Help your fluency in a nifty way

[jal]

Iedereen hartelijke dank.

It's either "hartelijk dank" or "heel erg bedankt".

PS: Jal, why does "bijbaantje" need agreement? I thought all diminutives were het words?

I wouldn't call it "agreement" really, at least not synchronically. You should see it the other way around: all adjectives always end in "e", with a single exception: singular indefinite "het" words. In the case above, "bijbaantje" is definite, so it doesn't lose the "e". So:

een echt bijbaantje
het/mijn echte bijbaantje
echte bijbaantjes
de/mijn echte bijbaantjes

Ganz einfach! :)
Pretty easy! :)


JAL

[hwhatting]

Es wird hier so viel Deutsch geschrieben! Das erfreut mein Herz.
So much German being written here! It warms my heart.

Ich auch.
Me too.

Shouldn't that be "Mine, too." = "Meins auch". ?

Allen vielen Dank.
Thank you, everyone.

Nie ma za co!
De rien!
De nada!
Non c'è di che!
Graag gedaan!
You're welcome!

[linguoboy]

Shouldn't that be "Mine, too." = "Meins auch". ?

Auch der Frislander darf mein Herz erfreuen, wenn er will.
Frislander can warm my heart too if he wants.

[finlay]

ああ、知ってるよ。さあ、他の言語に答えたから間違っただろう。
Aa, shitte ru yo. Saa, hokano gengo ni kotaeta kara machigatta darō.
Ah, I know. I probably made the mistake because I was replying to another language.

あのさ、多くの人さ、文章の末に「さ」をつけるさ。意味は何さ？
Ano sa, ōku no hito sa, bunshō no sue ni "sa" wo tsukeru sa. Imi wa nani sa?
You know sa, a lot of people sa, but "sa" at the end of sentences, sa. What is the meaning, sa?

そのニュアンスはね、使うことができると思うけど、説明できない
I think I can use that nuance, but I can't explain it.

なんかさ、「よ」の意味があるけど、なんか違う〜
It's like, similar to yo, but it's kinda different...

上は、「あのさ」というのは自然に感じてるけど、最後の２つは自然ない
up there when you say 'ano sa' it feels natural but the latter two don't.

[clawgrip]

「さ」は「ね」と同じ所に出てくることが多いけど、「ね」が相手の気持ちを認める役割なのに対して「さ」は自分の意見を主張する表現だから「ね」よりもちょっとそっけないニュアンスだ。
"Sa" often appears in places where "ne" can also appear, but while "ne" is meant to acknowledge the listener's feelings, "sa" is meant to assert the speaker's own opinion, so it has a bit of a curt nuance to it.

よく分かる例：
A helpful example:

どこに行ったんだろう。。。
I wonder where he went.

ねぇ。
Yeah, so do I.

vs.

さぁ。
I don't know, don't care.

vs.

さあね。
The Japanese language hates you.

[Ziz]

Du hattest Ziz mitnehmen sollen. Er hatte sonst nichts zu tun.
Du häddsch sodde dr Ziz middnäh. Är hedd Zidd und Muess ghaa.
You should've taken Ziz. He was free.

.אולי הייתי מגיע. הייתי עושה הכל רק כדי לברוח מהחום פה בתל אביב
Maybe I would've come. I'd do anything to get away from the heat here in TA.

Tal vez valga mandar mi curriculum a la librería. En serio, ¿cuánto difícil puede ser? Sí, me suena un poco banal, pero me darían un descuento de empleado, y no tendría que hablar mucho con nadie porque no le gusta a nadie que se moleste por vendedores.
Maybe it's worth sending my CV to the bookstore. Honestly, how difficult could it be? Yeah, it sounds a bit banal, but they'd give me an employee discount, and I wouldn't have to talk too much to anybody because nobody likes to be bothered by salespeople.

Yo: ¿Buscas algo en particular?
Me: Are you looking for anything in particular?

El cliente: Ah no, gracias. Sólo ojeando los libros.
Customer: No, thanks. Just browsing.

[Qwynegold]

フィンレイさんもクラーグリップさんも：へえ、そう？
Finrei-san mo Kuraagurippu-san mo: Hee, sō?
Finlay and Clawgrip: Oh, is that so?

さぁ。
I don't know, don't care.

文章の初めにあると「よく分からないけど」というような意味があると教えられたけど、「気にしない」という意味もあるのが知らなかった。
Bunshō no hajime ni aru to "yoku wakaranai kedo" to iu yōna imi ga aru to oshierareta kedo, "ki ni shinai" to iu imi mo aru no ga shiranakatta.
I have been taught that when it's in the beginning of a sentence it means like "I'm not sure but...", but I didn't know about it also meaning "I don't care knowing".

