Hey there everyone,
and welcome to our German Word of the Day. This time we will have a look at the meaning of:
ausser
Maaaan… this word has been sitting in my To Do cupboard for almost six months now. I bought it back in January as a bundle with the words aber and sondern… all three for the price of one at that supermarket… too good a deal to not do it, so it seemed.
And yet, once again, it turned out just too much at a time and I ended up using only sondern so far, while ausser and aber slowly ripened on the shelf. Then, after a while, they ripened some more just to continue ripening even further and they would even go as far as to ripen a bit too much. So much so that for aber it was too late. I had to toss it in the trash this morning. I mean, it was all moldy and had like flies orbiting it… but aber is something you really get to … r-eat … every day, so you know how it transtastes… or something, so…
Anyway, ausser still seems edible so I’ll use it today.
Ausser is the third of the 3 but-lings, the 3 words the English but can translate to. As you probably already know by now, the other 2 but-lings are aber and sondern (read up on sondern vs. aber here) and those 2 are also the ones that people have issues with to tell what the difference is.
Ausser does not cause that many problems. This is partly because it is a bit less frequently needed but also because there is another possible translation in English but but … what? Double but doesn’t sound very nice? Except would have been the better choice of words here? Ooooh what coincidence… except is exceptl… uh exactly the word I am talking about :).
So yeah… ausser is one of the 2 possible translation for except (or but in sense of except).
- Maria isst alles ausser Spinat.
- Maria eats everything but spinach.
- Dieser Film war alles ausser lustig.
- This movie was all but funny.
- Ich lese nie Bücher, ausser wenn ich muss.
- I never read books, except when I have to.
Being related to the word aus, it kind of makes sense that ausser would mean except. So far so good. The other possible translation for except is a bit less obvious… bis auf. I imagine it being EXTREMELY confusing for someone who is learning German to read something like this:
- Ich kaufe alles bis auf den Tisch.
If you try to make sense of that with a dictionary I are sure to fail… Google Translate does, too.
- I buy everything up on the table. (Nonsense)
But here bis auf means except… and with a little fantasy it does actually make sense. Try to look at it this way: you’re buying buying buying UNTIL you have reached the table and that is where you stop your shopping spree.
- I buy everything except for the table.
Both possibilities, ausser and bis auf, are pretty much the same. I think I knew an example last week, in which ausser was not ok, but I can’t remember. I will add it if it comes back to me. But for the most part, they are interchangeable used in equal amounts and based on personal preference. If anything, I would say that ausser is slightly higher German than bis auf, but bis auf is by no means slang.
By the way… you might have seen the word ausserdem. For example, when you are at a bakery and you order something they might ask you
- Und ausserdem?
Leo.org lists a number of translations like furthermore, besides and also but the common core of all of these is something like “and else” or the most literal version “other than that”.
- Willst du mit ins Kino kommen?
Nein, ich muss noch Hausaufgaben machen, ausserdem habe ich kein Geld. - Wanne come to the movies?
No, I still have homework to do and also, I don’t have any money.
And if we take a close look at ausserdem this is actually quite obvious as it consists of ausser and dem, which is pretty much das in case 3 suit (dative). And this brings us to the question, which preposition to use after ausser.
Is it always case 3 – the m-case?
No. Ausser can be followed by either case … the n-one and the m-one depending on the action in the sentence.
- Ich kenne alle Leute hier ausser die Frau im schwarzen Kleid.
- I know all people here except for the woman in the black dress.
- Maria hat alle ausser mich zu ihrer Party eingeladen.
- Maria has invited everyone but me to her party.
Here case 4 (accusative) is used because the verbs, einladen and kennen, work with case 4. Now case 3.
- Auf der Party rede ich mit allen ausser (mit) der Frau mit dem schwarzen Kleid.
- At the party, I chat with everyone except for the woman with the black dress.
- Maria schickt allen ausser mir eine Einladung zu ihrer Party.
- Maria sends an invitation to her party to everyonebutme.
Here we have to use case 3, because reden, schicken and also mit want it so.
And now something a little of the record… in daily life, people can also use case 1 after ausser. I don’t really know, whether this is “correct” German or not but honestly, I don’t care. Correct is what sounds right. There are examples where case 1 sounds right, and people talk that way all the freakin’ time… so… language to the people, we speak it we make it :)… here are the examples.
