used the car and when not.
Asking for a dance:
You must have gotten the first one wrong. The two common questions are:
- Darf ich Sie auffordern [mit mir zu tanzen]? (Literal: “May I request you [to dance with me]?”)
- Darf ich [um einen Tanz] bitten? (Literal: “May I ask [for a dance]?”)
As you can see, in both questions a part was left out. The “auffordern” version – while the word “auffordern” is a lot more demanding than “bitten” is more formal IMHO.
P.S. A lot of stuff I’ve encountered in Britain or in the US would just have killed my English teacher. My favorite/favourite: “Do you have a time?”
I think I just got owned German style..
I have a lot to digest and update now.
Apparently – according to Google translator http://translation2.paralink.com/ – the line is ‘Sie sind sehr üppig’.
However, when I originally presented you with this vitally important phrase I’m sure the last word was different.
A reverse translation of ‘üppig’ suggests it means lush/luxuriant, which isn’t quite* what we’re looking for!
- Sean
*However, for the sake of self-preservation it may be a better choice
using dict.cc:
üppig: curvaceous, luscious, voluptuous, bodacious, ample…
drall: strapping, rounded, turbulence swirl, angular momentum, sturdy, ample, full, plump, buxom…
‘drall’ – that was it!
However, going by that definition it seems that ‘drall’ is a better bet!
*’uppig’ is a better bet (not sure we should be calling people sturdy and ample!)