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- Topic: German >
- "Das brauche ich."
145 Comments
the question in regards to word order gets asked a lot, but just for clarification; does using "das" at the beginning of the sentence emphasise that you need "THAT" specific object? or is that just how you're supposed to write it?
German word order is flexible. You can often times switch around the direct object and the subject because you are still able to tell them apart based on case. For example, saying "Ich möchte einen Apfel" can be turned into "Einen Apfel möchte ich." Another example would be, "Wir können Äpfel essen" turning into "Äpfel können wir essen." The only requirement is that you have your been in the second position of the sentence.
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Actually, even in English a change in word order can imply emphasis. For example, someone asks for something and perhaps you don't want to give it so you ask, "And you need that WHY?"
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Ich brauche das is equally correct :) So yeah, I think the difference is only emphasis.
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English is committed to subject verb object order in sentence construction. Changing the order is usually done just for stylistic effects. Other subject verb object (S.V.O.) languages are less rigid and more tolerant of changed order. German is one of them. Esperanto much more so.
What annoys me is that I've answered that question multiple times below, yet you rather complain instead of reading the whole thread...
Yes, a different word order is frequently used to emphasize a different part of the sentence. There are other factors, like spoken stress, but in writing, putting the word in first position is a good indicator of emphasis.
Fast det beror helt på vad man vill understryka i meningen. Det viktigaste sätter man i fundamentet. "Jag behöver det" och "Det behöver jag" är båda rätt, men den första används oftare för man ofta sätter subjektet i fundamentet. Men när man säger "Det behöver jag" så vill man understryka att det är just DET (den saken) man behöver, därför sätts "det" som fundament. Det är bara det att man oftast är mer van vid att sätta subjektet först.
Sedan så är meningarna ganska så flexibla i svenskan. Man kan ändra ganska mycket på dem olika delarna (subjekt, objekt, adverb etc), med ett enda villkor: predikatet måste komma direkt efter fundamentet, för det är V2 ordföljd i svenskan.
That explanation by eineSchlange is about Swedish grammar, and I'm not sure if what they said also applies for German. But in case you still want to know:
It depends entirely on what you want to emphasize in the sentence. You put the most important part in the fundament. "Jag behöver det" and "Det behöver jag" are both correct, but the first one is more often used because the subject is often put in the fundament. When you say "Det behöver jag", you want to emphasize that det is precisely the thing that you need, hence you put det in the fundament. It's just that people are used to putting the subject first in a sentence.
Sentences are quite flexible in Swedish. You can change a lot of the different parts (subject, object, adverb, etc.) with a single exception: the predicate must come directly after the fundament because of the V2 word order.
No. One would not say "That needs me". If something "needs" you, you would say "It needs me", or "Es braucht mich" auf deutsch.
One of the suggested definitions I got from hovering over "brauche" was "use/am using". When I translated the German sentence to English as "I am using that" I was marked incorrect.
I've reported this as an error but I'm curious whether the problem is an accurate statement not being accepted or a bad suggested definition. Can anyone shed light on this? Is there a better way to say "I need that" vs. "I am using that"?
"Dass" is a conjunction (more exactly, a relative clause). "Das" is either neutral article or pronoun. Pronouns and conjunction get easily mixed up (btw also by native speakers). Maybe this helps: https://deutsch.lingolia.com/en/vocabulary/easily-confused-words/das-vs-dass
I think you mean "Dass" is a conjunction (more precisely, a subordinating conjunction).
It's not a relative clause and it doesn't start a relative clause -- but das with one S can start a relative clause! (Example: In dem Haus, das meine Mutter mir gekauft hat, wohnen jetzt meine Kinder. The relative clause is das meine Mutter mir gekauft hat.)
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Please would you try to translate your sentences like '...das meine Mutter....." in full, when possible. This called for a diversion to other learning resources but not about das, due to the structure. L plates on here!
No, neither "es brauche ist" or "ist brauche es" mean "I need it". In fact, those sentences in themselves don't make much sense; they translate as "it needs is" and "is needs it". To say "I need it" in German, one would say "Ich brauche es" OR "Es brauche ich" (if you would like and emphasis on IT.)
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Yes, the analogy doesn't really work because in German only the order is inverted, not the grammatical structure. You can sometimes get away with fronting the object for emphasis in English, given sufficient context and intonation. For example, in this beer advert:
Draughts I hate. Except McEwans Export -- now that I like!
(In case anyone requires an explanation for the "except": it's a pun on draughts [UK] = checkers [USA] = Damespiel, versus draught [UK] = draft [USA] = "vom Fass".)
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Can das appear at the end of a sentence, please? The equivalent is not a problem in English although it is probably used more in phrases and questions.
but when do we use Das brauche ich and when do we use ich brauche das? thanks
As a learner, stick to the basic word order (subject - verb - object) but be prepared to recognise when native speakers use other orders.
Word order depends on emphasis in ways that are not always easy to convey or explain.