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- Topic: German >
- "Alles soll ich machen."
45 Comments
According to my textbook, "sollen" is "should" and "müssen" is 'have to.' So isn't this technically incorrect? Can a native/fluent speaker please clarify this for me?
It is probably just a difference between the true German phrase and the English equivalent. Duolingo tends to translate common phrases to the nearest English meaning--like, "Ich drücke dir die Daumen." This is more literally in German, "I will squeeze my thumbs (for you)," if I remember correctly, but Duolingo just translates it to "I will cross my fingers for you." The same meaning, but a different colloquial phrase. So here, it is probably a similar but smaller difference. Hope this helps in some way!
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Apparently "sollen" also means "be supposed to". "I am supposed to make everything" was accepted for me.
Apparently "sollen" also means "be supposed to".
That's right. "be supposed to" is often the best translation of sollen, with conditional "should" generally being a good fit for the conditional, i.e. sollte.
It's true. Five years late and there's no better explanation in "Tips" sections. Does someone can tell me if with Plus account there are more "better" tips?
What I don't understand about this is, is the speaker complaining ( as in "I must do everything"), reassuring themselves ("I should do everything"), or just proclaiming it ("I shall do everything")?
Because of the word order, this definitely imparts the feeling of a complaint. If on the other hand you say "Ich soll alles machen" it is more neutral. (I was assigned to do everything; it is my job)
- 262
It seems more like a neutral statement of fact, e.g. I am to do it all; I am supposed to do it all; or, it's for me to do everything, etc.
- 138
Apparently "sollen" also means "be supposed to". "I am supposed to make everything" was accepted for me.
Yes. Duo's way puts more emphasis on the "alles," though. "Ich soll alles machen" is a very matter-of-fact way to go about it, "oh yes I have to do everything, I should get started," while "alles soll ich machen" puts more emphasis on the fact that wow, I have to do everything. Helfen Sie mir, Gott--alles soll ich machen. ;-)
- 1851
So, in German the emphasis goes to the beginning of the sentence? I'm not a native speaker but for me it seems that the emphasis in English is on the last word in a sentence.
It's typically the subject or a time expression that goes first, but in cases where you really want to put emphasis on something, yeah, you can put it first in the sentence.
Emphasis in English is a little more arbitrary--something at the end will get a little more attention, but ultimately, it's just the intonation that bears most of the emphasis. You can take a sentence like "I have to do everything" and just draw it out in different ways to imply different things.
I have to do everything = it's only me who has to do this
I have to do everything = there's no other option for me than to do everything
I have to do everything = I have to do it all, not just think about it or plan for it
I have to do everything = there's not a single thing I can leave undone
In short, we just use intonation to place emphasis. It's often the same in German, but putting something first in the sentence is just another way to emphasize.
same question, does word order particularly matter in this construction? Although I don't think there's really any other way to interpret it.
This example is really misleading as "sollen" is "should", not what they are saying. What they are suggesting is the translation of "mussen". Not helpful!
Why is a possible translation given as "intend" and then it's marked wrong?
I'm guessing because that meaning is not really used in this context. From what I have read, usually "sollen" is meant to be a less intense way to say "müssen" which we also just learned in this series of lessons.
- 718
The choices do not take the present sentence into consideration. They are just possible translations of the stsnd alone word.
Shouldn't "Alles muss ich machen." be I have to do everything? Is "Alles soll ich machen" one of those cliche phrases people use, comparable to "I have to do everything myself!" in English?
Since 'sollen' is 'should' I would think that would actually be more correct... For it to be 'have to' wouldn't we use 'müssen' instead?
I tried "Everything i have to do" (eg "what is this list"), but dl rejected it. Is that reasonable? How would i say that?
Alles, was ich machen soll
In English, you can say either "everything I have to do" or "everything that I have to do" -- but in German, you may not leave out the pronoun "that".
so I put "I should do everything" and it was marked wrong? I do not see anything wrong with that
why can't the translation be I have everything to do?
"have to VERB" is a fixed expression. You cannot split up "have to" in the sense of "must".
Why can't we use "Alle" instead of "Alles" here?
Because you are supposed to do "everything" and not "everyone".
Could this be taken as an expression of exasperation - "Am I supposed to do everything!"
So in these examples, can and should are considered verbs and are thus placed in the second position?
I can't hear the 's' on the end of Alles. I do hear the smooth s sound between the words.
Muss ist Alles machen ??
That makes no sense. "Must is everything do".
Also, could you please ask your questions in complete sentences in English, rather than just throwing out random German words?
- 2447
"I am to do everything" and "I have to everything" mean exactly the same thing. As in "I am [supposed] to do everything [I am told to do.]
