<o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="country-region"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="place"></o:smarttagtype><o:smarttagtype namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="State"></o:smarttagtype>
Titel des Buches
1. Typical German Mistakes in Grammar and vocabulary
2. Pitfalls or stumbling stones of English Language
3. Horror Mistakes in Grammar and vocabulary
1. Stolpersteine der Englischen Sprache - Grammatik, Wortschatz und Kultur
Im Vergleich zum Deutschen
Einleitung
Die Beziehung zum Englischen ist widersprüchlich. Einerseits wird sie als eine leichte Sprache frei von lästigem Genus, Kasusendungen, wie es der Fall ist im Deutschen oder Französischen eingestuft. Eine Sprache die eine einfache Satzstruktur hat und das Verb direkt nach dem Substantiv hergibt. Die Enttäuschung ist umso großer wenn die Sprache nach und nach komplizierter wird und plötzlich als Versagerfach Nummer eins betitelt wird. Von der anfänglichen Begeisterung bleibt leider dann nicht viel übrig. Das hat vor allem zwei wichtige Gründe:
1. Die deutsche Sprache ist der Ursprung des Englischen so zu sagen sie ist die leibliche Mutter. Das macht die Deutschen die zwar Aufgabe leichter da vieles dem Deutschen ähnlich ist oder scheint. insbesondere die Vokabeln des Alltagsleben wie: bread, butter, drink, eat, house, milk, moon, sun, water
2. Auf der anderen Seite kann die deutsche Sprache ehe zu Problemen und Verwechselung führen als helfen wie zum Beispiel im Falle der Falschen Freunde. Ein Glass Marmalade ist nicht a glass of marmalade sondern: a jar of jam. Flugpreise sind nicht flight prices sondern: air fare Außerdem die Entwicklung des Englischen und die Kolonialherrschaft Großbritannien und nicht zuletzt als Sprache der größte Macht (Superpower Amerika) und andere wichtige Lände wie Australien, Kanada zusätzlich zu Länder wo Englisch mindestens die zweite Geige spielt wie Indien. Hinzu kommt Englisch als lingua franca und Sprache von fast allem macht sie auf der Vokabelebene kompliziert und umfangreich, machte die Sprache Trickreich differenziert in ihre Grammatik besonders bei Zeiten und Präpositionen.
3. Wörtliche Übersetzung aus dem Deutschen anstelle den Sinn zu übertragen
Was sind denn die typischen Englisch Fehler die die Deutschen so häufig machen und davor panische Angst haben? Es gibt sicherlich einige Fehler die häufiger auftreten und weiterverbreitet sind als andere die so genannten classics. In diesem Buch werden viele Punkte behandelt die ein Problem für die deutschen Lerner darstellen. Die typischen Fehler können in Wortschatz, Grammatik, Kultur oder typisch Deutsch sein die so genannten Germanismen sein. Im Wortschatz sind die Schwierigkeiten oft:
In der Verwendung der Vokabeln im Kontext
Die Aussprache/Betonung
Die richtige Bedeutung auszusuchen.
Schließlich folgt ein Kapitel über einige Hilfestellungen und Tricks die die Aufgabe erleichtern sollen. Dieses Buch basiert auf mehr als 15 Jahre in der Erwachsenenbildung. Das Thema Stolpersteine der Englischen Sprache Unterrichtserfahrung für die Deutschen hat seit dem nicht losgelassen. Das hat mich auch dadurch motiviert dass die Kurse immer voll belegt waren und wir dann mehrere Fortsetzungskurse einplanen müssen
Classics: Top Ten Typical Mistakes
Wortschatz
1. Machen
Das deutsche Wort “machen” ist mindestens in der Umgangssprache ein allround verb. Ein Blick in einem deutschen Wörterbuch liefert eine große Zahl der Einträge. English uses different verbs for this popular German verb. For example: all these things are "machbar": make-able in German:
"Erfahrung machen" have experience
Urlaub machen go on holiday
Geschäfte machen do business
Examen machen take/do exams
Spass machen it is fun
on the other hand:
Make friends Freundschaften schließen
I can't make it ich schaffe es nicht
The question is why are the German are so fond of "machen". We use "make" in English to mean produce sth new (of course there are exceptions), we use do for carrying out sth.
