Photo by James Yarema on Unsplash

„Ein Apfel am Tag hält den Doktor fern“
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away”

We all know that apples are good for us, what with them being a rich source of fibre (der Ballaststoff), vitamins (die Vitamine) and minerals (die Mineralien)- and of course, they are exceptionally delicious (lecker), too! And it seems the Germans love their apples; according to a 2017 survey, 79% of Germans regularly eat apples, with each German eating up to 49kg of them each year!

German Apple Day

Apples are so important in Germany, they even have a day dedicated to them. January 11th is der Tag des deutschen Apfels – ‘German Apple Day’. Started in 2010 by the Bundesvereinigung der Erzeugerorganisationen Obst und Gemüse (Federal Association of Fruit and Vegetables Producers), this day is used to encourage people to support local apple producers- and to eat more apples, of course!. Thousands of apples are given to people on this day for free.

Food and drink using the humble Apfel!

Photo by Dilyara Garifullina on Unsplash

Considering Germany is a country that loves its apples, it’s no surprise there are many recipes and drinks that put the Apfel centre-stage. Let’s take a look at some of them.

Der Apfelstrudel – apple strudel

Native to Austria, the Apfelstrudel is also popular in Germany, and is perhaps one of the most well-known, sweet apple dishes to come from the German-speaking world! Want to make one? Click here for an authentic Viennese recipe!

Der Apfelstreuselkuchen – apple streusel cake

Another classic cake! Similar to an apple crumb cake in English, the Apfelstreuselkuchen is widely known in Germany and is especially popular in cafes – it makes a great addition to a Kaffee (coffee)! Here is an easy recipe, if you’d like to make your own.

Photo by Alana Harris on Unsplash

die Apfelschorle – apple spritzer

The Apfelschorle is a soft drink made from sparkling water and apple juice, popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The Apfelschorle reminds me so much of Germany; it’s not a very common drink here in the UK, so as a child, I always looked forward to drinking it when my family and I visited in the summer! Here is some more information about the Apfelschorle.

das Apfelkompott – German apple sauce

Apfelkompott (also: das Apfelmus) is a very versatile and much-loved foodstuff in Germany. It can be used in baking, or eaten on its own, but it is also used in savoury dishes: Kartoffelpuffer, for example, is a dish of fried potato cakes with Apfelkompott on the side. Click through to this post to read more about Apfelkompott, including how to make your own!

Photo by Rachel Loughman on Unsplash

Vocabulary

der Apfel – apple
die Äpfel – apples
der Apfelbaum – apple tree
die Apfelsorten – apple varieties
die Apfelsamen – apple seeds
schälen – to peel
der roter Apfel – red apple
der grüner Apfel – green apple
der Kochapfel – cooking apple

*

I hope this post has been helpful and/or interesting!

Finally, I’d like to say that this is my last blog post on Transparent Language German blog! I’ve been writing for this blog since 2014 (8 years!) and it’s been an absolute joy to write about my second language and culture during that time, and interact with you all. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my posts as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them, and that you can continue to find use in them. So, all that’s left to say on my part is auf Wiedersehen (Goodbye) and that I wish you alles Gute (all the best) with your German language learning journey!
Gib niemals auf.
Constanze x
@connifitness

       

Comments

• @Michael Mason In reply to Michael Mason. Danke. Alles Gute. by Constanze
• Thank you for your great posts. I will miss them. Good luck for ... by Michael Mason

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The Basics

die Arbeit                     the work

das Büro                       the office

der Beruf                      the profession

der Lebenslauf           the curriculum vitae (have a look at this post here if you want to know more specifically about a German CV)

der Arbeitgeber/die Arbeitgeberin            the employer (masculine/feminine)

der Arbeitnehmer/die Arbeitnehmerin   the employee (masculine/feminine)

der Chef/die Chefin  the boss (masculine/feminine)

die Probestunde        the trial hour

die Pause                       the break

die Vollzeitstelle        the full time position

die Teilzeitstelle         the part time position

der Arbeitsplatz          the workplace

die Gleitzeit                  flexible working hours (for example: Gleitzeit zwischen 9 – 10 Uhr, meaning you can start work between 9 and 10am)

