German Vocab

What is the difference between 'Du' and 'Dir'.  I'm ignoring ‘Sie’ here.

Hi, I was wondering if there are guidelines on wether da or dort should be used in a sentence like “Wer ist die Frau da?”. Does “Wer ist die Frau dort?” Work? How does adding drüben after change the nuance/emphasis in either sentence?

Hello! I learned German many many years ago in school. Then I was in Germany and even stayed there for a few months but I have never heard the pronunciation I noticed in Module 2.1 (Level 1), namely the verbs ‘sehen’ and ‘gehen’ pronounced with audible ‘...

In lesson 8.3 the term for lost is “extra verfahren” which tramslates to something like procedure.  I thought the word for lsot was verloren.  Is this some sort of slang?

HI All I was doing a lesson on banking terms awhile agoand now can't find it anywhere. Not on opening an account in the conversations. It was all about deposits, transfers etc. I feel like I am  missing something. Was this lesson removed?   If anyone...

HI All This was sent by my pen friend in Germany. I spent some time trying to figure it on with the help of the internet.  Thought some of you may want to look at it. I think I understand why. Really stretched my brain at first as was thinking of all p...

Hi All In At the Airport  Irgentwo somewhere irgentwie somehow irgentwas anything.  Can irgentwas also be used as something.   Was doing a revision and realizied the first 2 had some, but the third irgentwas had a different translation   Thanks...

Hi Julia Another question for you. Hallo, ich würde gerne meinen Führerschein ​umschreiben lassen. Hello, I would like to exchange my driver's license. Lit.   Would one use Um schreiben lassen to exchange a gift, item of clothing id one was not ha...

Hi All In the lesson Shop till you drop. The word “geschnitten.” is used as Fit. Can this word also be used to describe the cut of a garment.  As in “This jacket has an elegant cut” Thank you  Sharon

In the lesson the renting of an apartment “denn” is used as "because" as well as “that” In the lesson on subordinate clauses “weil ” is explained as "because. Can weil and denn be used interchangeable Thanks Maxie

In the survival kit lesson “Life in the City”, the plural of banks is presented as die Bänke.  This appears to be commonly used when referring to die Bank as a bench, but die Banken seems to be commonly used when referring to the plural of the financial ...

When I first encountered this verb, I thought it would be a past participle of raten - to advise. But then I realised that it was a separate verb that does not appear in the course. According to the Collins dictionary it is quite common but I have look...

Lesson 22.5, Read the Signs. Frosche-wanderung: why is it hyphenated instead of just glued together like most compound nouns? And since Wanderung is a noun, wouldn't you capitalize it, if it's hyphenated like this?

Hallo In the lesson on opening an account. Das macht es so viel ​einfacher und man muss keine festen ​Öffnungszeiten ​beachten. I looked for a translation for feten and it came up with firm. Could denken be used and in what context is festen used.? ...

Hi All In lesson 10.2  Kindern instead of Kinder. I understood the plural is Kinder. Das Kind , Die Kinder. Once again help please Maxie

Hi All In lesson 7.7 the verb “gezogen" Have been looking for a translation to conjugate the verb. Translations come up as to pull if zogen is typed in. So not sure what I should be looking for.  Help would be appreciated Maxie

Hi All Doing the lesson on Red Tape. Oh my those words are sure tongue twisters. But a good grounding on those words. Came across  der geburstname, Maiden name. Also came across a translation  Madchenname ("). My EU passport gives my maiden name and m...

Hi Is there a difference between zahlen and bezahlen or can they be used interchangeably. Come across bezahlen on Rocket, but in other learning sites have come across. Kann ich bitte zahlen?" Are both correct? Danke  Maxie

Hallo Was reading a piece about the Brothers Grimm in German And sometimes they used Brueder and other times Gebrueder.  Whatis the difference, please   Thanks  Sharon

Hi there,   I have seen this sentence in a book with German sentences translated to English.   "Die Enttäuschung war groß, wie die Mannschaft verloren hat"   In the book the sentence was translated to the following: "The disappointment was huge wh...

I have seen this sentence in a German newspaper: "Er ist an der Krankheit Ebola gestorben"   Would it be wrong to use “von” instead of “an”?

How common is this sentence when asking someone why they have not answered the phone?

How common is this sentence in German when saying someone is wrong?

Hi there,   I have been looking up these two words: 1. Im Zuge von 2. Infolge   I have checked out both words with https://www.leo.org/german-english/. The first means “in the course of” and the other means “as a result of”.   Is it fair to say...

Hi All Was doing some revision. Was intrigues to see bloss (eszett) means naked, just and only. Made me smile. I guess all about context. Maxie.