But what about presentations? Do you make or do presentations? Both are correct. Howeve, "make" presentations refers to the design and production whereas "do" to it as a job to carry out.
Again why do the Germans so often use "machen"? Is it because they are a nation of engineers and like making things? Does it mean if you know the verb "machen" you already speak German. Of course not but it helps.
2. Bekommen
Bekommen bedeutet have, get)
Become bedeutet werden
Customer: Waiter when do I become a beefsteak. (wann werde ich ein Beefsteak)
Waiter: I hope never sir
3. Besuchen
Durch Schulenglisch wurde das Englische Wort visit anscheinend zum Mädchen für alles erklärt und sind natürlich Fehler dadurch vorprogrammiert. Das Englisch Wort visit ist ehe ein „Terminbesuch“ wie zum Beispiel jemandem im Krankenhaus besuchen:
We are visiting her in the hospital.
Freunde besuchen: go/come and see:
Besuch <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">mich</st1:place></st1:state> mal come and see me one day
Unterricht besuchen (teilnehmen): go / attend lessons / classes:
Ich besuche ein Abendkurs heute abend: I am going to /attending my lessons /classes this evening.
Darüber hinaus gibt es ie im Deutschen andere Wörter im Englischen die Verschiedene Nuancen ausdrucken:
Häufig besuchen (eine Kneipe besuchen) frequent a pub
Jemandem Kurz besuchen call (in) on, drop in on somebody
Artzt besuchen see a doctor
4. Sportlich
5. Handy
6. Mobbing
7. Seriös
8. Woman /man instead of housewife oder house husband.
Grammatik
1. S dritte person singular Gegenwart wird häufig vergessen
2. Die Zeiten (the tenses)
Present perfect vs. present simple
Past simple
Ich arebeite hier seit zehn Jahren
I have worked (have been working) here for ten years
Nicht I work here…
I wrote a letter yesterday
Nicht I have written a letter yesterday
Present simple vs. present continuous
3. Must not
Must bedeutet muss
Must not aber bedeutet nicht muss nicht sondern darf nicht
You must come to work at 8 O’clock Du muss um 8 Uhr zu Arebit kommen.
You must not come to work at 8 O’clock Du darf nicht um 8 Uhr zu Arbeit kommen.
You needn’t/don’t have to/don’t need to come to work at 8 O’clock.
Du brauchst/muss nicht um 8 Uhr zu Arbeit zu kommen.
Kultur
I. Was ist Englisch
Vereinfacht ausgedruckt Englisch ist:
Germanisch + Romanisch = Englisch
Etwas über die Geschichte eine Sprache zu wissen macht das Lernen der betroffene leichter. Englisch ist eine germanische Sprache deshalb steht sie dem Deutschen sehr nah. Die Sprache wurde jedoch insbesondere nach der normannschen Eroberung stark mit dem Französischen vermisch und verlor zum Teil ihren germanischen Charakter. Englisch wandelte sich zu einer Sprache der Doppelbedeutungen, Doppelbelegungen. Für ein Phänomen existieren oft germanische und romanische Wörter nebeneinander. Häufig entspricht ein deutsches Wort mindestens zwei oder drei Wörtern im Englischen. Die Germanen waren meistens Bauer und Franzosen reiche Adlige. Man hat sich sogar teilweise geschämt auf English zu schreiben. Zum Beispiel wagte der berühmte englisch Dichter Chaucer auf Englisch zu schreiben während andere mussten sich zuerst entschuldigen und ihres Vorhaben rechtfertigen: damit Er alle verstehen.
Germanisch Romanisch
Einfache Althagswörter Anspruchvolle Kulturwörter
Arme Bauer Reiche Aristokraten
Namen der Tiere und Fleisch cow (Kuh) beef (Rindfleisch)
calf (Kalb) veal (Kalbfleisch)
