pgnxDec 4, 2022
Jens Clasen

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

Nov 30, 2022 at 8:54amMastodon for Android
Show threadFrauke WatsonNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen feste feiern beim Feste feiern! 😂
Show threadGabiGreenhamNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen but I’m sure you can have a ‘bar Bar’!
Show threadkokoschinsky 🏳️‍🌈Nov 30, 2022

@gabigreenham @jensclasen

bar also means naked :P

Show threadGabiGreenhamNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen @kokoschinsky now that *would* be an evening out you’d remember! 😉
Show threadAbimelex ✔️Nov 30, 2022
@kokoschinsky @gabigreenham @jensclasen "bar" in the meaning of naked would be new to me. But there are dialects like "barbsch" would mean without shoes in Saxony.
Show threadBrittaNov 30, 2022
@abimelex @kokoschinsky @gabigreenham @jensclasen
Barfuß = no shoes 👞👟🥿👠👡 on your feet 🦶
Bar jeder Vernunft = without any reason
Old-fashioned
Show threadkokoschinsky 🏳️‍🌈Dec 1, 2022

@BrittaKeller @abimelex @gabigreenham @jensclasen

how would be barfuß = barefoot?

Show threadAbimelex ✔️Dec 1, 2022
@kokoschinsky @BrittaKeller @gabigreenham @jensclasen exactly this!
Show threadDavid BoppNov 30, 2022

@jensclasen @gabigreenham

That’s a barbarian then 😄

Show threadBenjamin WolfNov 30, 2022
@gabigreenham @jensclasen You can pay bar at a Bar 😉
Show threadJuri Leino 一〇Nov 30, 2022
@gabigreenham @jensclasen
the majority of bars are "bar-Bars" (in Berlin at least) for it to actually be somewhat meaningful it should be the "unbar-Bar" where one _can_ pay by card. ;)
Show threadEeeee WooooNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen love these posts. Thank you.
Show threadUlf RungeNov 30, 2022

@jensclasen
morgen - tomorrow
Morgen - early in the day
Morgen - an agricultural area of a specific amount

Moin moin

Danke für die tollen Denglish lessons!

Show threadCeeDub70Nov 30, 2022
@jensclasen
I’ve been studying Korean, that has no capitals, only recently started going left to right horizontally (90s), and super recently started using commas and periods. It’s the most challenging language I’ve ever tried.
Show threademuziekNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen -- Auf die Pauke hauen mit der Partytier und Herr Feiermeier.
Show threadLizNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen I shared som of your toots with my German Tutor and she loves them! 💖
Show threadIanNov 30, 2022
@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? ;-)
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

Bekendtgørelse om ændringer i retskrivningen (* 1)

Retsinformation
Show threadfneddyNov 30, 2022

@jensclasen also very annoying is that sometime the pronunciation changes with capital letters.

Weg vs weg you pronounce like Weeeeg vs wegg

Show threadVelteropⓐⓊ🪂🇪🇺🇳🇱🇬🇧🇩🇪Nov 30, 2022
@jensclasen Capitalisation is important. It also gives a glimpse of the underlying culture. In German, capitalisation seems to be about linguistic precision. In English it seems to be about the central role of the ego, hence the fact that apart from the first word of a sentence, only proper names and 'I' are capitalised. Especially the latter is telling. 😉
Show threadlinguisten.infoNov 30, 2022

@jensclasen
Arme haben Arme.
Arme haben Beine.

Beine haben keine Arme.
Arme Beine.

Show threadRommudohNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen
Also, everything is capitalized at the beginning of a sentence, getting rid of that hint.
Show threadShield MaidenNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen Would that be 'tire' as in for a wheel as Americans call it or 'tire' as in get tired as UK would call it?
Show threadJens ClasenNov 30, 2022
@Judeet88 Oh sorry: the wheel! (I'm a bit stuck in American English.)
Show threadCarljoNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen ^^
Show threadVoxTyrannisNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen
It gets even better with "umfahren". Similar start but totally different result. 😂
My greek friends love it.
Show threadUdi The TischNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen
So, what is "party hard"?
Show threadJens ClasenNov 30, 2022
@uditischler You could say "heftig feiern". Or "auf den Putz hauen" (to knock on the plaster). Or "die Sau rauslassen" (to let out the sow 🐷).
Show threadSabrina WillekensNov 30, 2022

@jensclasen @uditischler or you can say 'feste feiern.'
Which also leaves you with

feiern - to party , verb
feiern - more than one Fest, noun

and
feste - hard, adj. or
feste - more than one Feier , noun

you're welcome.