I wonder if anyone has tried colour coding nouns for gender on flash cards. I saw this suggested on a germman learning web site. eg red - feminine, blue - masuline, green - neuter   This can be done with Anki and Quizlet appears to have it in the paid ...

Hallo nochmal Have looked up the meaning of unheimlich and it says weird, creepy or sinister. Why is it used in theis sentence. “Oh ja, ich ​reise unheimlich gerne.” Cannot finfdmultiple explanation for this word. Danke Sebongela

Hi In Play the part German “Scheiben ” is used for a slice. Can this word be used interchangebly with “Stu(”)ck   Thanks Sebongela  

Hallo Zusammen Something I have foind useful is highlighting and saving vocabulary. Not so much for remembering what words mean, but when I add the translation I put in the gender of the noun. This helps to to remember what the gender of the nouns are i...

Hallo Zusammen In the lessons have come across Die Bahn and der Zug. Can either of these be used to refer to the train?  Danke Sebongela

Leider bin ich informiert das gnädig übersetzt nicht ‘indulgent’ heißt sondern ‘gracious/merciful’ und ist sehr sehr selten benuzt (wirklich nur in Gebeten).

From 22.5 read the signs   Einfahrt freihalten Stay Clear   Shouldn't this be something like “Keep the entrance clear”?

In lesson 7.2 they use the word “leihen” to rent. Can one also use "mieten. In other words can be used interchangeably. Thanks Sebongela

Hi  Die Ehefrau vs die Frau Der Ehemann vs der Mann Is one more commonly used, is it regional or one more formal than the other? Thanks again Sebongela

Hi  In Cash or card there are several words for Receipt Der Beleg, DIe quitting, der Kassenbon and der Kassenzettel. Are these used in different regions of Germany or just in different situations Thanks Sebongela

Have discovered a searies set in Spain. Has got German subtitles as well as audio. English too. Have bben listening in Italian and then looked at languages availabel- quite the selection All bits help, although the German audio is still a bit fast for m...

Hallo zusammen My penfriend explained that BUchstabe has 2 meanings, but did not understand her explanation. Have tried to find an explanation, but have not. Would anyone be able to give me more clarity. Vielen Dank  Sebongela

Was watching a video on youtube about Pflaumenkuchen. Was interested to see that it was more a pie type than a cake. In Play the Part they talk about erdbeerkuchen does Kuchen refer more to pie/tart type desserts and torte to cakes like a sponge cake or ...

Hi Everyone Been working through the “Play the Part” series. I love the practical applications and if I ever visit Germany again will feel so much more confident going into various situations. In various places in Germany I had to order coffee, lunch, a...

Hi all I use babbel, duolingo, coffee break and have found that all little bits make a bigger picture, well Rocket does too in a big way. When I first came across Zimtschnecken, in Babbel could just not remember it. Then in Play the part Rocket German a...

Die Apfelsine or der Orange.  Which one is more commonly used or is it regional. Am intrigued, have come across Die Apfelsine in books, but not in Rocket German as yet.  Thanks and a happy New Year to all with lots of language learning for all Sebonge...

Hi All Another question. Do all compound words take the gender of the last word eg Das Mauermuseum, Museum being neuter As always thank you Sebongela

Another question for the team. Can unterhalten and sprechen be used interchangeably? Unterhalten to talk  Sprechen to speak.  I know that in English they can in many situations Thanks once again  Sebongela

Oh My this has taken me years. Am busy on the lesson “ON the Freeway” I was at a Convent in Grade 7 and the nuns were from Austria and when ever we were too slow they used to say "schnell, schnell. They were strict and meted out punishment in humiliati...

do people in German speaking countries actually use der O Saft or is this just to the benefit of Noth Amrican leaners. Until I came to North America (Canada) and had an American friend stay over had never heard of “OJ”. So am intrigued Sebongela

Hi All Am using Coffee Break German to practice and reinforce what I am learning on Rocket German. The podcasts are free and they have beginner and intermediate podcasts. Several different ones. They have a reading club which is an intermediate one as w...

I'm curious. While the lessons present a number of ways to wish someone a happy birthday, "frohe Geburtstag" is not among them. That was what we were taught decades ago in my high school & college German classes. Is that outdated? Regional? Only somethin...

Is the word  ( Freund) just friend or boyfriend.  Or this word means both?

In lesson 23.4, we are introduced to the verb ‘stammen (aus)’, meaning ‘to come (from)’. In clarifying whether ‘stammen (aus)’ and ‘kommen (aus)’ are synonymous, I found an online explanation that although both mean ‘to come (from)’, ‘stammen (aus)’ mean...

Hi Need some clarification. “Wie” can be used interchageably to mean how or what? I always thought  "was" used for what, as in “was ist das?” Thanks Sebongela