Berufe baker butcher
Miller barber
Smith carpenter
Verwandtschaft mother/father aunt/uncle
Daughter/son niece/nephew
Sister/broither cousin/family
Steigerung der Adjektive smaller smallest more/most beautiful
Zahl der Silben oft einsilbig/ phrasal Oft mehrsilbig
go, eat, comfortable
Doubles go in enter
Give up abandon
Give in surrender
Frequenz (Häufigkeit) Hoch niedrig
Gesprochen Sprache Geschriebene Sprache
go enter
get to arrive
give up abandon
Regionale Unterschiede Britisch Amerikanisch
lift elevator
Deustch fern Deutsch nah
ausfullen Fill in fill out
Autumn fall
Verlust der germanischen Endungen
1. Außer bei Verben III Person Sgl.
Comes, goes
2. Verlust der Kasusendungen siehe Wortstellung
The History of English
English due to its history is a language of doubles (Germanic (have) vs. Romance (possess). Most phrasal verbs are Germanic. Words of Germanic origin are short (mono-syllabic) whereas words of Romance origin are usually multi-syllabic: beautiful, comfortable....Words of Germanic origin have a higher frequency than those coming from French. Those of Germanic origin refer to the basic daily life needs: sun, bread, water. All of them are similar to the present day German words whereas words of French origin are cultural. They have to do with education and being well off. The following list shows clearly this duality of the rich and the poor, of farmers and aristocrats, of educated and uneducated:
II. Wortschatz
Eine Sprache lernen geschieht oft in drei Ebenen nämlich:
Wortebene (word level)
Satzebene
Textebene
Es ist nicht immer leicht sich auf der Wortebene oder Satzebene klar auszudrucken. Ein Satz wie: it is raing ist aus dem dem Kontext herausgeriisen demnach kann es bedeuten:
Wie schrecklich es regnet wieder
Geh nicht raus es regnet
Nimm ein Regenschirm mit
Wortebene Oft glaubt man wenn man ein neues Wort lernt dass die Bedeutung und Aussprache alles ist was man braucht. Insbesondere beim Englischen muss man auf mehr achten. Häufig kauft man sich ein Wörterbuch ohne sie zuerst auf folgende Kriterien zu untersuchen
Collocations Wortpaare (word partnerships)
Problem sie sind schwierig weil keine grammatikalische Hilfe für sie gibt. Sie sind zum auswendig lernen. Auskunft gibt Wörterbücher, Englisch Texte. Das Ziel ist das Bewusstsein erhohen und die Beobachten schärfen welche Wörter gehen eine Ehe bzw. Partnerschaft ein auf Dauer . Es gibt keine Scheidung ähnlich wie eine katolische Ehe
Vorteil sie können vorher gesagt werden
Collocations & Word Partnerships
Definition
In general, collocation is placing words together in a determined order. Collocations are thus the relationship between two words or groups of words that often go together and form a partnership. Two or more words become glued together implying a proper order which make it easy for speakers of L1 to predict what comes next once they have heard the first one. Collocations are learnt through large amounts of reading input. It involves the choice of the right words in the right order. Personally I term "collocations" or "word partnerships" a Catholic wedding because there is no divorce. We don't have any rules as to why certain words go together or behave that way. There are even no explanations either. As in real life we need to find the right partner otherwise life is hell. I hope linguistics will provide some help one day as they are sometimes annoying because they are unpredictable for a lot of learners of English. On the other hand collocations are like making predictions i.e. projecting forward to what we are about to read or to say. This contrasts with memory when our mind refers back to what we have already read or said. May be that's why collocations exist. It has to do with memory and predictions i.e. past and future. On the Internet, this term (often spelt "co-location") is used to mean the provision of space for a customer's telecommunications equipment on the service provider's premises.
Types of collocations and labelling
Partnerships or collocations are of different types. Sometimes other names are given for grammatical reasons: idioms, compound adjectives: Off-peak, compound nouns (noun + noun: sunglasses, baby-sitter (verb + preposition): turnover, cutback), Phrasal verbs: give up. There are also other partnerships which people label binomials: rough and ready, sooner or later, odds and ends, by and large, done and dusted. There are sometimes even trinomials. Collocation data shows that the mutual information score for the words “heavy” and “smoker”' is much higher than the score “strong” and “smoker”.
This type of labelling is unfortunately not very useful. Such words no matter what parts of speech they are ought to be labelled "word partnerships" or "collocations". As the word collocation is nothing but made up of two parts: "co" meaning "with" and "location" i.e. occur in the same place. But grammar and vocabulary labelling as with other phenomena in life are often confusing or even misleading.