さあね。
The Japanese language hates you.

ダンノー？
Dannō?
Dunno?

[Viktor77]

Qwynegold, on aurait dû se rencontrer quand j'étais à Stockholm en mai mais il ne m'a jamais traversé l'esprit.

Qwynegold, deberíamos haber conocido cuando estaba en Stockholm en mayo pero no se me ocurrió.

Qwynegold, wir hätten sich treffen sollen, wann ich im Mai in Stockholm war aber es kam mir nie in den Sinn.

Qwynegold, we hadden zich ontmoeten moeten, toen ik in mei in Stockholm was maar het kwam nooit bij me op.

Qwynegold, vi skulle have mødt hinanden når jeg var i Stockholm i Maj men det faldt aldrig mig ind.

Qwynegold, vi borde ha mött varandra när jag var i Stockholm i maj men det föll aldrig mig in.

Qwynegold, we should have met each other when I was in Stockholm in May but it never occurred to me.

That's enough languages.

[jal]

Qwynegold, we hadden elkaar* moeten ontmoeten, toen ik in mei in Stockholm was, maar het is nooit in me op gekomen**.

*"zich ontmoeten" is incorrect Dutch, and even then, reciprocals use "elkaar" ("mekaar" in informal/spoken Dutch)
**this needs a perfect, idiomatically. You could say "maar het kwam er steeds niet van" if you want an imperfective, but since you've never thought of it during the whole period, the perfect is called for. Also, I think "het is nooit bij me opgekomen" may also be acceptable for Dutch speakers, but for me it jars a bit without being able to say why.

EDIT: Ja ich weiß, ich habe vergessen etwas auf einer Fremdsprache zu schreiben. Entschuldigung!
Yes I know, I've forgotten to write something in a foreign language. Applogies!

JAL

[finlay]

その時日本にいたのよ
he was in japan at that time dude

[hwhatting]

Qwynegold, wir hätten uns treffen sollen, als ich im Mai in Stockholm war, aber es kam mir nie in den Sinn*1).

Qwynegold, we should have met each other when I was in Stockholm in May but it never occurred to me.

*1) Perfect would also work here: Es ist mir nie in den Sinn gekommen.

EDIT: Ja ich weiß, ich habe vergessen, etwas in einer Fremdsprache zu schreiben. Entschuldigung!
Yes I know, I've forgotten to write something in a foreign language. Applogies!

Dzisiaj mamy wtorek.
Vandaag is Dinsdag.
Aujourd'hui, c'est le mardi.
Today is Tuesday.

[jal]

Vandaag is het dinsdag.

Today is Tuesday.

Would this work in English? I'd say "Today is a Tuesday" or "Today it's Tuesday". Can a native speaker weigh in?

Genau
Exactly


JAL

[linguoboy]

Today is Tuesday.

Would this work in English?

Jawel.
Yessir.

[hwhatting]

Vandaag is het dinsdag.

Hey, we have a case where German is more like English than Dutch is!
(In German, both Heute ist Dienstag and Heute ist es Dienstag are possible.)

(Ik neem aan dat het hier het persoonlijk voornaamwoord is en niet het bepaalde lidword).
(I assume that het is the personal pronoun here and not the article.)

[jal]

(Ik neem aan dat het hier het persoonlijk voornaamwoord is en niet het bepaalde lidwoord).

Ooh, I found another rare case were -e is not used with an adjective (see post somewhere above of me explaining -e to Vik). I'm not sure what the rules for these are. See here and especially the list of exceptions at the bottom.

Ja, "het" ist hier ein Personalpronomen. Man kann auch sagen "Het is dinsdag vandaag" or "Het is vandaag dinsdag" statt "Vandaag is het dinsdag". Es ist ein unpersönliche "het", wie in "het regent".
Yes, "het" is a personal pronoun here. One can also say "..." or ".." instead of "...". It's an impersonal "het", like in "...".


JAL

[Znex]

Ġiestrandæġ wæs tiwesdæġ, ac tōdæġ is wōdnesdæġ.
Yesterday was Tuesday, but today is Wednesday.

[Ziz]

アートは作ることができればいいと思うな
Āto wa tsukuru koto ga dekireba ii to omou na.
I really wish I knew how to art.

自分の人生について話そうね。今はこのスレッドってみんな密接なゲルマン語の文法だけについて話すだろう
Jibun no jinsei ni tsuite hanasou ne. Ima wa kono sureddo tte minna missetsu na gerumango no bunpou dake ni tsuite hanasu darou.
Let's all talk about our lives. It seems like now everybody is only talking about closely related Germanic languages' grammar in this thread.

