How do you say you're only looking/still deciding?
421
What do you say if you are having a look at what is on offer before deciding what to buy, in a bakery for instance, to let the people behind the counter know that someone else can go before you and that you're still deciding on what to get? In English you'd say "we're just looking" or "we're still deciding at the moment" - what would you say in German so you don't have the awkwardness of holding people up unnecessarily?
We were in a small town bakery and not knowing enough German (this was before I started using Duolingo), the only thing I could think to say was something like "wir sehen", which obviously makes no sense. Sure, if some other customer was there, I could make an apologetic "you go ahead" gesture at them and say "bitte", but knowing what you're supposed to say would be really helpful, so we won't seem so rude next time!
15 Comments
"ich schaue noch", "ich schau' noch" if you want a more casual sound, "ich brauche noch ein bisschen" = i need a bit more time
i say this basically everytime im at a bakery, im just very bad at deciding
Same -- ich schau' nur or, if you're fairly sure you will actually decide, ich schau' noch.
- 421
Haha, so are we - especially when there are so many goodies to choose from! Thanks for the reply! Much appreciated!
Ich habe mich noch nicht entschieden? :)
I have not yet decided/ made a decision. It probably sounds awkward to a native but I think gramatically it would work.
- 421
Glad it's helpful to others as well! :) Because yes, this has seriously bothered me ever since we first started doing driving holidays through Europe five years ago!
If you don't intend to buy something you can say: "Wir sehen uns nur (only) mal um." If you're still deciding, you can say: "Wir sehen uns noch um. Wir haben uns noch nicht entschieden."
- 421
Thank you! :) I will have to make a note of all these suggestions so I can practice them before our next trip! Although last time I was quite proud I managed to conduct an entire bakery visit in German: buying raisin-free Stollen by the 100g somewhere in Bremen.
Here in the North it's also common to say "Ich guck' noch" (I'm still looking) or "Ich guck' nur" (I'm only looking/I'm just browsing). "Gucken" (weirdly, even for German, the "g" is pronounced as a "k") is practically a synonym of "schauen" that's only used colloquially.
Also, if you want to sound really authentic: when talking we pretty much always drop the "-e" in first person singular verbs, which in writing is correctly written by changing the "-e" to an apostrophe. You should keep the "-e" in formal writing. It's very similar to the Englisch "-ing" -> "in' ".
In fact, just as in English, we drop syllables and consonants a lot in colloquial speech. Other cases you might want to be aware of, is that we often say " 'ne" instead of "eine" and simply " 'n" instead of "ein". Also, (at least in the North) we pretty much ALWAYS say "is' " instead of "ist".
Don't worry, this is all more for really blending in and not very important, although it might help you understand people better.