Show threadAxel Riemann 🪪Nov 30, 2022

@jensclasen This can not stand without a dedicated icon...

Show threadEszter / エスター🌻Nov 30, 2022

@jensclasen Bei einem langen Reifen der Entscheidung, ob das Wagen in den Wagen zu gehen richtig ist oder man doch lieber erst Reifen wechseln sollte, wird es spät.

Substantivierung - an absolutely not confusing concept.

Show thread@ijsbrandNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen Warum ich die deutsche Sprache liebe...
Show threadpoltakNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen motivation for me😁
Show threadPeter M B EnglishNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen To be fair, most of these would be obvious from the context, and none are apparent in spoken German.
Show threadJaneNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen
Show threadMark RotteveelNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen Dutch has a lot of the same or similar words, and we don't capitalize. Meaning follows from context, not from capitalization.
Show threadstirz ✅Nov 30, 2022
@jensclasen "Liebe Festgäste, esst feste!"
Show threadDavid Niall WilsonNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen I hope there is also some sort of pronunciation or inflection difference?
Show threadRidscherliNov 30, 2022
@DavidNiallWilson @jensclasen There is only one accidental pronunciation difference in weg/Weg, all the rest is pronounced exactly the same way.
Regarding inflection: of course. Verbs in German have a lot of more possible forms than in Englisch. Adjectives and nouns also vary a bit more.
A lot of fun in grammar classes 😉
Show threadMW1CFNNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen reifen and Reifen are related, so far as my age experience is concerned!
Show threadInnocent AbroadNov 30, 2022

@jensclasen

This makes it more difficult to believe that Donald Trump is of German ancestry

Show thread😻🇨🇦MimzyDub🇨🇦😻Nov 30, 2022
@jensclasen OK, now I understand the reason for capitalising nouns in German. Thanks foe this list. 🤗
Show threadThygeNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen In Denmark, we gave up using capital letters for nouns in 1948.
No real misunderstandings occur.
NB! One advantage in the German language over Danish: We can't say "Ich bin überfragt" :)
Show threadMammutNov 30, 2022
@Thyge @jensclasen I agree: No real misunderstatements because mostly there is context and not only a single word. This would work in german language too...
Show threadStefan Rother-StübsNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen
weg - away
Weg - a way
Show threadVanfred MoglNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen @jensclasen und die Amerikaner sagen zu Alkoholmixgetränken "Cocktail", was übersetzt “Schwanzschwanz" heißt. Auch arg!
Show threadTalianna SchmidtNov 30, 2022
@jensclasen eleven Elfs... elf Elfen. Das geht aber schon! Und Wagen wagen tun in Deutschland auch sehr viele.
Show threadgullevek ⚛️Nov 30, 2022
@jensclasen Lieber arm dran als Arm ab
Show threadQuincy ⁂Dec 1, 2022

@jensclasen

I love how this breaks down in

"Brecht das Brot und verteilt es unter den Armen"

where the adjective "Armen" also gets capitalized because it's used as a noun 😁

Show threadChris Engelbert / noctariusDec 1, 2022
@jensclasen I like Fest fest! Start using it, now! Fest fest!
Show threadThe WerewolfDec 1, 2022

@jensclasen So, I know that capitalised words are nouns, but HOW does that work when speaking?

Like "die elf Elf" (the 11 elf - like the elf representing 11)?

French has a similar problem with pronounciation because of dropping ending consonants and vowels... :) It makes sense on paper, but when you say it out loud...

And PLEASE don't say "context" :)