- Alle ausser ich/mir sind zu Marias Party eingeladen.
- All except me are invited to Marias party.
- Alle ausser der/dem kleine/n Thomas gehen ins Kino.
- All except little Thomas are going to the movies.
So bottom line… ausser doesn’t really care about the case. Just use the case, that is used for the whole group from which you exclude someone using ausser.
Now before we can wrap this up, there is one more thing, that needs clarification… see… the thing is:
I don’t actually care about Maria’s stupid party at all, you know, … I mean it is not like I would have gone there anyway had she invited me along with all those other invited people … party shmarty, I say.
OK, I guess the REALLY important thing is the fact that ausser has another meaning… it is hard to translate into a single word and it is only used for a few fixed expressions pretty much, but the core would be something like outside of. The most important expression is: ausser sich sein, which does exist in English, too. Only there it would be beside oneself with… thanks to Trevor who mentioned that in a comment.
- Ich bin ausser mir vor Freude.
- I am out of myself in/from joy. (lit.)
- I am beside myself with /delirious of joy.
- Thomas ist ganz ausser sich, weil sein Auto dreckig ist.
- Thomas is totally out of himself, because his car is dirty. (lit.)
- Thomas is beside himself / just short of a frenzy, because his car is dirty.
The other occasion when you can see this ausser – the outside ausser – is even more obvious… ausser Haus. It literally means out of the house, but it is mostly used as take-away or simply not there.
- Sorry but the manager is not here/is on site at the moment.
- Es tut mir leid aber der Manager ist gerade ausser Haus.
However, it is nothing to opt for if you want to tell that you are not at home… that would sound overly stiff.
So… this was our Word of the Day, ausser. It is the translation for but when but is used in sense of except. Another possible translation for this is the phrasing bis auf. There is almost no difference between ausser and bis auf, so you can decide what you like better.
The other 2 possible translations for but are aber and sondern.
I’ll try to whip up an exercise to train your butt with.
Only five minutes a day, and you can crack every but-nut…. sorry… I just can’t resist those jokes, even if they are not funny. It’s like eating at McDonalds. It’s not tasty and still.. anyway. I’ll add the exercise as soon as I have it.
If you have questions or suggestions, leave me a comment. I hope you liked it and see you next time.
Emmanuel, you’ve been doing a very good work. i just want to say: thank you!
I’m from Brazil and since I’ve found out your blog my German has improved a lot.
Keep up the good work!!!
Danke :)… I’ll try my best
Fantastisch, wie immer. :-)
Regarding ‘ausser sich sein’: that pattern exists in English, but we use ‘beside’ rather than ‘outside’ – i.e. ‘I was beside myself with anger/frustration/joy/glee, etc.’
Does the phrase ‘bis auf’ always take the accusative case?
Cool, I wasn’t aware that existed. I will totally add that to the article…
As for “bis auf”, it has the same mechanics as “ausser” so it is kind of case-ignorant and gets whatever is around it :)
[Great|Awesome|Good|Fantastic|Excellent] post. Thanks!
Ich glaube, es gilt Folgendes für außer im Standarddeutschen:
1. sei es eine Präposition, so muss der Dativ verwendet werden, außer wenn es um “Bewegungsverben” geht, wie stellen oder setzen; in dieser Hinsicht ist das Wort mit Präpositionen wie “vor” oder “neben” vergleichbar;
2. sei es eine Konjunktion, so hängt der Kasus nur vom Kontext bzw. von der relevanten Struktur ab;
3. man darf immer die Konjunktion mit der Präposition ersetzen, was das Leben einfacher macht ;)
Gib mir mal ein Beispiel für 3)… ich steh’ auf dem Schlauch :)
Aus deinem Post:
“Alle ausser ich/mir sind zu Marias Party eingeladen.”
In “außer ich” ist es ne Konjunktion.
In “außer mir” ist es ne Präposition.
Beides geht.
Ah stimmt…. alles klar :D… das Beispiel werd’ ich mir merken. Damit kann man gut den Unterschied zwischen Präp und Konj zeigen.
So, what is the difference between Präp and Konj in this case? Is the meaning different?