Collocation clash
There is a collocation clash when words are placed together which should not occur together, according to the rules or usage of a particular language. Languages have their own systems and concepts and collocations are part of that individual system. A collocation clash occurs when there is some semantic or pragmatic incompatibility between the words. Consequently it is important to raise awareness of finding the right partner and that a right partner in one language doesn't necessarily mean it can be applied to another even if they are genetically related. Translators too need to be aware of these linguistic partnerships and clashes.
The following are typically collocation clashes in English but could be the right partners in other languages:
She is making holiday (going on holiday, spending holiday).
She is getting a baby (having a baby).
Collocation clashes sometimes occur in English Bible versions:
ISV Luke 21.15 "for I will give you speech and wisdom": It is appropriate in English to collocate "give" and "wisdom". But in English the verb "give" does not collocate with the noun object "speech". To properly express the meaning of "give speech", a translator needs to find a synonym for "speech", which will collocate properly, according to English grammar ("give" and "words", a synonym for "speech", collocate for some speakers of English, and this happens to be the collocation used in the NIV, TEV, GW, and NRSV).
Lexical approach
Almost all good dictionaries give collocations. There are also dictionaries of collocations. The Lexical Approach focuses on lexis and therefore collocation rather than the more traditional grammar first. Learning collocations leads to an increase in written and spoken fluency.
Confusing words Leicht verwechselbare Wörter
Adjective /adverb
Fast /fast
Hard/hard
Adjective /adjective
Economic/economical
Historic/historical
Homographs
Homophones
Currency Geläufigkeit/Verbreitung
Etymology Herkunft/Ursprung der Wörter
Evaulation Bewertung
Approving slender, petit, lean
Derogatory skulk
Euphemistic (PC): pass away
Figurative
Jocular
Offensive
Sexist
False Friends Falsche Freunde
Gründe ihrer Existenz
Form Veränderungen (changes) bei Verben und Mehrzahl
Frequency Häufigkeit
Intensity/degree Grad/Intensität
Siehe Grad der Wahrscheinlichkeit, Häufigkeit oder Stärke. Die Wörter können auf ein Kontinuum positioniert werden wie bei Adverbien der Häufigkeit in abnehmender oder zunehmende Reihenfole:
100% always---------- O% never
Meaning Bedeutung
The problem with meaning
Wortwortliche Bedeutung Literal
Übertragene Bedeutung Metaphorical (figurative meaning)
Pronunciation/stress
Ed: [t]
S bee/snake sound
Region BE / AmE/AE
Register formal
informal
Specificity General
Specific
Einige Wörter wie happy,sad, good, bad sind neutral, dh zeigen nicht genau der Grad der Gefühle und werden viel benutzt (overused) daher lassen sie einen Text langweilig erschein. Außerdem der Gebrauch solche Wörter viel zu viel zeigt dass der/die Sprecher/in nicht über viele Vokabeln verfügt um sich differenziert auszudrucken.
Spelling Typische Fehler in der Rechtschreibung sind:
Pronounciation anstelle von pronunciation da das Verb pronounce ein o enthält
Technical
III. Grammatik
Adjektive
Das Wort Adjektiv bedarf eine Erklärung. Es gibt zwei Arten von Adjektivischen Gebrauch:
Attributiv: Bezug auf auf ein Substantive: a beautiful house
Predikativ: wird kommt nach sogennanten link(ing) Verben
Sick vs. ill
Adjective attributiv predikativ
Ill ill person (schlecht, böse) the man is ill (krank)
Sick a sick person (krank) I am sick (krank, übel)
Mir ist übel
A three-star hotel / a three-year old girl
Alphabet
Die typischen Probleme mit dem Alphabet und Lautsystem können wie folgt zusammenfassen:
Buchstaben
Einige Buchstabennamen werden falsch ausgesprochen
E und I
X [eks] nicht wie Deutschen [iks]
Spelling
A wie Anton: A as in (for) Anton und nicht like Anton
Präpositionen
To
To or not To To
There is something special or odd about "to".
1. This little magic word of two letters is different from all other prepositions because it can be either part of the infinitive or a preposition to take the gerund:
I used to smoke.
I am used to smoking
"To" used with the infinitive is a prospective view i.e. looks forward in time.
I want (1) to go (2) home.
"To" used with the gerund is a retrospective view i.e. looking back
Do you object (2) to people smoking (1) at the table?
With "stop"
Then I stopped (1) to smoke (2) a cigarette.
I stopped (2) smoking (1).