Home-Office                 working from home (a bit of Denglish for you!)

die Abmahnung          the warning

das Aufgabengebiet    the area of responsibility

das Arbeitsamt            the job centre

arbeitslos                     unemployed

das Praktikum            the internship

die Bewerbung            the application

das Bewerbungsgespräch   the interview

der Urlaub                      the holiday

der Urlaubsanspruch      the holiday entitlement

die Überstunden          the overtime

angestellt                         employed

selbstständig                  self employed

Photo by RonaldCandonga on Pixabay

Starting a New Job

das Eintrittsdatum        the starting date

der Arbeitsvertrag        the work contract

einen befristeten Vertrag      a fixed term contract

einen unbefristeten Vertrag  an unlimited contract

der Gehalt                        the salary

die Probezeit            the probation period (which is usually six months in Germany)

die Einarbeitung             the training/the onboarding

Ending a Job

die Kündigung                the notice of termination

die Kündigungsfrist      the notice period (usually either 1 or 3 months in Germany)

das Arbeitszeugnis         the reference

das Abschiedsgeschenk  the leaving present

die Abschiedsfeier          the leaving party

On that note, I also wanted to say that this will be my last post at Transparent Language. I have been writing here for years and I have  really enjoyed writing these posts and I hope that you could also learn something from them, here is a link to all the posts I have written over the years.

If you would like to keep in touch with what I am getting up to in Germany, feel free to follow me on my instagram here or my travel blog that you can find here. Thank you for reading my posts, taking part in my quizzes and also commenting with your thoughts and questions. I wish you all the best in your journey with learning German.

Vielen Dank

Auf Wiedersehen,

Larissa

       

Comments

• @Kevin Morrison In reply to Kevin Morrison. Danke. Alles Gute. by Constanze
• Alles Gute, und vielen Dank! by Kevin Morrison
• Goodbye! 🙁 by Constanze

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Pronouncing German: Taking Breaks

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-a-woman-jumped-on-obstacle-3764164/

First off, there’s logic to the madness. The magic to pronounce German properly is die Pausen (pauses, breaks). We talked about this as well in our post about pronouncing die Impfpflicht (vaccination requirement), which also doesn’t look fun to pronounce. Instead of seeing a word as a 100 meter race that you can race through at will, German is more like a hurdle race. The hurdles are like little breaks, little humps, that break words up into different sections.

That crazy long word above IS crazy long, but by breaking it down into manageable chunks, you get to something that is quite pronouncable:

Rindfleisch-etikettierungs-überwachungs-aufgaben-übertragungs-gesetz

Beef labeling monitoring tasks transfer law.

Still a mouthful. But hey, it’s pronouncable. Here’s that with easier words:

das Eich-hörnchen

die Impf-pflicht

You might wonder – why don’t Germans just use dashes then? Because it, unfortunately, doesn’t. It’s a question akin to why “knight” has a k at the front, or why German even uses cases, if often context is entirely enough to explain what you’re saying. I suppose, similar to how the cases can lead to a prettier linguistic expression, a word without dashes just looks nicer, no?

Ok, fine. Let’s go with it then. But how do you know where to put those breaks, add those dashes in your mind?

Partly, that will be achieved over time, when you recognize the different words that together compose the compound noun you’re looking at. So Eichhörnchen connects die Eiche (oak) and das Hörnchen (little horn). Impfpflicht is made up of impfen (to vaccinate) and die Pflicht (mandate).

One pretty good indication where words break is when you have a ton of Konsonanten (m, consonants) piled up. As in Impfpflicht, or Eichhörnchen. Another giveaway is an s in the middle of a sentence. That super long word has etikettierungs, überwachungs, and übertragungs in it! We add the s where otherwise the two words we’re connecting would clash in pronunciation.

Of course, it’s not always that easy, but with the knowledge of taking breaks in your words, you can get there!

Do you have difficulty with pronouncing German in other ways? Let me know in the comments below!

