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- Topic: German >
- "Alles soll ich machen."
45 Comments
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!
138
Apparently "sollen" also means "be supposed to". "I am supposed to make everything" was accepted for me.
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.
718
The choices do not take the present sentence into consideration. They are just possible translations of the stsnd alone word.
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.]