Some other verbs like: remember, forget, regret, try, go on (Mary stopped talking about her holiday and went on to tell us about her plans for the next week) behave in the same way. Some people say there is no difference in meaning between:
I started to work.
I started working.
2. Since "To infinitive" is prospective it is theory (no experience). By contrast gerund being retrospective is habitual, factual and implies experience:
To look after children is difficult.
Looking after children is difficult.
3. Drop or do not drop "to" depends upon the number of objects and the sequence of direct and indirect object that follows:
Write sth to sb (with to)
Write sb sth (no to)
4. I am looking forward to seeing you.
There is some contradiction here. Although "look forward to" is anticipative in its meaning it doesn’t take the infinitive because how can you look forward to sth without prior existence of that sth. Similarly you can’t enjoy sth which doesn’t exist before. The trouble is that because the metaphor of spatial orientation and journey (originally Germanic: German saying: da wo Platz ist) is so powerful in English, we can't fail to look at this verb and think of future.
What about "like"?:
I like to drink Italian coffee.
I like drinking Italian coffee.
Things become more confused when "like" is used in the negative:
I don’t like to go to the dentist. (I don’t go)
I don’t like going to the dentist (I go although I don’t like)
The question is why “to” behaves so oddly. It can contrast with the gerund or the present participle. Can "to" be classified as a preposition and part of the infinitive as in some grammar books? Is it because it has the highest frequency (of Germanic origin) which makes the bare or split infinitive possible or drop it as in informal communication? Is it being degraded under US influence? Why do we keep it in: “I said to him. I spoke to her” but drop it in “I told him. I rang her.” There are more words which pair with "to" than with other prepositions. Could this odd behaviour lie in its meaning of reference which can be forward (prospective anticipative = infinitive: implying theory) or backward (retrospective/factual/habitual = gerund: implying experience).
Verben
Regelmäßig (regular) vs. Unregelmäßig (irregular1)
Grundform Verg. PP ing-Form Bedeutung
lie lied lied lying lügen
Lie lay lain lying liegen
Lay laid laid laying legen
Hang hanged hanged aufhängen (toten)
hung hung aufhängen (Wand)
Bear bore born geboren
borne getragen
Statisch: Zustandsverben vs. Dynamisch: Vorgangsverben
(stative verbs) (dynamic verbs)
Simple tense Simple tense
continuous tense
1. Ausschließlich Statische Verben: know, understand, own
Statisch und dynamisch je nach Bedeutung:
Think: glauben (statisch) und think: nachdenken (dynamisch)
Have: besitzen (statisch) und have essen/trinken (dynamisch)
Nur dynamische Verben: die Mehrheit der Englischen Verben sind Vorgangesverben: work, live, sit
Die Mehrzahl der Verben sind Dynamisch. Das bedeutet sie kommen in allen Einfachenformen (simple tenses) sowie in allen Verlaufsformen (present continuous). Eine kleine Gruppe von Verben sind entweder
1. Ausschließlich statisch d.h. nur die Einfachezeitform (simple tense) möglich ist oder
2. haben sie zusätzlich eine dynmaische Bedeutung
3. Einige sind nur sehr begrenzt dynmaisch (nur in eine enge Bedeutung die meistens von kurze Dauer ist
Link(ing) vs. Action
Adjective Adverb
Reflexive (Deutsch) vs. Not reflexive (Englisch)
Haben und Sein
To Be or not to Be
The most important verb no doubt is To BE. It occupies a central position among the verbs. It involves identity, expresses something about a person, thing, a state (gives: age, condition, date, position, price, size, time, weight) or refers to temporary and permanent states. It is taken for granted and left out (Arabic and Russian) in abbreviated styles. This is perhaps the reason why it is so short and its conjugation is so odd and most irregular. After all its meaning denotes existence which is basic in human life. It expresses questions and answers about existence: there is/are; is there? Compare the popular line in Shakespeare's Hamlet "To be or not to be". However it can have a variety of meanings: two plus two is (equals) four.
