Hello everyone,
and welcome back to our series German Prepositions Explained, the series where we look at the German prepositions one at a time.
Usually, these episodes are pretty intense because of prepositions with their use as a prefix and those pesky prefix verb combos.
But not today.
Today will be fun and easy.
Because today, we’ll talk about the meaning and use of
durch
It’s one of the easiest and most straightforward ones, but it’s still worth a look.
So… now let’s jump right in :)
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Great lesson! Cool stuff – durchdrehen, turning through (like car wheels not gripping on ice) is ‘flipping out’ in German. In AE, “spinning your tires” means one is ‘wasting their time’, and ‘losing your grip’ (on reality is implied) means one is going crazy or flipping out. Just like cultures around the world – same thing, only different.
This appears to be missing from the grammar tab on “Prepositions” and would be an invaluable link there.
ich liebe es!
Dieser Artikel hat keinen “Done” Knopf.
Oh, danke! Fixed it!
Tausend Dank!
Nice review, but why the hostility toward opera? Why would you want to convince people who have little or no experience with opera not to take a listen?
Would you use this approach toward prizefighting? F1 racing? Or a gazillion other things that are really a matter of personal taste?
Yes, I would do the same thing with any other kind of entertainment/art/sport.
I just happened to pick opera. I’m not a fan, but I have nothing against it either. It’s just a joke, I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything relating to opera. BUt if you feel like opera got treated unfairly, you’re welcome to praise it in the comments.
Die Oper ist für mich oft durchwachsen, aber ‘Nixon in China’ wird diesen Sommer (’24) in der Berliner Oper aufgeführt, du solltest es checken ;)
Klingt auf jeden Fall nicht sehr “klassisch” :D
great article
Danke :)!!
Kann dadurch dass statt indem gebraucht werden
Im Prinzip ja, aber ich bin mir fast sicher, dass es Situationen gibt, wo es nicht gut passt, oder komisch klingt.
“dadurch, dass” passt zum Beispiel mehr für Sachen, die in der Vergangenheit sind.
“indem” passt besser, wenn eine Intention und ein Mensch dahinter steht.
– Indem die Kühlschranktür offen bleibt, wird es im Kühlschrank warm.
Das ist NICHT GUT! In diesem Beispiel passt “dadurch, dass” viel viel besser.
Hoffe, das hilft.
Once again a great post from you! I may have never left a comment (mostly because I have no time), but by now I feel like I should. At least to say thanks! You give away so much valuable information which I can use to improve my German even further. Yes I attend a super-intensive German course at the speakeasy language school, but I’m kind of a “nerd” so I keep going on with my German lessons even after school :D And your page and posts are absolutely amazing as extra learning lessons :) The combination of the class and your page makes me confident enough to believe that I’ll be able to master German in a few months! Thank you! I hope I’ll soon have some more time to leave you some more comments about your amazing work! Keep it up :)
Make sure to put in that link.
Seriously… if you want to place links here, I would much prefer it if you just say “Hey guys, I am taking a intensive grammar German course at this language school in Berlin called Speakeasy.
It’s more transparent that way ;)
You might like a wise saying:
Beer before wine – perfectly fine; wine before beer – rather queer.
Wow, we have the exact same message in German:
– Bier auf Wein, lass das sein. Wein auf Bier, das rat ich dir.
(Beer on top of wine, leave it. Wine on top of beer, I recommend to you. )
I learned it as “Beer before liquor, never been sicker. Liquor before beer, you’re in the clear.”
Now I’m getting curious if other languages also have sayings about this.
Spanish speakers, Russian speakers, Chinese speakers, Arabic speaker, all other speakers… speak up!!
I want to thank this amazing community for allowing me to learn german free of charge ! My suscription was sponsored by people here, and I want to thank my anonymous donors. Your generosity is a motivation for me.
Auf wiedersehen !
I thought I read that durchfallen also came from a centuries old practice of suitors sending up gifts (or in some cases, themselves) to their intended ladies waiting in an upstairs balcony. If she really wanted the gifts (or the suitor), she would send a strong basket–if not, you “fell through” (failed). Of course, this could be dressing up a folk tale after the fact and have nothing to do with durchfallen’s actual origins.
I feel like that’s a folk tale. I mean, how would these ladies pull up the basket :D.
