r/German Mar 31 '21

Meta See here: r/German's WIKI and FAQ. Please read before posting, and look here for resources!

Thumbnail reddit.com
930 Upvotes

r/German Oct 02 '25

Meta Want to Talk German With Me? R/German's one (and only!) official language exchange thread

259 Upvotes

Instead of the many "looking for speaking partner" posts that have been cluttering the sub, here's the brand new official "I am looking for people to talk in German with" thread!

It will from now on be mandatory to put all language exchange requests here. Individual posts will be deleted.

Things to include in your comment:

• Native/main language
• German language level
• Means of communication
• Expectations from potential learning partners (optional)

Make it nice and KISS (keep it simple & stupid). This is NOT a dating platform, anything in this sense will get you banned.

You are free to comment with a new request once a week.


r/German 3h ago

Question How to say”run some errands “ in German?

8 Upvotes

My google translate said “Ich muss ein paar Besorgungen machen.” But this seems to be a long sentence, idk if the natives really say that in daily life?
Would it be okay to just say “ich muss etwas tun” or “ich habe etwas vor”? Is it understandable?


r/German 19h ago

Discussion Feeling defeated.

98 Upvotes

Hey, I'll keep it short.

I am a Werkstudent at a german company in Saarland. I've been learning German for about 1.5 years and am B2-C1.

I can handle everyday situations with relative ease. However, when I am working, my German just isn't enough.

Although I've explained to my boss in my interview that I suck at explaining or understanding technical stuff (i work in cybersecurity), he re-assured me that that is completely okay and would explain me stuff even 10 times if needed (which he actually does, he is super nice).

However, whenever someone is speaking to me and explaining (technical) stuff to me, in the back of my mind, I am constantly translating from German to English. Constantly. Morever, the non-stop use of seperable verbs is beyond painful. They start with a verb and I think to myself "hmmm...okay, I know what that means" and then the sentence ends with an "ab". I'm left wondering wth does that even mean?! To that, the dialect doesn't help much. They eat up syllables and I'm left guessing wth did they just say.

Seperable verbs : This has been THE MOST painful aspect of learning this language. I swear, the meanings don't make sense when you compare the base-verb to the related seperable verb. And hearing that in a fast-paced meeting throws me off. I zone out!

At the end of the working day, I'm always mentally exhausted. The brainpower used for all of this is insanely high.

I try to better myself by listening to german tech podcasts, learning new verbs with Anki

Which leads me to questioning myself. Is this nightmare ever going to stop? Am I ever going to feel confident leading a conversation? Is there anyone else who faced this same exact problem and has somehow overcome it?

Thank you for reading. Sorry for grammar mistakes or spelling mistakes.


r/German 1h ago

Question Is there a website that tells you which prepositions go with which verbs?

Upvotes

Hello!

I was wondering if there was a website that could help me out with which prepositions go with which verbs. For example, "lust auf" vs. "lust an." I have looked on verbformen, duden and pons but I can't seem to find what I'm looking for so I figured it was worth asking. If this resource is available on those websites I would really appreciate if someone could tell me where that is.

Thank you!


r/German 4h ago

Discussion Meine Erfahrungen mit der telc Deutsch B2-C1 Medizin Fachsprachprüfung

3 Upvotes

Hallo zusammen! Ich habe die telc Deutsch B2-C1 Medizin FSP beim ersten Versuch bestanden und möchte kurz von meinen Erfahrungen berichten.

Ich habe im Mai mit der Vorbereitung begonnen und zuvor den Inlingua-B2-C1-Medizin-Kurs absolviert.

Schriftlich: Meiner Meinung nach gibt es keinen Geheimtipp, nur üben, üben, üben. Am schwierigsten fand ich das Hörverstehen, Zeitprobleme hatte ich keine.

Mündlich: (20 Minuten) Mein Fall waren Panikattacken. Der Patient hatte eine ausführliche Anamnese mit vielen persönlichen Faktoren und hat ziemlich viel erzählt. Die Prüfer waren neutral und haben mich bei ein paar Fehlern korrigiert.