Regular verbs, also called weak verbs, stick to a pattern. Irregular verbs i.e. strong verbs live up to their name and follow different patterns and might be a pitfall even for writers. Verb "to be" is indeed an exception. It has neither the regularity of regular verbs nor is subject to one of the patterns of conjugation as with irregular verbs. In addition, it has a very high frequency. It can be a main verb: I am happy or can help to form a compound tense as an auxiliary as with continuous forms: She is writing. Like other helping verbs it helps to make questions or question tags: are you interested? Furthermore, although "to be" is mostly used in a stative sense it can be used dynamically: He is being nasty to her. It is a linking verb (copular verb) as well because it takes an adjective and not an adverb: She is tidy. Verb "to be" helps to form the passive voice: The window was broken.
"Be" combined with other words makes phrases and idiomatic expressions. Most idioms with "be" contain nouns and adjectives. With "used to" it can even change the meaning and the infinitive to gerund compare: I used to smoke - with - I am used to smoking. It can join "able" to make up for the deficiency of "can": I will be able to do it. "Be to" conveys a plan, gives orders, it can be an obligation or refers to destiny: Students are to be here by 8 O'clock. "Be" used as a prefix (although a bit old) in certain words has the meaning to make or treat sb/sth i.e. make intransitive verbs (without object) transitive (with object: belittle, befriend, bemoan your lot - or used in past participles: bespectacled, bejewelled. Perhaps a variety of words which start with "be" now lexicalized, were coined with the help of "to be". "Be" is often used with "it" as an impersonal object: it was very noisy there. Just consult any good dictionary to find out how versatile and crucial this verb is.
In translations verb "to be" can be rendered by "to have" depending upon the language translated into:
English "be" German "have"
It's my birthday today Ich habe heute Geburtstag
You are right Du hast Recht
What's the date today? Den wievielten haben wir heute?
What's wrong with you? Was hast Du?
You are lucky Du hast Gluck
"To BE" as a Shortcut
In spite of the importance of "verb to be" it can be substituted by other verbs: I am Tom - my parents named me Tom. This made followers of E Prime (English Prime: based on General Semantics) plead for abolishing or eliminating it altogether and calling for semantic hygiene. They claim that the ideas of identity and predication (attributes) associated with "to be" are misleading, vague, objective, absolute, abbreviated and therefore controversial because like present simple verbs they imply no time, space but absolute truth:
"John is sad" can imply John is always sad, John was always sad. John will be sad and he can do nothing about it. They suggest replacing or translating such "be sentences" into E Prime: John appears to be sad here today. Other examples:
Standard English English Prime
I am an engineer I have a degree in engineering:
That is a sexist film That seemed like a sexist film to me.
This vagueness they claim is detrimental to our way of thinking and perception basing their ideas on linguistic determinism (Sapir-Whorf-Korzybski Hypothesis). However, this type of thinking seems to ignore pragmatics. If I say "I am sad" people usually know what's meant by it depending upon its context i.e. the situation in which it was said. Ambiguity can only arise when a statement is removed from its social, spatial and temporal background. In addition, not all "be sentences" are ambiguous: This is female/male - is crystal clear. "To be" 's power and beauty lie its brevity and in the fact it is a shortcut which avoids long and boring sentences suggested by E Prime followers. Precise language is after all boring, direct and mathematical. Just imagine no more: playing on words, poetry, saying something but meaning something else. Ambiguity in language is its beauty and power.
Transitive vs. Intransitive
tell / say
Infinitive vs. Gerund
Die Infinitivform ist prospektive (schaut nach vorne) währen das Gerundium retrospektiv (zurückblickend) ist. Alles was zurückblickt blickt auf Erfahrung zurück. Damit hat das Gerundium eine „factual, habitual“ Bedeutung.
stop
He stopped (2) smoking (1) cigarettes. Stop: anhalten
He stopped (1) to smoke (2) a cigarette. Stop: aufhören
Remember
Remember (1) to post (2) the letter. Remember in the present.
I remember (2) posting (1) the letter yesterday. Remember in the past.
Regret
We regret to
Forget
Go on
Like /dislike/ don’t like
The Chameleon Character of “Like”
Like is a very important word in English with a high frequency not because of its meaning (enjoy, want) alone which is central but because it is like a chameleon. It can change its colour or function depending on its usage or context. It can be a verb, a noun, a preposition, an adverb, a conjunction, and an adjective. Thus “like” can express affinity, affection or another similar concept. For example, 'I like cats'. The comparison category includes simile, as taught in English. “Like” is often used informally in AmE. Anyone who has watched American television, or who has listened to American teenagers speak, has probably heard this word repeated many times. Although the word “like” has taken on more meanings than some other words of high frequency and its usage might defy definition I will try the following:
As a verb "like" has no dynamic sense (non-progressive verb). It can only be used in the simple tenses. But like can take the infinitive or the gerund with a difference in meaning: I like to drink coffee (infinitive: choices). I like drinking coffee (gerund: enjoyment). AmE tends to use the infinitive where BE uses the gerund: I Like cycling (BE). I like to cycle /AmE). When put into negative like can be confusing:
I don’t like to go to the dentist. I don’t go
I don’t like going to the dentist. I go although I don’t like.
