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- What's the difference between…
What's the difference between der Fernseher and das Fernsehen?
161
... Just got through the Communication lesson in German, and am curious. Danke!
19 Comments
"Der Fernseher" refers to a physical television set, which is tangible. "Das Fernsehen" refers to the television industry, or the channels you can watch on the TV. For example: "Ich habe einen neuen Fernseher gekauft." = "I bought a new TV set." But, "Was gibt's heute Nacht im Fernsehen?" = "What's on TV tonight?"
- 161
Thank you! I really appreciate the second example - it's a pretty good use for Fernsehen, and I was looking for one.
Is Im (in dem) the only way to say it or could auf dem(the more direct english translation work)? thanks
No -- auf dem Fernsehen would sound as silly in German as "on top of the television" would in English.
danke schon :)
The common expression is danke schön! (thank you nicely) and not danke schon (thanks already).
(If you can't type schön, then write schoen.)
Yes I know, it's just that I don't know how to put the umlaut using the computer keyboard. hahaha. but thank you anyway :)
- 161
Danke! Appreciate the answer! (p.s. you really read a lot? Sometimes I think I'm an informavore (like a herbivore, but gobble of words and numbers instead of veggies) on a prolonged feeding frenzy!)
Not as much as I used to since I found out that just doing things without reading the manual provides a lot more fun and more or less pleasant surprises ;) I like the term informavore!
Fernsehen is as in "What's on television? -- Sports."
Fernseher is as in "What's on television? -- A vase."
Fernsehen = Television = “far+seeing” = the technology of broadcasting moving images over large distance
Fernsehgerät or Fernseher = Televisor = “far seer” = the device that is used for receiving and displaying television images
- 161
Danke for the breakdown - that's one I hadn't come across yet (Fern+sehen). I always like to try to break words down if I can, it seems to have a snow-ball effect on my learning.
Re Fernsehgerät, is it possible to break this down like Fern+seh(en)+gerät, where (my limited vocabulary - looking for memory hooks here) I can think of gerät like an appliance or something - something that sees far?
Yes, Gerät is a device or appliance.
(Perhaps more "device"; I wouldn't call a washing machine a Gerät, I think. I'm not sure how to define the word exactly, though.)