Arztbrief: (20 Minuten) Es handelte sich um denselben Fall wie im Anamnesegespräch. Eine gute Struktur und das vorherige Üben haben mir sehr geholfen.

Patientvorstellung und Rückfragen: (20 Minuten) Zur Vorbereitung habe ich hauptsächlich das Buch "Deutsch für Ärzte – Vorbereitung für FSP“ benutzt und ungefähr 35 oder so Fälle geübt. Zusätzlich habe ich viele Simulationen mit ChatGPT durchgeführt.

Mein größter Fehler war, dass ich habe zu spät mit den Simulationen angefangen und kaum mit einer echten Person geübt.

Mein wichtigster Tipp: Erst die Prüfungsstruktur und die Erwartungen in jedem Teil verstehen. Danach: Üben, üben, üben.

Ich habe etwas über fünf Wochen auf das Ergebnis gewartet.

Ich wünsche allen, die sich noch vorbereiten, viel Erfolg! 🍀🧿🤞🏻

Falls noch jemand Hilfe bei der Vorbereitung auf diese Prüfung braucht, könnt ihr mir gerne ein pm schicken. Ich werde auch auf die Kommentare antworten, sobald ich Zeit habe.


r/German 3h ago

Question Teacher is INSISTING "denn" is a subordinating conjunction.

3 Upvotes

Yeah, um, title. She says it's subordinating with the reasoning that... I mean, I didn't really get it. Because of history or something and because it changes the structure of the sentence but it doesn't though????? Like, you can say "denn er ist krank" but not "weil er ist krank", and you can say "aber er ist krank" or "und er ist krank" but not "obwohl er ist krank".

Am I losing it? Is this really some dumb exception???

And it's important because she's grading a test where this was asked and everyone obviously said it's not subordinating.


r/German 5h ago

Question want to get into Goetz, where to start?

3 Upvotes

interested but the bibliography is kinda overwhelming. as of now I'm torn between rave, Johann holtrop and Irre

for context I'd like to avoid youth memoirs/drug diaries so stuff like Ellis or tondelli and heavy sociological satires such as Franzen's, i'm more into stylistic experimentation and paranoia stuff if it helps?

if there's something else by him more relevant let me know, but translated to English at least. Thanks!


r/German 11h ago

Proof-reading/Homework Help Ich lerne Deutsch, und möchtet dir helfen!

6 Upvotes

Hallo! Ich bin eine Amerikaner Deutsch lernen. Ich hoffe zu eine Deutschland universität gehen, und studieren alles vier jahre dort. Ich wird liebe eine freunde für Deutsch sprechen! Aber kenne ich dass zeit nehmen (take?), so ich wird liebe dir schnell helfen. Bitte sehe meine arbeiten, und schauen (show?) mir was es nicht richtig!! Danke sehr schön :) Meine schreiben

-> Liebes Tagebuch,

Heute ist der drei auf September. Dieses begehet meine ersten tag wirklich zu Deutsch. Ich wird gern Deutsch universität gehen, mehr denn alles. Meine Deutsch ist nicht schlect, obwohl ist es nicht super gut. Ich muss sehr gut für uni sind. Ich kenne viele Warten, aber bin meine grammatik dass nicht so gut. Es ist traurig, weil ich bin gut möchten. Aber, meine tag gut war, obwohl ich bin müde. Heute, Ich habe Holz Baumen gemacht. Es hat für meine theater gearbeitet. Dass habe abend war, in der morgen ich schule gehen. Klasse bei meine schule are manchmal Spaß, aber ist es nicht typisch. Ich habe englisch in der morgen gehabt, denn Amerikaner Politische, denn mathematik. Ich hoffe dir verstehen! Guten tag!

