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- Topic: German >
- "Pinguine essen Fisch."
37 Comments
I would even expect Pinguine fressen Fische, as it emphasises that they eat the animals rather than the meat. After all, you don't say that wolves eat venison. Please report it during the lesson.
Singular is more common here, like Löwen fressen Fleisch, Kühe fressen Gras, Pinguine fressen Fisch. But also "P. fressen Fische" is a valid translation of "P. eat fish".
Juliogmz1939, I love your sarcasm! This is a monumental error of Duo and it has been reported many times with no action on their part. Tiere "fressen", Menschen "essen".
1218
Duo should either explain or correct the fressen v essen issue. This comment has been here for a long time.
Are these anthropomorphized Penguins? Actually, serious question. In movies with talking animals do they esse or fresse?
- 1311
They'd probably use "essen".
Anyway, the distinction isn't as strict as duo wants you to think, I know many people who talk about their pet's food as "Essen". And the other way round people may "fressen", for example when they eat without any table manners or when they're just stuffing their face.
Throughout my personal experience with this app it would seem that Duo considers himself and refers to himself as a functioning member of the elite, what with his holy potato sitting atop his billions and watching senior citizens leap out of windows. Then it would make sense that the sentence would be structured in a way that the" penguin" would eat just like us humans but if they were ordinary run of the mill penguins they would surely"fressen"
When I first learnt German we also had to use 'säufen' for animals and not 'trinken', but this has fallen out of usage. I wonder, likewise, if 'fressen' is going out of use for animals. BTW, I seem to remember 'fressen' being used quite effectively on the factory floor to be derogatory about colleagues, management, politicians, and anybody else that got on your nerves, with the mandatory Saupreiß (Pig Prussian in the native dialect) put in front of the noun. If I wound anybody up, I would get, "Du Saupreiß-Engländer, friss ............!"
- 1311
The usage of "fressen" is not as uncommon as the usage of "saufen" (in regards to animals), but the distinction isn't that strict anymore. Both can be used for either humans or animals, depending on what you'd like to emphasize. Humans who "fressen und saufen" are still supposed to behave like animals. And animals who "essen" are mostly pets or characters in an animated movie, so beings not as wild as e.g. a real bear.
- 727
sure seems like it should be fressen, unless there's some obscure exception for penguins!
Menschen sind Tiere. I'm not sure I understand your question. Humans belong to the Animal Kingdom. So, as I said, non-human animals fressen, while human animals essen.
- 650
I think that Duo is a hockey fan, and he's talking about the players for the Pittsburgh Penguins or maybe the Krefeld Pinguine.
