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- Topic: German >
- "Alles hat seinen Sinn."
25 Comments
"Point" is one possible translation of "Sinn", and "Everything has its point." conveys the same meaning as the acceptable answers, yet it's currently marked as wrong.
Hello. Is "alles" normally masculine like in this sentence, or does it depend on the context of the sentence?
generally neutral/abstract like everything "alle" can be masculine or feminine or neutral (all books, all women, all men)
OK. So if it depends on the context, what about this sentence tells us that we should use "seinen"?
"seinen" refers to "der Sinn" which is masculine. "Alles" is the abstract subject meaning everything.
Are you sure? If I said " Everything has its reason", "its" would not refer to reason, it would describe reason, but refer to "everything". I would be very surprised if it were any different in German. I.e., if your logic were correct, wouldn't you then have "Die Geschichte hat seinen Sinn"? I am certain it should actually be "Die Geschichte hat ihren Sinn"
I think "Alles hat einen Sinn" = "Everything has a reason" and "Alles hat seinen Sinn" = "Everything has its reason". The difference is subtle, but I think 'einen' has a more general feeling to it, and 'seinen' would imply a specific reason.
"Everything" is hardly a "he", certainly not in English. But beyond that I am actually lost (see my question below).
As far as I fathom it, it relates to "Alles" and it means "its" -- Everything has its reason.
15
You've added the word "own" to your translation, while there is no "eigenen" in the sentence.
Am I the only one completely unable to hear the "s" in seinen??? I was sure the voice said "alles hat einen Sinn" even when listening to it carefully
German speakers: could one of you please explain why "seinen" is used here. I would understand if the sentence were "Jeder hat seinen Sinn" since "jeder" is unquestionably masculine. However "alles" is "all/everything", so I would expect it to be either plural or neuter by default.
- 1237
It seems "alles" typically goes with "sein-" (its/one's), and "alle" often goes with "ihr-" (their) but seems OK with "sein-" as well. "sein-" can be neuter and does not have to be masculine. Disclaimer - I speak only Duo-Deutsch. XD
Just a guess, but does sein here refer to god? That sounds like it would be a German turn of phrase.
- 524
Could one of the mods clear this one up please. There are at least 2 views i.e. that 'seinen' is masculine as it refers to 'der Sinn' or that seinen actually refers to alles (with no explanation of why it's masculine). I had the same question as the others but don't see any reliable/definitive answer as to why 'seinen' is used and whether it refers to 'alles' or 'der Sinn'
- 70
This is not the meaning of "Sinn" with which I am familiar: I remember a folksong from my youth in German class:
Du, du liegst mir im Herzen.
Du, du liegst mir im Sinn...,
the singer indicating that his (unappreciative) beloved is in his heart and mind.
I believe that Sinn can also mean sense. "Es macht kein Sinn" means "It makes no sense". Right?