What I was trying to say in English- Hello! I’m an american learning german. I hope to go to a german university, and study all four years there. I would love a friend to speak german either! But I know that takes time (I couldn’t figure out how to say “To find someone” after that), so I would love your fast help. Please see my work and show (Didn’t know tell 😭) me what is not right!! Thank you very nicely:)


r/German 17h ago

Question Gefühl vs. Gespür

5 Upvotes

Kann man den unterschied zwischen den zwei Wörtern erklären? Ich glaube dass beide sich als "feeling" übersetzen lassen. Vag gesagt, ich habe es immer so verstanden, dass Gespür mehr abstrakt sein kann. Aber man sagt zum Beispiel "je nach Gefühl" Kann man Gefühl etwa in diesem Satz sagen: "He has a strong feeling for how geometry works" Kann Gefühl oder Gespür "sense" bedeuten, oder heißt das Sinn? "He has a strong sense of duty" (also da kann man einfach Pflichtgefühl sagen). Aber was is mit diesem Satz: he has a fine "sense" for beauty?


r/German 20h ago

Request Freaking out before my C1 exam.

10 Upvotes

My exam is in two days. I have been learning intensively for 3 months, around 300 hours in total. I have passed all of my Sprechen and Schreiben sections in my mock exams. Hören and Lesen are more variable (all of my results are between 12–18/30), so I don’t really know where I stand. I also haven’t done a proper mock exam in the last three weeks because I was getting too stressed out.

I’m borderline panicking and overall really stressed, which is now also affecting my speaking. Help.

----

Edit: I am literally getting a stomachache like a little kid because of all the stress hahaha


r/German 18h ago

Request Advice for B1 to B2 in 6 months

7 Upvotes

I am currently B1. I have decent comprehension, I can watch TV and film and basically understand 95% of what is said with only a few words here and there missing, and I can read Die Kollegin (a Krimi novel) and German newspapers and websites, and understand them without a dictionary. I can hold a conversation with some mistakes but on varied topics for like an hour long, and I can speak spontaneously with strangers (in Germany). But I definitely am making fundamental mistakes still and my written German is rough/skills degraded (it has been over a year since I last took a German course). I learned B2 concepts in a course but it was an intensive and while I can read/hear and understand, I can't confidently produce written/spoken B2 grammar right now.

I would like to do a semester abroad in Germany in the spring and I need to pass a B2 exam. Is it feasible to reach B2 in 6 months (by the end of February)? Can I refresh my prior knowledge and iron out the basic mistakes? I am concerned because my uni semester will eat up time/energy but I am serious about devoting a significant amount of my free time to German.

My plan is:

- To work through Happy German B2 (from Learn German with Anja) as a lot of it includes refresher grammar and there are fun videos

- To finish Grammatik Aktiv A1-B1 (halfway done) and then start Grammatik Aktiv B2-C1

- Mark all words in Goethe B1 Wortliste I have issues with and do flashcards on them

- Supplement with Erkundungen B2 (on December after my uni semester ends)

- Multiple conversations per week with German-speaking partner

- Writing paragraphs/pages on topics and having partner mark up mistakes

- Drastically increasing input, I've been watching way more hours of German TV/film and starting to read more books in German, and websites/articles

Thank you for reading and any feedback.


r/German 9h ago

Request YouTube channel recommendations

0 Upvotes

Hallo alle! I am looking for German-speaking YouTube channels that have to do with some of my interests--history, make-up/fashion, LGBTQ+ topics, and writing. Also, this is kind of specific, so I don't expect anyone to have a rec. for this, but I'll put it down just in case: pirates.


r/German 13h ago

Question hören and sehen + direct infinitive... open for play?

2 Upvotes

"sehen" and "hören" connect an infinitive directly if used for the sense of "perceiving" someone doing something.

- Ich sehe dich kommen.

- Ich höre dich singen.

I was trying to think of other verbs that use this structure but couldn't think of any.
Then I tried with "riechen" because why not

- Ich rieche dich verdauen.

Technically, it fits the structure but I'm REALLY undecided whether this sounds like a playful vairant or just wrong.

Does this work for you? And are there any other verbs where it legit works?


r/German 23h ago

Question Main Subject in a sentence and it's usage in next related sentences.

Thumbnail
de.wikipedia.org
10 Upvotes

I was reading the article of the day in German Wikipedia. The article is 'Der große Brand von London'. In the first paragraph the Brand is prefixed with the correct article Der and explained as 'eine Katastrophe'. In the immediate next sentence the possessive pronoun used is 'Sie'. Why is that? Shouldn't it be 'Er' as the main subject of previous sentence is 'Der Brand'.