[Imralu]

Qwynegold, wir hätten uns treffen sollen, als ich im Mai in Stockholm war, aber es kam mir nie in den Sinn*1).

Qwynegold, we should have met each other when I was in Stockholm in May but it never occurred to me.

*1) Perfect would also work here: Es ist mir nie in den Sinn gekommen.

@Viktor: you could also say aber es ist mir nie eingefallen, in case you weren't aware you could say it that way in German too, not just in the Scandilangs.

[Qwynegold]

その時日本にいたのよ
he was in japan at that time dude

ええ、残念ながら。ところで、ヴィクトルさん、スウェーデン語が上手！何で？
Ee, zannen nagara. Tokoro de, Vikutoru-san, Suweeden-go jōzu! Nande?
Yeah, unfortunately. Btw Viktor, your good at Swedish! How come?

アートは作ることができればいいと思うな
Āto wa tsukuru koto ga dekireba ii to omou na.
I really wish I knew how to art.

どうして？
Dōshite?
Why?

[Ziz]

どうして¡
Dōshite?
Why?

ポケモンのファン・ゲームを作りたいので、新しいポケモンを描くのができないんだ
Pokemon no fangēmu wo tsukuritai no de, atarashii Pokemon wo egaku no ga dekinai nda.

我想要做一个宝可梦爱好者的游戏机但是我不能画新动物。
Wǒ xiǎngyào zuò yí gè bǎokěmèng àihàozhě de yóuxìjī dànshì wǒ bù néng huà xīn dòngwù.
I want to make a Pokémon fan game, but I can't draw new Pokémon.

[jmcd]

Du könntest eine Zusammenarbeit mit jemandem machen.
You could do a collaboration with somebody.

[jal]

Es ist ein guter Tag für die Niederländer auf der Olympsche Spiele. Einmal Gold, und sowohl die Handballspielerinnen als die Volleyballspielerinnen haben ihre Wettkämpfe gewonnen. Gestern war auch sehr gut: zweimal Gold; aber Heute kann es noch besser worden!
Today is a good day for the Dutch at the Olympics: one time gold, and both the women handball and volleyball players have won their games. Yesterday was also very good: two times gold; but today it can get even better!


JAL

[din]

(Ik neem aan dat het hier het persoonlijk voornaamwoord is en niet het bepaalde lidwoord).

Ooh, I found another rare case were -e is not used with an adjective (see post somewhere above of me explaining -e to Vik). I'm not sure what the rules for these are. See here and especially the list of exceptions at the bottom.

JAL

I think (but I'm not sure) it's because 'persoonlijk voornaamwoord', 'bijvoeglijk naamwoord' and 'bepaald lidword' function as compound word, so the adjective doesn't directly modify the following noun. Much like words like 'black board' or 'free trade' in English.

In other cases they're actually written as compounds ('goedheiligman' vs 'goede heilige man').

I'm having a hard time thinking of other examples, but my (American) husband runs into them all the time and asks me why there's no -e.

I was surprised, by the way, that you didn't have an issue with Vik's 'cassière'. First of all, it's either kassière or caissière (or even kassierster, if you're Flemish), but I have seen the other spelling so often I'd hardly consider it wrong anymore. My main issue, though, is that I'd never use it for a man. I'd say kassamedewerker or kassier (but many people probably wouldn't agree with me on the latter). Or 'de man aan de kassa', of course

[jal]

I was surprised, by the way, that you didn't have an issue with Vik's 'cassière'. First of all, it's either kassière or caissière

You're right, I must've just read over it (is that even English? "ik heb er overheen gelezen"), as I have worked for over a decade in Dutch retail IT, so I know how to spell that word :).

My main issue, though, is that I'd never use it for a man.

I would, without blinking an eye. I know it's originally a women-only word, but there's hardly a good alternative, and I find different words for male/female professions sexist anyway. Am I right in assuming you wouldn't call a male secretary a "secretaresse" either?


JAL

[din]

You are correct, it wouldn't even cross my mind as a potential option.

I'm not fond of the male / female professional titles either, but generally the unmarked version was originally the male term, so doing the reverse definitely strikes me as unusual.

Philosophically it makes no difference, of course: you take the most common term (whether it was male or female) and extend its use to all gender identities. It's just that the female endings are more strongly 'gendered' to me, so it feels more like you're telling a man that he's doing "a woman's job" than the other way around. Nothing to worry about, obviously, but still.