       

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Wissen and kennen: present tense conjugations

I always like to include the present tense conjugations when dealing with specific verbs, so you can get a feel for how they look, first and foremost:

Wissen: To know

Ich weiß – I know
Du weißt – You know (informal)
Er/sie/es weiß – He/she/it knows
Wir wissen – We know
Ihr wisst – You know (plural)
Sie wissen – You know (formal)
sie wissen – They know

Kennen: To know

Ich kenne – I know
Du kennst – You know
Er/sie/es kennt – He/she/it knows
Wir kennen – We know
Ihr kennt – You know (plural)
Sie kennen – You know (formal)
sie kennen – They know

What’s the difference?

This is one case where two German verbs with the same meaning are used very differently to one another.

Wissen

Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash

Simply put, the verb wissen is used when dealing with knowledge and facts. It is used in conjunction with question words such as wo (where), wann (when), wie (how) and was (what). Here are some examples of the verb wissen in action:

Weißt du, wo meine Brille ist?
Do you know where my glasses are?

Ich weiß nicht, was ich sagen soll.
I don’t know what I am supposed to say.

Wisst ihr eigentlich, wie schwer das ist?
Do you know how difficult this is?

An easy way to remember this might be that the German word for knowledge is das Wissen!

There is also a Sprichwort (saying) in German: ‘Was ich nicht weiß, macht mich nicht heiß’ (‘What I don’t know can’t hurt me’- literally, ‘What I don’t know won’t make me hot’!).

Wissen = knowledge; facts

Kennen

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

Kennen, on the other hand, deals with familiarity. If you were talking about knowing someone or something, as opposed to a piece of information, you would use the verb kennen. It is sometimes translated as ‘to be acquainted with’. Here are some examples:

Kennt ihr dieses Lied?
Do you know this song?

Er kennt Maria schon seit Jahren!
He’s known Maria for years!

Ich kenne niemanden.
I don’t know anyone.

Kennen = familiarity; someone/something

Wissen and kennen: Incorrect use

So far, we’ve learnt that there are very distinct ways of using wissen and kennen, despite them having the same meaning. To illustrate this point further, here is one incorrect use of each:

X Weißt du Ludwig?
Do you know Ludwig?

Why? Because Ludwig is a person, and the question is about familiarity rather than knowledge, you would use the verb ‘kennen’ in this situation, instead of wissen (‘Kennst du Ludwig?’).

Here is another one:

X Ich kenne nicht, was ich sagen soll.
I don’t know what to say.

Why? Because there is a question word in this sentence (was: what) and it’s dealing with knowledge rather than familiarity, you would use the verb ‘wissen’ in this situation, instead of kennen (‘Ich weiß nicht, was ich sagen soll’).

Photo by Gabriella Clare Marino on Unsplash

I hope this has helped clear up any confusion surrounding the verbs wissen and kennen. To finish, test yourself! Which verb fits into each of these sentences?

Ich ________ nicht, was du sagst.
I don’t know what you’re saying.

_______ du diesen Film?
Do you know this film?

Er ______, wo er hingehen soll.
He knows where he is supposed to go.

Wir _______ diese Frau nicht.
We don’t know this woman.

*

If you liked this post, you might also like this one: The Difference Between Machen And Tun In German

Bis bald (see you soon)!
Constanze

       

Comments

• @Gonzalo In reply to Gonzalo. So pleased to hear it helped ... by Constanze
• @Rolf In reply to Rolf. Glad it helped, son 🙂 by Constanze
• @LFC In reply to LFC. Glad it helped 🙂 by Constanze
• Thank you so MUCH this was SO useful 🙂 by Gonzalo
• Yes father by Rolf
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Photo by Björn Antonissen on Unsplash

Recently I wrote a post on words that’ve emerged to describe life during the Covid-19 pandemic (die Pandemie: pandemic). You can read this here, if you’re interested. One of the words that’s been used since the very start of it is der Hamsterkauf, which means ‘panic buy’ or ‘panic shopping’, as people cleared the supermarket shelves at the start of the pandemic out of fear of what was going to happen, and if there would be enough food for everybody. This word’s literal translation is ‘hamster shopping’, because of the way hamsters stuff their cheeks full of food (der Hamster– hamster; der Einkauf– shopping/purchase. Note Einkauf is the noun shopping/purchase, not the verb.)

Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash

Whilst the concept of a Hamsterkauf is now widely associated with the 2020 pandemic, it was around long before then. The word comes from the verb hamstern- to hoard, a verb that was used to describe the exact same events happening during the 1st World War (der 1. Weltkrieg), when there were significant food shortages. The word ‘hamstern’ popped up in a number of publications in Germany during this time- for example, in 1916 the author Erich Mühsam wrote in his diary (das Tagebuch), “’Hamstern‘ ist das neueste Schlagwort der Presse und des Publikums” (“’Hamstern’ is the press and public’s newest catchphrase”). Source – Der ewige Hamster – WELT

But the word hamstern is not reserved for these big, life-altering situations; in Germany, it’s also used to describe the last-minute panic buying people do on Saturdays to have enough food to last them until Monday, seeing as German supermarkets and shops are closed (geschlossen) on Sundays. As you can imagine, this is even more urgent (dringend) on a bank holiday weekend!!

Geschlossen: closed! Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

So, there you have a bit of insight to the word Hamsterkauf! To finish, what sorts of things are usually bought in a Hamsterkauf? Here is a shopping list- feel free to add any items in the COMMENT BOX that you also deem essential (wesentlich)!

Der Einkaufszettel: The shopping list!

Das Mehl – Flour
Die Pasta/die Nudeln – Pasta/noodles
Der Reis – Rice
Die Kartoffeln – Potatoes
Das Öl – Oil
Die Tomatensoße – Tomato sauce
Die Haferflocken – Oats
Der Dosenfisch – Canned fish
Die Dosenbohnen – Canned beans
Die Dosensuppe – Canned soup
Das gefrorenes Gemüse – Frozen vegetables
Die Trockenfrüchte – Dried fruit
Die Erdnussbutter – Peanut butter
Die Nüsse – Nuts
Die Kekse – Biscuits
Das Klopapier – Toilet paper
Das antibakterielles Gel – Antibacterial gel
Die Seife – Soap

Photo by Hello I’m Nik on Unsplash

If you liked this post, check out this one: Zoom Meetings In German

       

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• I would add seaweed(kelp),ume plums and green tea but dn't know ... by Joseph T Madawela

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Click here to read more posts in the series Don’t Let It Confuse You!

Universe

Photo by Guillermo Ferla on Unsplash

The German word das All means “universe” or simply “space”. So you can say: das All ist riesig (the universe is enormous), but also die ISS schwebt im All (the ISS floats in space). A more accurate translation of “space” would be der Weltraum (“world space”), but in German, All is also used as a synonym in cases like this.

But like the English “universe”, the German All is related to the world all and “all” (think of universal, which also exists in German with the same meaning). More generally, German uses allgemein (general, universal) as a translation of “all”.

Alle or sämtliche?

Photo by Dolapo Ayoade on Unsplash

To say “all” can get a little complicated. Let’s look at the following sentences:

Sämtliche Lieder des Sängers wurden nach seinem Tod veröffentlicht.

(All songs of the singer were published after his death.)

To me, sämtlich always seems confusing. It feels like “some” or “many”, not like a synonym of:

Alle Lieder des Sängers wurden nach seinem Tod veröffentlicht.

(All songs of the singer were published after his death.)

But that’s what sämtlich means! It comes from the German word gesamt (total). If you’re wondering how gesamt is different from insgesamt, it’s pretty simple. Think of gesamt as “total” and of insgesamt as “in total”.

But back to sämtlich. It’s weirdness becomes perhaps more clear in other sentences:

“Der Ausstieg aus der Istanbul-Konvention ist in konservativen Teilen der Gesellschaft so aufgefasst worden, als würden damit sämtliche Rechte der Frauen gestrichen.”

Tagesschau.de

(In conservative parts of society, the withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention was interpreted as if all rights of women would be abolished.)

“Fünf Jahre Brexit: Sämtliche Vorwürfe perlen an Johnson ab”

Zeit.de

(Five years Brexit: All allegations roll off Johnson)

In both of these sentences, the German reads in the same way as if we put “some” or “many”:

“…als würden damit manche/einige/viele Rechte der Frauen gestrichen.”