It’s a great way to remember the meaning, though!!!
durcheinandergetrunken – ‘because you mixed your drinks’ would be the colloquial translation. Adding the idea of ‘many’ would sound clunky.
Super, danke :)
Lehrer, was ist der Unterschide zwischen helfen, behelfen und verhelfen?
Helfen (+ Dativ) ist sehr häufig und bedeutet einfach “to help”. Mein Kumpel hat mir beim Umziehen geholfen = My buddy helped me move.
Verhelfen (jemandem zu etwas verhelfen) ist selten und bedeutet, jemandem helfen, etwas zu bekommen. Bei 11-0 in der letzten Viertelstunde kann nur ein Wunder Deutschland zu einem Sieg verhelfen = Down 11-0 in the last 15 minutes, only a miracle can help Germany achieve a win. (Als Anfänger brauchst du das Wort nicht. Du kannst ruhig “helfen” sagen.)
Behelfen ist ein sehr seltenes Verb mit “sich”. “Sich mit etwas behelfen” bedeutet, etwas Provisorisches benutzen, weil nichts Besseres vorhanden ist. Als der Strom ausfiel, mussten wir uns mit Kerzen behelfen = When the power went out, we had to make do with candles.
Super!! Perfekt erklärt :). Ich hatte den Kommentar irgendwie vergessen, glaub ich. Danke für die tolle Erklärung.
Danke Berratt. :)
I really love this blog – esp the quizzes ! Great way to practice the lesson ! Danke !
Super, ich freu mich :). Danke!!
“Puh, ich hab voll den Kater.”
“Ja, das ist, weil du alles durcheinandergetrunken hast.”
“Phew, I have such a hangover.”
“Yeah, that’s because you mixed all kinds of alcohol.”
(do you have a better translation? Mine sounds like making a cocktail :))
Yeah, that’s because you imbibed such a Gemisch of spirits.
Gemisch has been adopted into English via Yiddish. ;)
Wow, really?? Does that go for English in general or just one specific branch (American, I’d think). Also, is that as common as Schmock or kitsch?
–Wow, really?? Does that go for English in general or just one specific branch (American, I’d think). Also, is that as common as Schmock or kitsch?
I’m English, and must confess I have never come across “Gemisch”. “Schmuck” I would say is a word we’d all understand (from e.g. Mel Brooks or Woody Allen) but probably not use ourselves. Whilst Kitsch is as English as Schadenfreude and Kindergarten… :)
There’s a store in the mall near here called “Lifestyle Schmuck”. Gets a laugh from me every time I walk past…
I haven’t heard “Gemisch” either, but it doesn’t surprise me that it exists. Using it would make it sound to me (American) like you’re trying to do a Jewish-comedian bit, though.
Soweit kenne ich, buchstabiert “Schmock” wie “Schmuck,” wenigstens wie meine Oma mir gelehrt hat.
Thanks Emanuel and His Lovely Assistant for the blogpost and the quiz. Always a pleasure, always enlightening.
Do deals that fall through “fallen durch” auf Deutsch?
Don’t mix your drinks, or you’ll get a whopping hangover.
What I can’t figure out is why it’s always the LAST drink that did it. As though the first 14 drinks didn’t have anything to do with it.
–“Or durchfallen, where the verb is about “falling” through an exam”
We do have the expression “to fall through” in English, but it is used of plans that don’t survive to completion. (“platzen”?)
“Did you manage to sell your house?”
“No, the purchase fell through when the bank wouldn’t lend enough money”.
–you mixed all kinds of alcohol
The English idiom is “you mixed your drinks”
–Phil
(Noting that “falling through” can of course also be used absolutely literally e.g. though a hole or trap-door!)
das verb drehen, ich weis fur durchdrehen, umdrehen. Gibt es noch etwas was ich wissen soll? Es gibt ein, zu, ver, bei, auf, ab. Verwendet man es?
“aufdrehen” and “zudrehen” are important for taps. “abdrehen” also. “verdrehen” is useful, too. Those are the most common ones, I would say.
Das Einhorn sah durch seine vegetarischen Entscheidungen. Dadurch hält er sich gesund.
Hmmm, der Satz funktioniert nicht wirklich.
Was wolltest du mit “sah durch” ausdrücken?