As a preposition
Like is used for comparisons and to confer certain properties onto an object. For example, 'That painting is like this one' and 'It's just like driving'.
1. It means similar to something else: his hair is black like mine.He eats like a pig. Here like differs from as: He works like a slave.He works as a slave (he is a slave).Like Mary, I don’t smoke.
2. Things like glass (giving examples)
3. Typical: It’s just like him
As a noun:
Likes and dislikes
And the likes
Likeness: I don’t think she bear a likeness to her mother.
As a conjunction (spoken) or an adverb (spoken):
The water was like, really cold
As an 'um' or 'er' word: 'It was, like, really cool', or 'How can I forget him? I'm, like, his brother’.“ Like” expresses a thought or feeling while relating a situation to others. This is expressed in either the present or past tense: 'and I was like: "Get away from me you guys!"'. To express something which the speaker feels that the listener ought to know telepathically: 'It was, like, y'know?’
Like I said (as I said). He looked at me like I was a thief (as if).He looked like he was about to leave.
As an adjective (formal):
Be of like size (same)
Likeable (nice, personable)
Not used as an adjective but to partially confer the qualities of a, possibly strong, adjective onto the subject: “He was, like, stupid”.
She responded in like manner (attribute)
A chance to meet people of like thinking
As a suffix:
Childlike, ladylike, cotton-like
Other words and phrases
I would like to: I would like to go (infinitive).
Feel like: I feel like drinking (drinking) coffee (gerund)
Likeable should not be confused with sympathetic
What…like: what’s your boss like?
Develop (take) a liking for (to) something: The music was too noisy for my liking.
Be like two peas in a pod (a proverb).
Other specific ways of saying like
Love (like very much)
Adore (like and admire)
Enjoy (like doing)
Be keen on (like strongly)
Be fond of (like with emotion)
Prefer (like something/someone more than another)
Be crazy/mad about (like so much..)
Have a weakness for (particularly like)
Have a soft spot for somebody (particularly like even if he7she doesn’t deserve it)
The following words are different
Likelihood
Likely
As demonstrated above, the usage of the word 'like' is highly confusing, and its comprehension depends largely on an understanding of context, age group and one's psychic ability. Mostly, the confusion arises from the incredibly fuzzy way in which the word is used. “Like” can go to extremes. It can be either very formal or very informal. Its informal usage especially with teenagers has come about because they are said to be afraid of expressing any thought concretely, and that adding a fuzzy word such as “like” softens this just as: “kind of”. This is considered a bad habit.
Infinitive vs. Present Participle
Zahl
Zählbarkeit zählbar (countable) Unzählbar (uncountable)
Fortschrit(te) progress
Information(en) information
Nachricht(en) news
Ratschlag/Ratschläge advice
Mehrzahlbildung
Es einige geläufige und wenig geläufige Modelle
(e)s
car cars
Tomato tomatoes
En
Man men
Woman women
Child children
oo - ee
foot feet
goose geese
keine Veränderung
Hundert /Tausend
1. Der unbestimmte Artikel a oder die Zahl one darf hier nicht fehlen
Ich habe Hundert Bücher I have a (one) hundred books.
