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- Topic: German >
- "Damen mögen unsere Katzen."
59 Comments
The German equivalent would be, "Die Biene" for "the chick".
To those that downvoted this person, how about instead of downvoting people who are trying to learn, downvote the people who continuously make jokes and make it hard for people to learn? This is a legitimate question that deserves an answer.
1802
Same for me, jokes make it enjoyable and memorable. I remember the funny sentences on here because they stick in my mind for that reason. People don't learn well if they're bored, and if making jokes in German helps people to learn, then I don't see why to discourage it. People making jokes doesn't stop others asking questions. You're more likely to learn if you're motivated and having fun doing so.
193
On Welsh Duo, we have jokes about Owen and his parsnips, often appearing in exercises.
2691
It should be " Ich sehe unsere Katzen and "Ich mag unsere Katzen" "Katzen" is the direct object, therefore accusative.
That's not how genitive works, but I had the same confusion in the beginning. Then Duolingo taught me, so now I can explain this :)
Genitive example:
Das ist das Auto des Manns.
Here, des Manns is the part in genitive case. It means "of the man", so the full sentence is "That is the car of the man" or "That is the man's car". Note that in genitive case, the noun also sometimes gets an ending.
Possessive example:
Das ist sein Auto.
Here, sein Auto is simply in nominative case. The ending of the possessive pronoun sein (i.e. no ending) matches the neuter object (das Auto) in nominative case. The meaning is slightly different: "That is his car".
Dative example:
Das ist das Auto von dem Mann.
While the genitive case is more technically correct, this form is often used when speaking. Here, dem Mann is in dative case because it follows the 'dative preposition' von. You could contract von dem to vom if you want. It means the same as in the genitive example.
35
In German the Christian god, i.e. Jehovah/Yahweh, can be called "der Herrgott" if I remember correctly from my grandfather's Neue Testament.
35
As I understand it, Dame refers to the "queen" in chess. Dame as "king" refers to checkers - or draughts - where when a piece reaches the 8th space in a column (gets all the way across the board), in English one "kings" that piece, making it able to move in reverse and so more powerful; the German term is the equivalent of "queens".
2691
That would be "Die Damen", meaning some specific ladies. "Damen" on its own means ladies generally.
539
There is a line between memorable/peculiarly weird/very offensive. This lesson sails close to the wind,- possibly more than intended with some of the phrases. This seems pleasant/silly/not worth bothering about.