False Friends Explained – “bald vs bald”

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Hello everyone,

and welcome to a new episode of the most neglected series ever: False Friends Explained.
And the words we’ll talk about today look so incredibly similar, that they look identical.

bald vs bald

 

Now, I’m not trying to find drama where there is none – even though they look identical, German bald and English bald are used in so vastly different domains that they don’t really cause confusion or misunderstanding.
Still, I thought it could be fun to take a look at where these two words come from and also take the chance and talk a bit about the world of going bald in German. A world I know nothing about. My golden surfer locks are as full and curly as when I was 23 last year… ish.
Anyways, let’s jump right in…

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Posted on February 8, 2019 by

Posted in A-Level, Adjectives, Audio Examples, Broad Vocabulary, False Friends, Vocabulary

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Word of the Day – “gegen”

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Hello everyone,

and welcome to our German Word of the Day. And today, we’ll take a look at the meaning of

gegen

 

Which is short for generation G.
Which is short for generation Genitals, the generation that has genitals.
Or it’s short for generation Gesus, the generation that has Gesus in their heart.
Or it’s short for generation Generation, the generation that has Generations.
Or it’s short for generation Get-on-with-the-article. Which is the generation I am from.
I will get on with the article swiftly. On the double quick. Just had to clear my system.
Gee, this intro is a disaster.
Anyway, let’s jump right in…

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Posted on January 30, 2019 by

Posted in A-Level, Adjectives, Audio Examples, Must have words, Vocabulary

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German Prefix Verbs Explained – “ablaufen”

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Hello everyone,

and welcome to a new episode of Prefix Verbs Explained, the series that is like that mayonnaise jar in the door compartment of our fridge. It has expired a loooong time ago, but it just stays there, watching comestibles come and go.
And that is not only an incredibly clever analogy, it also brings us right over to our “verb du jour” because today we’ll look at the meanings of

ablaufen

 

And to start you out, here are some examples for things that ablaufen: goat cheese, time, a conference, my bathtub.
Well, okay, actually my bathtub DOESN’T ablaufen properly.
So let’s jump right in.
I mean… the article. Not my bathtub.

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Posted on January 22, 2019 by

Posted in Audio Examples, German Prefix Verbs, Verbs, Vocabulary

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A new kind of case chart

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Hello everyone,

and welcome to… well… I don’t actually really know how to call it. It’s something really silly, but also really cool.
So… I was working on the article on relative pronouns that I wanted to post this week, when I suddenly ran into a problem.
I could tell you the problem now, but hey, see for yourself…

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111 Comments

Posted on January 15, 2019 by

Posted in /b/ random, Grammar

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