43 Comments
A question on the word "isst". Is there any way, other than guessing from context, to hear the difference between "isst" and "ist", or do german speakers say them the same?
They are said the same. The best way to differentiate is with context. After a while it should be easy to just "know" the difference :P If that makes sense.
I think that would be right. But if your so good, tell me, what on earth is the differance between "esse" and "essen" ? :-
Essen is the main verb (to eat ) when we use it with (ich) it becomes esse ..... Like in English Play ... He plays
When it is capitalised, it definitely means food. If you find the conjugated form, it's a verb. If you find "essen" in front of a plural, "wir", "Sie", or "sie", then it's a verb. If you find an article before "Essen", it's definitely a noun.
I have no knowledge of German, but wouldn't "ist" have a slightly "z-like" sound while the double "s" in "isst" a softer "s" sound? This is a question more than an answer. Does the "z" sound only occur at the beginning of a word?
For animals eating the verb should be ' fressen ' - ' Der Vogel frisst die Maus'
How do you properly say "Vogel" because to me it's saying "Fogel" and I think that's wrong
"V" at the beginning of a word sounds like "F", so you are hearing it correctly. " W" has the "V" sound, so Volkswagen sounds like "Folksvagen"...pretty cool once you get used to it!
No, LolcatGuy! "Der Vogel fressen die Maus" is wrong, because it means "the bird eating the mouse". You were close, it actually is "Der Vogel frisst die Maus"
Yeah, but in another Duo example, where an animal ate something, the corect answer was frisst. Are frisst & isst both acceptable?
Typically, frisst (from fressen) refers to animals while isst (from essen) refers to humans. Similar things happen when describing some nouns like mouth, etc.
why here it's die katze isst DIE maus, while der hund isst DEN vogel? what is the difference? (i mean why isn't "der vogel", the parallel to "die maus")
Because here Vogel is the object being eaten. Then the masculine ("der") article is changed. Feminine and neuter article have the same form. (Der -> den, die -> die, das -> das).
I noticed till now that the only time when it is "den" is actually when the word is masculine...or only the article "der" changes into "den" and "die" and "das" stay like that.
You have to memorize it. There are a lot of random ones it seems, but this has helped me, especially if I had to make an educated guess: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ak8kffdi9qbhIRN5m6XcqYVtNMSiATSdXfA0Ceq2GgA/edit?usp=sharing
It is a Google Spreadsheet
Do animals have articles the same way food does? I started off learning just the words of different types of food when I really should've learnt the article with it, and I was wondering if I need to do the same with animals.
is the verb "isst" simple present or present continuous? my question is not exactly on the verb "isst", every verb i learned sometimes i use present continuous tense and sometimes present simple and in the both situations my answer is accepted so i'm little confused !!
There is no present continuous in German. "Du isst" translates to both "You eat" and "You are eating", and vice versa. Ditto for other verbs. Ich gehe = I am going, I go; Ich trinke = I drink, I am drinking; Ich spaziere = I play, I am playing....
oh okay. but if someone tells me ich esse **** how do i know if he means that he's eating at this moment or he used to eat this thing?
Context. You would likely know what's going on based on the previous bit of conversation. If you phoned me up and asked me what I was doing, and I answered "Ich esse Äpfel", you would know that I meant "I'm eating apples" and not a random statement that "I eat apples".
1054
If he used to eat it, that is neither present simple nor present continuous; it's a past tense.
I/he/she ate Ich/er/sie aß We/they ate Wir /sie aßen I have/had eaten Ich habe hatte gegessen
That sentence, while correct, is strange. You would only say something like that if you were pointing to the mouse that is being eaten or will be eaten. Also, 'die' in German means 'the,' not 'this.' 'Dies' or 'das' means 'this.'
Isst is used with humans and when humans eat. Frisst applies to animals. Duolingo access both, it seems. If speaking with someone, be sure to not use "frisst" when talking about them! :)
I am beginner in learning German. I've learned it for 1 month up to now. And i want to make friend with people here to practice German together. My skype is hiennguyen310. Hope to have chance to make friend with guys.
This is a wierd sentence! I have chickens and turkeys and NONE of them eat mice.... maybe the sentence should be Die katze isst die maus....
