42 Comments
Why is "was" in the sentence? Wouldn't it be the same with just "Gehen wir essen?"
I'm guessing it's short for "etwas"? Could a native speaker clarify?
1366
Thx. Anyway, it could be in the English translation also ("Are we going to eat something?") to make it more clear...
What is etwas?
I translated it as "What are we going to eat?" Why is this wrong? And how would this be written in German?
You'd have to put "was" at the beginning of the sentence.
Was gehen wir essen?
In Duolingo's sentence, "was" is short for "etwas" (something).
If etwas/was means "something" wouldn't the right answer be " Are we going to eat something?" . So just to clarify, then "Are we going to eat" should be " Gehen wir essen?" (or the etwas/was is necessary for the sentences to make sense?)
Should this sentence be "Werden wir essen?".
"Gehen wir was essen" is asking "Are we GOING to eat", implying that the question is "are we going to change locations?" not "will we eat?"
Thanks Christian! When I translated it as "Are we going OUT to eat?" it was marked wrong. The "correct" translation was "Are we going to eat?".
If you want to stress the part about the restaurant, you can say: "Gehen wir auswärts essen?"
I agree with you, it should translate as "Are we going out to eat?" as in going to a restaurant.
- 170
Really? I was picturing it being for impatient people already at the dinner table.
Duolingo said "Shall we go eat something?" is the correct translation. It is so? Isn't there any specific words in German for "shall/should"?
You can use 'sollen' for 'shall/should'.
Sollen wir etwas essen? == Shall we go eat something? Ich soll das Buch lesen == I should read the book.
I believe it goes like this:
Schreiben wir ein Buch. - Let's write a book.
Schreiben wir ein Buch? - Shall we write a book?
Gehen wir ins Kino. - Let's go to the movies.
Gehen wir ins Kino? - Shall we go to the movies?
I think it's like this. It has to do with imperatives. If I'm wrong, please correct me.
Could one possible translation be "We're going to eat WHAT?" as in the speaker is surprised/shocked about whatever it is they are going to eat?
So how do you show the difference between the meaning "will we eat" and "are we heading somewhere for the reason of eating" in german?
"Will we eat?" is "essen wir?" or "werden wir essen?“ Gehen only refers to moving somewhere and cannot be used in German to indicate future tense.
