A number of German words have made their way into the English language. Some of them we accept as a matter of course as they have been around for a long time. Others, have come into English rather recently. While most words maintain the same or similar meaning some change their meaning slightly when transplanted from one language to another. For example, the word angst. Below you will find a list of common German words and phrases used in English.
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Historically, German and English have shared a number of similar or even identically spelled words such as:
der Student, das Haus, die Maus, die Medizin
This is due to the fact that both languages stem from a common proto-Germanic language as well as the fact that they have imported words from the same languages such as French. Over time, these words have come to be part of each language without people giving much thought to it. However, in recent history a large number of English words have been adopted by German speakers, especially the youth culture.
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Prepositions are important words in sentences as they show the relation between the words. Common prepositions in English include: with, in, for, to etc. One major difference between English and German grammar is that each preposition in the German language is associated with a specific case. Here we are looking at a specific subset of prepositions called two-way prepositions which can be used with either the accusative or dative case. The following is the complete list of nine two-way prepositions:
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Every language has some way of showing the function of nouns and pronouns within a given sentence. Some languages, such as modern English, rely heavily on word order and prepositions whereas other languages rely on declensions. Declensions are the changes that occur to the endings of articles, pronouns, possessives, adjectives, nouns etc. to show their function in a given sentence. (Changes that occur to verbs are called conjugations).
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Unlike English, German uses a variety of prepositions to express ‘to’ with verbs of motion. What follows is a concise study guide to this tricky aspect of German grammar.
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One unique feature of the German language is its ability to create extremely long compound nouns. While this can seem daunting at first, it’s simply a matter of breaking down the noun into its component parts to understand its meaning.
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As a Spanish and German language instructor I am sometimes asked to do translation work. However, I am not qualified as a translator or interpreter and must carefully explain that to my clients. They are sometimes confused, they don’t understand why if someone can speak two languages they cannot simply translate between them. The answer to this question is explained in the wonderfully written Found in Translation co-authored by Nataly Kelly, a Spanish-English translator and Jost Zetzsche a German-English interpreter.
Read moreCertain daily expressions in Spanish and German use the verb ‘have’ in a figurative sense. Below is a list of common expressions in which both Spanish and German function in this manner. As these expressions do not always translate literally into English, they are best memorized.
Read moreThis is part two of a two-part blog on memory aids for language learning. In the first blog (written November 21) I covered subconscious memory aids such as employing colors, smells and music to expand the power of your mind to recover information. Here, in the second part, I will focus on consciously developed techniques such as: mnemonics, the memory palace, labeling and intermittent review.
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The ability to memorize is crucial to learning a language as an adult. Unfortunately, some students give up, claiming they simply can’t learn because they have a “bad memory.” In reality, healthy people are born with similar potential but not everyone has the skills or techniques to maximize their memory capacity.
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