German learners&#x27; society

gooner1592

Stick to what Fleece said :p:

Her reason's more fallible than mine :wink:

Oi...you just implied mine was more likely to be erroneous :P

Reply 1402

gembarla

@Fleece: of course, I only forgot the "don´t" in "don´t like apples" :wink:

or "I thought it meant..."

isn´t it doubly (?) ? because i used simple past twice ... god i´m confused :biggrin:

edit: just wrote down the other questions:

"i don´t like apples - i don´t either "
does that work or does it have to be " i don´t like either"?

nipping to the loo... what does that mean?

in German you can say "warum heißt es", can you say "why is it" in English?

again tomorrow (or tomorrow again?)

Reply 1403

OP

gembarla

@Fleece: of course, I only forgot the "don´t" in "don´t like apples" :wink:

isn´t it doubly (?) ? because i used simple past twice ... god i´m confused :biggrin:

Nope. An important rule of English sentences but not so much of German ones is coordination of tenses. If you start with a simple past, you can't move to a present tense. "I thought he was nice", "I knew the house was burning", "I heard he liked coffee". The same happens with other combinations of tenses too: "I would've thought he liked / would like / would have liked coffee" (all carrying slightly different meanings), "I heard they would give a reward to whoever caught the criminal" (rather than "I heard they will..."), etc.

You're better off looking this up in a grammar book, because I've never studied it in any detail.

Reply 1404

OP

gembarla

@Fleece: of course, I only forgot the "don´t" in "don´t like apples" :wink:

isn´t it doubly (?) ? because i used simple past twice ... god i´m confused :biggrin:

edit: just wrote down the other questions:

"i don´t like apples - i don´t either "
does that work or does it have to be " i don´t like either"?

"I don't either" = "I don't like them either" = "ich (mag sie) auch nicht".
"I don't like either" = "I don't like either (of those two)". In this sentence, "either" is the direct object.

So, the first.

gembarla

nipping to the loo... what does that mean?

Going (quickly) to the toilet. "I'm just nipping to the loo" = "ich gehe kurz mal aufs Klo".

gembarla

in German you can say "warum heißt es", can you say "why is it" in English?

Context?

gembarla

again tomorrow (or tomorrow again?)

Hmm?

Reply 1405

Gooner

14

Fleece

Oi...you just implied mine was more likely to be erroneous :P

Oh? Is that what 'fallible' means? :redface:

Jesus Christ my English is bad:getmecoat

:rofl:

Sorry

Reply 1406

gembarla

generalebriety

"I don't either" = "I don't like them either" = "ich (mag sie) auch nicht".
"I don't like either" = "I don't like either (of those two)". In this sentence, "either" is the direct object.

So, the first.

Going (quickly) to the toilet. "I'm just nipping to the loo" = "ich gehe kurz mal aufs Klo".

Context?

Hmm? :s-smilie:

uuh, I hate tenses, I can´t deal with them... =( I want to have the feeling for it.. When I look at a grammar book there is just written (btw, ist das der einzige weg, zu sagen "da steht nur"?) "this action happens after this action and between is another action and blabla.. you know :biggrin:

I don´t want to think which action happens when. I have problems with that in Spanish, too... =/
does anybody have any tips?

this was my context :wink:

Why is it "meant" and not "means"?

(why is it, is that correct? not sure about it).

I watched part of an episode from Grey´s Anatomy, no idea about "to slide s.o." but I will watch it again tomorrow (or tomorrow again?)

edit:

Nope. An important rule of English sentences but not so much of German ones is coordination of tenses. If you start with a simple past, you can't move to a present tense. "I thought he was nice", "I knew the house was burning", "I heard he liked coffee". The same happens with other combinations of tenses too: "I would've thought he liked / would like / would have liked coffee" (all carrying slightly different meanings), "I heard they would give a reward to whoever caught the criminal" (rather than "I heard they will..."), etc.

honestly I didn´t know that... I don´t know but i guess i would have said "i thought he likes tennis" :/

and i have problems with the adverb, I don´t know when to put a "ly" behind the adjective... Since (wasn´t it so that "because" at the beginning of the sentence is "since"?) whatever, since/because in German adverbs doesn´t differ from adjectives....