Actually, there’s no real difference apart from grammar.
– Alle sind müde ausser ich.
– Alle sind müde ausser mir.
Both sentences mean exactly the same, and people use it based on personal preference.
IN the first sentence, the case of “ich” depends on the noun it is “contrasting” (alle = subject = Nominative). The proper term for that kind of “ausser” is “Adjunktor”… like “als”.
In the second version, the “ausser” defines the case Dative. It’s really really rare that a word can go both ways without there being a change in meaning.
Hope that helps!
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Sollte es nicht statt “Alle ausser ich/mir sind zu Marias Party eingeladen”, “Alle ausser ich/MICH sind zu Marias Party eingeladen”?
Genauso wie hier, in deinem anderen Beispiel “Maria hat alle ausser mich zu ihrer Party eingeladen”. Also, Akkusativ statt Dativ.
As GratefullReader has pointed out in another comment somewhere here, “ausser” can be a conjunction (like und) and a preposition (like mit).
If it is a conjunction, then it takes the case that the verb assigns.
– Alle Schüler ausser ich essen.
You can replace “ausser” by “und”. The meaning will be different but the grammar is the same.
Now, I can also use “ausser” as a preposition without changing the meaning. And then “ausser” always wants Dative, no matter what the verb demands
– Alle Schüler ausser mir essen.
Here’s another example.
– Thomas sieht alle ausser mich.
I used it as conjunction. The accusative comes from the verb “sehen”
– Thomas sieht mich.
And here it is as a preposition
– Thomas sieht alle ausser mir.
Both are correct and mean the same.
Now,
– Alle ausser mich sind zur Party eingeladen.
This does not work because “alle” is subject. So “ich” can either become “mir” (for the preposition) are “ich” for the conjunction. But there is no way it becomes “mich” because neither verb nor “ausser” calls for it.
Hope that helps a bit :)
Thanks a lot, really good lesson :D
New Loyal Follower :D
Willkommen an Bord :D
What is the best option for something like this:
“I am a bit tired and have a lot of work to do, but otherwise I’m good.”
I always thought it would be “ausserdem”, like “outside of that”, but now it seems that would mean “in addition to that” here. Is that right? Would “ausser” or “bis auf” be correct here, or something else?
Vielen Dank :)
Good question. “Ausserdem” does indeed mean “in addition to that”. “Ausser” alone is a preposition though and “bis auf” works as one, too. So you’d need an object to come after it. But they wouldn’t really work here anyway because they sound too excluding. Kind of like “except that”. We don’t need to exclude, we just need to look elsewhere.
The two common ways are
– Ansonsten geht es mir gut.
– Davon abgesehen…
“Ansonsten” is probably the best match because it also works as “otherwise” if you want to hint at consequences. Check out the post on sonst for more about that.
Alles klar. Vielen Dank!
Good
“Die Firma bietet außer einer Ausbildung auch die Möglichkeit für ein Praktikum. ”
Does ausser mean the same here? – except.
Well, according to Google translate, ausser = not only. Can you help me?
Great question!
The Google translation is based on the sense of the phrase, so it’s not entirely wrong.
Think of “ausser” as “besides”. So it’s kind of an “except” except that it’s not exclusive. Like…
“What does the company offer?”
“An apprenticeship.”
“Well, except that?”
“Oh, an internship.”
So the meaning is essentially that the company offers both things, that’s why Google’s translation is “not only”. But it’s a bit misleading.
Hope I could help.
Ich hat hier komme aus das Artikel gehe um “sondern” schickt. (really having trouble translating what I want to say here “I was sent here from the article on “sondern”) Da drüben, war die Wort “außer” geschreibt. Ist es “außer” oder “ausser” oder beiden?
“außer” is officially correct, but I decided to go with “ausser” here since many people around the world have no “ß” on their keyboard and so double-s is likely how they’ll type it.
Dein Satz muss sein:
“Ich wurde von dem Artikel über “sondern” hierher geschickt.”
It’s a passive construction, so no “haben”. And you don’t need to use “gehen um” when you can just use a preposition “on – über”.
Passive sentences like this one look simple but they’re kind of advanced stuff. Just too much confusion with all the verbs :). Kudos for trying, keep it up!!