- Forum >
- Topic: German >
- "Ich trinke. Ich esse."
37 Comments
From English grammar.
In English, we need a helping verb to talk about most actions that are taking place right at the moment; we cannot (in standard English) say "I eating" but have to say "I am eating".
German does not need a helping verb in this situation.
So when translating from German to English, we have to translate not only the words but also the grammar -- for example, from German present tense to English present continuous.
Sometimes this requires adding words that English needs but German does not.
Another example is "do" support for negative sentences and questions, which English needs but German does not.
For example, Gab er dir das Buch? Nein, er gab es mir nicht. cannot be translated to "Gave he you the book? No, he gave it me not." because that is not correct by the rules of English grammar. Instead, it has to be "Did he give you the book? No, he did not give it to me." with the helping verb "do" inserted, which is not a translation of any of the German words but is simply required by the rules of English grammar.
Is it correct to say iche trinke wasser und ich eesse brot
No.
- "I" in German is ich, not iche
- "water" in German is Wasser - the capitalisation is part of the correct spelling
- "(I) eat" in German is esse, not eesse
- "bread" in German is Brot - again, capitalised
The correct version of your sentence would be Ich trinke Wasser und ich esse Brot.