h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've never been to Austria, and I don't know any Austrians, but I agree with your estimate, katkodl b

*coughs quietly* My dear wonderful people...could you talk about this in the speaking thread? Then we get to see what it is in German as well as English and this thread doesnt get cluttered....with anything except my daft mistakes.

You are right, it just occurred to me that we're providing others with a huge blog

Yeah, I leave you people alone for one night and you start ranting about dictionaries! Oh well... I'm pretty much the only other person here and I don't really mind.

Anyway, if there are only differences like between English English, American English and Australian English, then the Austrians are very much so dreaming if they think Austrian will become its own language.

let's leave that subject alone hmm? Before we get into an argument about English!

Some teaching please

Und hier, Katkodl ist deine "English dept"

F135249?thread=455985

Danke Katkat!

LECTION – SOME PHRASES


ein Buch lesen – to read a book

Ich lese ein Buch über Tiere. (I’m reading a book about animals.)

(ich lese, du liest, er/sie/es liest, wir lesen, ihr lest, sie lesen)


einen Brief schreiben – to write a letter

Ich schreibe einen langen Brief. (I’m writing a long letter.)

(ich schreibe, du schreibst, er/sie/es schreibt, wir schreiben, ihre schreibt, sie schreiben)


ein Bild malen – to paint a picture

Er malt ein schönes Bild. (He’s painting a beautiful picture)

(ich male, du malst, er/sie/es malt, wir malen, ihr malt, sie malen)


einen Apfel pflücken – to pick an apple

Sie pflückt einen roten Apfel. (She’s picking a red apple.)

(ich pflücke, du pflückst, er/sie/es pflückt, wir pflücken, ihr pflückt, sie pflücken)


einen Tee trinken – to drink tea

Sie trinken gerne schwarzen Tee. (They like to drink black tea.)

(ich trinke, du trinkst, er/sie/es trinkt, wir trinken, ihr trinkt, sie trinken)


eine Katze streicheln – to stroke a cat

Wir streicheln eine weiße Katze. (We are stroking a white cat.)

(ich streichle, du streichelst, er/sie/es streichelt, wir streicheln, ihr streichelt, sie streicheln)


katkodl

Du liest ein Buch ueber Tiere.
Ich lese ein Buch ueber zweipolige Stoerung.

Malst du deine Zehennaegel?

****

You are reading a book about animals.
I am reading a book about Bipolar disorder.

Do you paint your toenails?

Malst du deine Zehnaegel an/lackierst du deine Zehnaegel ?

Ich lackiere meine Zehnaegel nur im Sommer

I only paint my toenails in summer.

Why does it have to have "an" in the sentence? I dont understand

Because the verb you need inthis context is : anmalen, which is the verb you choose
Ich male einen Stuhl : I'm painting a chair,i.e. painting a picture of a chair

Ich male einen Stuhl an : I'm covering a chair with paint

, I hope you see the difference, I really don't know how to explain it better

Okay so when it's

Er malt ein schönes Bild

It means he is painting a beautiful picture as in creating it...whereas if it was

Er malt ein schönes Bild an.

It would mean he was putting paint on a beautiful picture...i.e. covering it over with paint?

I hope I got that right. It does make sense to me. In English you use the same for both though, Im not sure whether that would ever create confusion, I cant remember it ever doing so.

OH!!! One thing I DO find confusing....

Sie ist meine Freundin.
She is a friend of mine, who happens to be a girl.

Sie ist meine Freundin.
She is my girlfriend.

How do you know which one it is if someone just says "Sie ist meine Freundin"?

You got it with the painting
You can't know the difference, if it's a woman saying this, you usually assume the first case, if it's a man saying this, you can't know, but he'd probably say : sie ist eine Freundin von mir if he wanted to make clear that she's a friend, but not the girlfriend

*starts to giggle at the fun she can have with this*
Oh the world of assumptions!

Yes, it can be very embarrassing to assume wrong things ...

Thanks for taking over, B’Elana! It’s great that you’re around and do some teaching as well!

Don’t you want to become an official member of the German Department again?

I agree on the “friend / girlfriend” thingy – it really is confusing in German!

katkodl

*poises, pen in hand*

By the by: don't forget to put Mike on the list, Katkat!

katkodl

*poised to stab pen through Katkodl's heart* For the pen is...mightier than the sword . I think Im really far behind with the members lists to be honest, because Joe never decided quite how he wanted it to be done.