and please correct my mistakes.. i really want to improve :wink:

Reply 1407

gembarla

uuh, I hate tenses, I can´t deal with them... =( I want to have the feeling for it.. When I look at a grammar book there is just written (der einzige weg, zu sagen "da steht nur?) "this action happens after this action and between is another action and blabla.. you know :biggrin:

I don´t want to think which action happens when. I have problems with that in Spanish, too... =/
does anybody have any tips?

this was my context :wink:

edit:

honestly I didn´t know that... I don´t know but i guess i would have said "i thought he likes tennis" :/

for "da steht nur" you can say "it just says"

Reply 1408

OP

gembarla

(der einzige weg, zu sagen "da steht nur?)

We'd normally say "it just says". Yeah, we all know books don't say anything, but that's how we express it. :p:

You can also say "it just reads" (but that's a bit posh).

As for how to use that verb: you can use it personally ("the book says that red is a great colour") or impersonally ("in this book, it says that red is a great colour"). The latter is a little bit more informal.

gembarla

uuh, I hate tenses, I can´t deal with them... =( I want to have the feeling for it.. When I look at a grammar book there is just written (der einzige weg, zu sagen "da steht nur?) "this action happens after this action and between is another action and blabla.. you know :biggrin:

I don´t want to think which action happens when. I have problems with that in Spanish, too... =/
does anybody have any tips?

If you tell me what it says in your grammar book, maybe I can try and explain it to you in simpler terms. :smile:

gembarla

this was my context :wink:

"...watch it again tomorrow", i.e. "watch it again, tomorrow". If you said "I'll watch it tomorrow again", it almost sounds like "I've 'watched it tomorrow' before, and I'll do it again". :p:

But you'd get away with both; the first is just better.

Reply 1409

gembarla

Past Perfect Simple
-Handlung vor einem Zeitpunkt der Vergangenheit
-manchmal mit Past Perfect Progr. austauschbar
-betont nur die Tatsache, dass etwas vor einem Zeitpunkt in der Vergangenheit stattfand

Das finde ich irgendwie verwirrend... Ich würde noch nicht einmal die deutschen Zeiten können, wenn es nicht meine Muttersprache wäre :biggrin:

Pluperfect (Plusquamperfekt) describes actions that happen before another action in past tense. It corresponds to the English past perfect, and it is formed just like the perfect tense, but with the auxiliary in preterit rather than present tense.
In spoken German, the pluperfect is often replaced with preterit or perfect tense.
Example: sie hatte es gegessen (she had eaten / had been eating it)

Even this is confusing... ;>

Any tips for the "ly"-adverbs?

Reply 1410

OP

gembarla

Das finde ich irgendwie verwirrend... Ich würde noch nicht einmal die deutschen Zeiten können, wenn es nicht meine Muttersprache wäre :biggrin:

Oh, that sort of stuff. :s-smilie:

I think the best advice is to ignore all that and get as much practice in as possible. Lots of reading and speaking should sort you out. :wink:

gembarla

Even this is confusing... ;>

The past perfect is used exactly when you'd use the Plusquamperfekt in German...

gembarla

Any tips for the "ly"-adverbs?

What about them? :smile:

Reply 1411

All you need to know for the Plusquamperfekt is...

It's the past tense of the auxiliary verb "have" (so, had) + a past participle.

i.e. I had eaten.

You could also use "had been" if you were implying a sense of continuity when something else happened.

i.e. I had been eating an apple, when I noticed a worm in it.

Which is slightly different, as you can see...

I had eaten an apple, when I noticed a worm in it.

^^^ That wouldn't work, as "I had eaten" implied that you ate it, and it's gone, and the action wasn't interrupted.

What sort of tips are you wanting on the "ly" adverbs?

Reply 1412

OP

Fleece

i.e. I had been eating an apple, when I noticed a worm in it.

This doesn't make sense to me. You can (just about) say:
"I had been eating an apple, when I had noticed a worm in it."
or:
"I was eating an apple, when I noticed a worm in it."
...but I think you've mixed the two up, and I don't think your sentence makes sense.

Reply 1413