Reference · module 35
Set phrases
Everything this module explains, on one page.
Phrases that come up daily
Use the phrases Germans say without thinking.
- Das kommt darauf an — it depends. Das macht nichts — it does not matter. Das ist mir egal — I do not mind. Three phrases and half of small talk works.
- They are frozen. Das kommt darauf an keeps its darauf even when what it depends on is named: Es kommt darauf an, ob du Zeit hast.
- Auf jeden Fall means definitely, auf keinen Fall means definitely not. The pair is one of the most useful things at this level.
The mistake you are about to make
Es kommt an, ob du Zeit hast.
Es kommt darauf an, ob du Zeit hast.
Once you have said what it depends on, darauf looks redundant. The phrase is frozen: darauf stays, even with a whole clause following it.
Idioms with pictures in them
Understand what a German means by pressing thumbs.
- Ich drücke dir die Daumen — I am pressing my thumbs for you — is what a German says instead of fingers crossed.
- Da ist der Wurm drin means something is wrong with it. Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof means I understand nothing at all.
- Understand these before using them. An idiom said slightly wrong is more noticeable than a grammar mistake, and it is harder to laugh off.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich drücke die Daumen für dich.
Ich drücke dir die Daumen.
"For you" walks straight into für. In this phrase the person is a dative pronoun sitting inside it: ich drücke dir die Daumen.
Choosing your register
Say the same thing to a friend and to an official.
- Spoken German shortens everything: ich hab, ich geh, 'ne Frage, so 'n Ding. In writing all of these are restored in full.
- The middle register — an email to a colleague — keeps the full forms but allows contractions like zum, zur, ins and a particle or two.
- Reading which register you are in is the last skill of B2, and it matters more than any remaining grammar. Getting it wrong is what sounds foreign.
The mistake you are about to make
Ich hab 'ne Frage. (in writing)
Ich habe eine Frage.
The spoken shortening sounds like a word in its own right, so it gets written down as well. In writing everything goes back to full: ich habe eine Frage.
Buying time while you speak
Keep talking while you look for the word.
- also, na ja, ich meine, wie soll ich sagen. These fill a pause without an um, and every fluent speaker uses them constantly.
- If the word will not come, talk around it: Wie heißt das noch mal? or Das Ding, mit dem man … The relative clause from B1 is the tool here.
- Asking is not a failure: Wie sagt man das auf Deutsch? gets you the word and shows you are listening. Silence gets you neither.
The mistake you are about to make
Wie sagt man das in Deutsch?
Wie sagt man das auf Deutsch?
"In German" puts in first. The language takes auf: auf Deutsch, auf Englisch. Worth having ready, because it is the sentence that gets you unstuck.