Why 'Sie' takes preference over the masculine?

Attached is the article link from Wikipedia.


r/German 21h ago

Discussion telc results taking forever

4 Upvotes

So i took my B2 telc on July 10 at kapitel zwei Berlin. Have been plenty reassured when booking that 4-6 weeks is the waiting my time for results. I planned around that r except we’re already on WEEK 8 with no real update or prediction about when we‘ll get it. You just sit there refreshing a status page that says “in Arbeit” and hope. I emailed the exam center yesterday and literally was told to „drücken die motherficken Daumen“

I get it’s not the test center’s fault as they’re not doing the grading and I t’s all on telc itself once the papers get sent off. But telc is the one who put “4-6 weeks” on their own site and then just doesn’t hit it, with zero communication when they blow past it. If someone needs this for a visa or a job deadline that’s not some small inconvenience.

Anyone else dealing with this right now and ever gotten a real answer out of telc, or any kind of compensation, or is it just shrug and wait forever?


r/German 23h ago

Resource What are some good channels/shows/boadcast for a b1_b2 niveau?

3 Upvotes

r/German 18h ago

Question TELC B1 exam: What happens if I attend the exam, do the written exam but skip the oral exam?

1 Upvotes

I have the exam coming up soon, and I will need a miracle to pass the 'Mündliche Prüfung', but I feel somewhat confident about the 'Schriftliche Prüfung'. Since we are allowed to retake only the failed part of the exam, I was wondering what would happen if I attempt the written exam, and skip the oral exam altogether. Will I fail the whole thing because I am considered absent? or will I get 0 (Not Passed) in the speaking exam, but will get the grades for the written exam?

Does anyone here have experience or story about this?

The official TELC regulation mentions this:

telc examinations are generally taken with all their parts Test takers who have not passed a telc examination completely may (for certain examinations) retake a part of it at a later date In this case, a test taker can be given credit for the part already passed (see Appendix 1: Allocation of partial credit) Either the Oral Examination or the Written

Examination can be retaken within 12 months from the date of the results sheet from the first attempt Single subtests may not be retaken Credit is only given for those examination results which were achieved most recently If a test taker wishes to claim partial credit, the examination centre must be notified at the same time as when they register for the examination

telc Prüfungen sind grundsätzlich vollständig abzulegen Bei Nichtbestehen ist die Wiederholung einer Teilprüfung und Anrechnung eines bereits erbrachten Teilergebnisses jedoch für bestimmte Prüfungen möglich (siehe Anhang 1:

Anrechnung von Teilergebnissen) In diesem Fall kann die Mündliche Prüfung oder die Schriftliche Prüfung inner-halb von zwölf Monaten nach Ablegen der ersten Prüfung (Datum der Ausstellung des Ergebnisbogens) wiederholt werden Eine Wiederholung einzelner Subtests ist nicht gestattet Eine Anrechnung erfolgt immer auf das zuletzt erzielte Prüfungsergebnis Der Wunsch nach Anrechnung einer Teilprüfung muss dem Prüfungszentrum bei der Prüfungsanmeldung mitgeteilt werden

I am a bit confused about the 'generally' / 'grundsätzlich' word in there. Is it worth asking the examination center? or TELC directly?

It makes sense to attempt the entire examination, but it makes me anxious, and I fear it will get worse on the day, and I will be paralyzed and unable to form any meaningful sentences. The anxiety will probably affect the written examination as well.

I know the logical response is 'Well, why did you register for the examination that you are not confident of passing? or Why did you not prepare enough?'

Valid responses, but I am just trying to prepare mentally for what is about to come, and decide wehther or not to take the exam, or forfeit it and prepare for some other time.

Thank you for your help :)


r/German 20h ago

Question Telc C1HS: Urgent help needed

1 Upvotes

I've just received my result for Telc C1HS test at August.8th. Every other part performed pretty well, but I only got 4 score out of 48 for no reason.

So the result is like following:

Lesen 38/48

Sprachbausteine 12/22

Hören 37/48

Schreiben 4/48

At least I won't believe that I only got 4 score myself.I used to take C1HS exam before and the worst score for writing is just 16, and I am totally sure that this time I did it at least better than 16 score.