(as if some/several/many rights of women would be abolished.)

“Fünf Jahre Brexit: Manche/einige/viele Vorwürfe perlen an Johnson ab”

(Five years Brexit: Some/Several/Many allegations roll off Johnson)

So how are alle and sämtliche different?

The difference is pretty subtle, but it’s an important one. While alle is a rather neutral, general term, sämtliche emphasizes that it’s really ALL. In German terms, sämtlich means ausnahmslos alle (all, without exception).

So in the above example, the Zeit-article emphasizes that really ALL allegations roll off the British PM – without exception!

To me, sämtlich still feels weird, even as a native speaker. And it seems like I’m not alone. The fact that it doesn’t only mean all, but really all throws me off!

Just remember that sämtlich relates to gesamt, and you should be fine.

Are there words that confuse you, throw you off? Do you also find sämtlich a weird one? Let me know in the comments below!

     

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The great thing about Wordle is that, although it started as an English language game, it is possible to play it in other languages- including German! I’ve been playing it in both English and German every day, and it’s certainly a great way to test my language skills and keep my mind sharp.

Photo by Julian Hochgesang on Unsplash

Spielanleitung – How the game works

The instructions for Wordle will come up when you click the ‘i’ button at the top of the game. Here are the instructions in German, taken from this version of the game (note that there are several places you can play). I have put a few of the words and their corresponding English translations in bold, so you can pick up some extra vocabulary as you read the instructions:

Sie müssen das versteckte Wort in 6 Versuchen erraten und die Farbe der Buchstaben ändert sich, um anzuzeigen, wie nah Sie dran sind.

You have 6 attempts to guess the hidden word. The colour of the letters will change to show how close you are to the right word.”

Um das Spiel zu starten, geben Sie einfach ein beliebiges Wort ein, zum Beispiel:
To start the game, simply type in any word. For example:

STROM

This combination of colours means:

O, M sind überhaupt nicht im Zielwort (O and M are not in the goal word at all)
R ist im Wort, aber an der falschen Stelle (R is in the word, but in the wrong place)
S , T ist im Wort und an der richtigen Stelle (S and T are in the word, and in the correct place).

Where to play Wordle

Photo by Sarah Brown on Unsplash

There are several sites where you can play Wordle in German. Here are two I’ve used- note that one includes letters with Umlaut (ÄÖÜ), and one does not. Again, check the instructions to see if there are any specific ones surrounding Umlaut use!

Wordle.at – Das größte deutsche Wordle-Spiel
Wordle Deutsch/German

German five letter words you can use to get you started!

Photo by John Jennings on Unsplash

The first time I did this I thought, “Oh no… I don’t know any German words!!” so I started with an easy one (HALLO) and got lucky with the letter A. From there, more words came into my mind, and now it’s relatively easy to think of some every time!

If German isn’t your native language, here are a few five letter words you can use to get you started; you are sure to think of more once you’ve got that first one down:

AUGEN – Eyes
ATMEN – To breathe
HALLO – Hello
LÜGEN – To lie
KONTO – Account
NEBEL – Fog
LEBEN – Life/to live
DAUER – Duration
RUHEN – To rest
BEINE – Legs
HAARE – Hair
PAKET – Packet
LESEN – To read
LICHT – Light
NICHT – Not
TAFEL – Blackboard/whiteboard
TISCH – Table
MAUER – Wall

Wordle is a fun, easy way to get your German brain working and test your knowledge of German vocabulary and spelling! You can even share it with your friends, to encourage a little friendly competition; once you’ve finished, click the graph symbol at the top of the game, and then ‘teilen’ (‘share’). Your result will be copied to your clipboard, then all you have to do is paste it into a conversation box to your friend, and they’ll see how you did. Crucially, they will only see the colours (die Farben), rather than the words (die Wörter) you used!

Photo by Afif Kusuma on Unsplash

Have you been playing Wordle? Let me know in the COMMENT BOX what you think of it, and if it’s helping you with your German skills!

Bis bald
Constanze

PS. If you liked this post, you may also like this one: Two of the Longest Words in German

       

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