I worked thru lesson 3.6 and am curious about friends. There is an example of a best girlfriend (Freundin) and a best boyfriend (Freund), is there a general word in german for a friend or is it always specific to the gender as in the example?
Thanks,
Walleyenorth
Lesson 3.6 - Friend

walleyenorth
February 3, 2010

Paul-Weber
February 3, 2010
Hi there,
in German you always indicate the gender when talking about friends.
Freundin (female friend)
Freund (male friend)
Freunde (more than one friend or a group of friends)
When you talk about people that you know who are not friends you say
Bekannte (female acquaintance)
Bekannter (male acquaintance)
Bekannte (more than one or a group)
If you want to point out that a friend is not just a friend but in fact your boy or girl friend you say "mein Freund" or "meine Freundin" instead of "eine Freundin" or "ein Freund" ("ein Freund von mir" = a friend of mine)
I hope that helps.
Paul

walleyenorth
February 3, 2010
Vielen Dank! Very helpful.