48 Comments
I find it much easier to recognise a German translation when I see it but, to pronounce it fluently is much harder for me. I hope to see more of what the German words sound like in English so that I can pronounce it in German much better. Thanks again for sharing this.
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Yes, I keep failing this problem over and over. I can not hear the difference. I listened, listened again, and one more time... Still "Ihr trinkt Wasser," to me.
I'm having the same problem. I know the difference between Er and Ihr, but the voice is bugged or something...
I clearly heard "Ihr", not "er". And the problem is that "ihr trinkt" is correct, just as "er trinkt".
Try listening to them one after the other to develop your ear for them. Remember often in Europe an ' i ' sounds like a long 'e' .
http://www.forvo.com/search-de/er%20ihr/
German doesn't differentiate between "drinks" and "is drinking" as English does. So "Er trinkt Wasser" is translated as "he is drinking water" and "he drinks water". Either is a correct translation.
No, different pronouns require different endings, even more in German than in English, but it would be similar to saying "he drink" when we know in English it should be "he drinks".
Singular:
I drink = ich trinke;
you drink = du trinkst (singular familiar form of you);
he drinks = er trinkt, she drinks = sie trinkt, it drinks = es trinkt;
Plural:
we drink = wir trinken;
you drink = ihr trinkt (plural familiar form of you);
they drink = sie trinken;
Sie trinken = you drink (Formal version of you singular or plural)
Exactly what i was thinking, do both choices would be accepted by duolingo? (I chose trinke)
No, see my answer above to deb0112 above or check this site: http://german.about.com/library/verbs/blverb_trinken.htm
How can you tell the difference in how to pronounce "Ihr" and "Er?" I can't really tell the difference.
Ihr sounds like ear. Er sounds like air. In this program it's hard to tell the difference but the way I said is how it should be pronounced.
I thought that might be the case, but I couldn't tell. Thanks for the clarification! :)
For what language? Not in English. "er" sounds like "air in English ' ia' does not sound like that in English, 'i' is closer to a long 'e' sound and "ihr" sounds like "ear" in English. http://www.forvo.com/search-de/er%20ihr/
Both trinke and trinkt are conjugations of the verb 'trinken', to drink.
Trinke is used when the subject is I: "ich trinke." Trinkt is used when the subject is third person singular (he/she/it) or you informal plural (ihr): "er/sie/es/ihr trinkt."
"I drink" is "Ich trinke" "he or she or it drinks" is "er oder sie oder es trinkt" also "ihr trinkt" which is plural version of you, familiar form.
Ehm, why would 'er trinkt Wasser' not mean 'he drinks water'? I think the meanings of 'he drinks water' and 'he is drinking water' are practically identical...
They are both correct. I alternate between those two translations and they show up as correct.
Why is trinkt translated to "drink" and "is drinking"? When we listen, we have to choose which one to use. This is quite confusing for me because they are both in the present tense, and I don't want to doubt myself.
A huge bug bros. Press record and turn the audio. The audio voice answers for you. Disable audio once recording.
Trinkt/trinke how to know when to use which one in it's own circumstance
So er drinkt Wasser means he drinks water and he's drinking water? Both? How do Germans understand when did he drink it?
