Jens ClasenNov 30, 2022

German words to show the importance of capital letters:

wagen - to dare
Wagen - car, cart

reifen - to mature
Reifen - tire

ahnen - to suspect
Ahnen - ancestors

arm - poor
Arm - arm

reich - rich
Reich - empire

samt - together with, along with
Samt - velvet

weg - away, gone
Weg - way, path

bar - cash
Bar - bar, pub

elf - 11
Elf - elf

fest - hard
Fest - Party

And no: "Party hard" is not "Fest fest". That would be too easy.

Enjoy our language!

#TheGermanWord

Show threadIan
@jensclasen @walsonde @jensclasen We manage without the caps in English. Zusammenhang is everything. And, of course, you don't use capitals when you speak. There's an idea, though... Maybe a capital letter should be pronounced differently from lower case to avoid confusion. Introduce a click or something? ;-)
Nov 30, 2022 at 9:19amWeb
Show threadIanNov 30, 2022

@jensclasen @walsonde Interestingly (perhaps) Danish used to have the same convention as German regarding capitalisation of nouns, but they abolished this in 1948. See https://www.retsinformation.dk/eli/lta/1948/128 :
"Som hovedregel gælder, at alle ord - også navneord (substantiver) - skrives med lille begyndelsesbogstav, således også månedernes, ugedagenes og de kirkelige højtiders navne."

Perhaps Germany should follow suit? ;-)

BEK nr 128 af 22/03/1948, Børne- og Undervisningsministeriet

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