The situation is: I need the qualification certificate for C1HS for appliance to Unis in German. I've tried so hard to prepare and take the exam, but they first took a whole to deliver the result, and then gave me a nonsense 4 score that forced me be unable to pass the exam. When they sent me the result it's already too late to take another C1HS exam. In my perspective it's absolutely absurd and unfair.

So if anyone has idea or way to deal with this situation, like way to contact Telc personal directly, I'll be so grateful to hear about it.


r/German 1d ago

Question Ösd B2 exam

1 Upvotes

Is it realistic to dedicate 2-3 hours per day till January to take the exam ?


r/German 1d ago

Question What‘s one thing you everyday do and has big impact on your vocabulary?

25 Upvotes

r/German 2d ago

Question Why do I hear „Guck mal!“ but rarely „Sieh mal!“? 😅

82 Upvotes

I keep hearing „Guck mal!“, „Schau mal!“, „Hör mal!“, etc as a learner.

I understand that „mal“ here isn't literally “once”, but rather makes the expression sound more casual/less direct.

What I'm curious about is „Guck mal!“ vs. „Sieh mal!“.

Since gucken and sehen can both mean “to look/see”,

Is „Sieh mal!“ simply less common in everyday speech?

Does it sound old-fashioned, formal, or just different in meaning?


r/German 1d ago

Question Does Clefklaff sound weird to German ears? 😅

20 Upvotes

Hi [r/German](r/German)!

I’m developing a small app for learning to read sheet music that I will use on my piano students, and I’m considering the name Clefklaff.

There’s a bit of Norwegian wordplay behind it: clef is obviously musical, while in Norwegian “klaff” can mean that something works out or “clicks” — as in “now it finally clicks!” It also means valves/keys on wind instruments.

So to Norwegian ears, Clefklaff sounds playful, musical and slightly silly in a way I quite like.

But then I started doing a little research in other languages if the word "klaff" could have unforseen meanings, and I found that the word klaff could be a euphemism in German. (I have two piano students whose parents are German. I don't dare asking them)😬 And, as often happens when naming things, I have now spent far too much time falling down an etymological rabbit hole.😄

So my question is:

If you saw an app called “Clefklaff”, without any explanation, what would your immediate reaction be?

Does it sound:

  • perfectly harmless?
  • funny or strange?
  • like some existing German word?
  • give you associations in the direction of the world of the undergarments
  • or just like a Scandinavian app name?

Please don’t spare my feelings! I’d much rather discover now that I’ve accidentally named my music app something ridiculous than after showing it to my students. 😂

Native-speaker gut reactions are very welcome. Thanks!

(Honda was saved by the bell when introducing a new car model in the beginning of the 2000th: the Honda Fitta, quickly changing the name to Honda Jazz after some name research in Scandinavia. Google Fitta at your own risk! NSFW!)

————-

Thank you all for your answers! I get the gist that it is not associated with an innuendo, but small dogs barking and deep and bleeding wounds. Think I will go a round or two with the naming before a decide on something😊


r/German 1d ago

Question german START

3 Upvotes

i learn today verb sein and haben and personal pronommen und der konjugation verben [tdmn] [zxsß] und numbers und some 111 worten

i dont know how to do sprechen und schreiben und hören but thats my day i will try to describ that with deutsch

heute lerne ich viele lektionen es gebt pernoal pronemmen und konjugation der verben


r/German 1d ago

Question How would a German first language speaker translate this to English?

15 Upvotes

Hi there, - I have a C1 in German comprehension skills, still, I'm in a debate with a German about how this would be translated into English. Google translate aside, how would other actual German first language speakers express this in English?

Tomas scheint es ja verstanden zu haben und wird sich (falls für ihn nötig) mit dem Lehrer besprechen.

*EDIT: Thank you SO much for your thoughts! I'll try to respond to each, but since the context was a topic will add some:

This sentence was written in an extremely formal setting by a highly academically trained Muttersprachlerin.

They are located around Mannheim, but I don't know where they grew up.

A message was communicated to Tomas by the speaker about some choices he had. This is the speaker relaying to me what Tomas said to them.