2. Die Mehrzahlzeichen s darf hier nicht fehlen
Tausend Euro Thousand Euros
Milliard Das Wort billion ist Milliard
Mengenangaben (Quantities)
Die Mengenangaben warden immer mit Hilfe von drei Wörtern ausgedruckt:
(1a/an) (2)die Menge (3) of in verbindung mit dem nicht zählbares Wort:
A lof apples, a jar of jam
Einige Wörter sind etweder:
1. Nicht zählbar wie information, advice
A piece of information/advice
A bar of chocolate
A cup of coffee
A word of German
2. Sind immer in Mehrzahl und brauchen eine Mengeangabe um sie zu definieren: trousers, glasses
A pair of trousers/glasses
Number confusion
The existence of number reflects human need to count. Counting has never gone beyond certain boundaries depending upon human needs. People with the exception of a few have always complained about number crunching. On the other hand, business people are said to be highly number literate. Agreement in English grammar has also been a pitfall for mistakes and confusion. In some cultures for example there is no need to count beyond three or four. The existence of words like: <some, a few, several, a couple of, a lot of"> show this tendency even in English. In addition, when counting, <one> is taken as singular but anything starting from <two> is plural. Strangely, there is no difference between two and a hundred because both are plural no matter the big difference in number. In some languages there are different kinds of plurals. There is a plural form referring to a small group and another one to a bigger group. Sometimes plural begins from three i.e. after dual which is two as in: the two of you or both of you. This might explain why we easily get confused when we count beyond a million. For example the word <billion> in English is not the same <billion> in other European languages. It means one thousand million for which the Germans for example have the word <Milliard>. Number together with mathematical operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division grew in importance when business developed and became part of everyday life.
This confusion is still persistent for example in: the family is (are) here depending upon your way of seeing the family. If you take the family as a group consisting of members i.e. you know them (personally) use it with a plural verb: the family have arrived. My trousers are old (although one pair); <a few friends> is more than <few friends>; <a little of > coffee is more than <little> coffee. The word number is in itself confusing. <A number of> is used with a plural verb or countable noun such as: a (large) number of people have attended the party whereas <the number of> is used with a singular verb: the number of deserters is growing. But if you make the word <number> plural it takes then a plural verb: the numbers of emigrants are rising. The police are here (in other languages the police is here). Words like <information, progress, weather and advice> cannot be counted in English whereas in other language they are counted a source of typical mistakes. If you want to count <information> you need a quantity like: a piece or a bit of or some information because <information> is like water or coffee needs to be in quantities. The <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region> is one country so it takes a singular verb: the <st1:country-region w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region>, the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Netherlands</st1:place></st1:country-region> is (not are) although the two words are in plural. Mathematics is (not are), the news is (not are) but my glasses are broken. In addition the word <glasses> is ambiguous. It can refer to glasses used by people who are short-sighted or as the plural of glass
The French seem to have some problems with numbers shown in their complicated and long way of saying for example "ninety" "quatre vingt-dix" literally "four twenties and ten". In English all of a sudden we have eleven and twelve but the teens start from thirteen whereas from twenty on the system remains the stable. The orthography is even more complicated. In the word <four> there is a /u/ but not in <forty>. The word <fifty> is written differently from <five>. There are many words in English for zero depending upon usage: o (h) BE for phone number or bank account number, zero for temperature, nought for mathematics, nil in football and love in tennis. The word love is said to come from French. The French word for the egg is l’oef. This word sound to the English ears like love and because it looks like an o (h) it is used in tennis. The word null is used in expressions like null and void.
Some words can be countable and uncountable at the same time: For example business: we do business. (Uncountable). These businesses (industries) are important (countable). Protein behaves in the same way 1) there aren't many proteins vs. 2) There isn't much protein 1) means that there aren't many different kinds of proteins. Let's say only protein A and B, but you can have a ton of each. 2) Means that the total amount of protein (regardless of variety) is low, i.e. you can have proteins A through Z but the total amount is little. What about 1 spoonful or 2 spoonfuls? Or spoons-full. Most uncountable' ouns can be used in the plural in some contexts. Is it more helpful to think of countable/uncountable as characteristics rather than categories? Plural forms of different drinks or proper names add to the problem.
In business people use the word figure instead of number. The sales figures have increased. A written or printed symbol representing something other than a letter, especially a number is a figure. So, a figure could be a number, e.g. 1000, or a symbol, e.g.'pi'. Perhaps when we are referring to the sign, the amount as a whole, we use figure, whereas we use number to refer purely to the number. Tricky! It could be collocation! We say sales figures, but not sales number. Is figure a digit and has to do with fingers (0 to 9)? Maybe a number is a mark on a scale written in figures. When you speak of some amount, not order, we say 'figures'.
When words are uncountable we need to use quantities to make them countable: a bag of, a drop of, a pair of, a glass of, a cup of, a dozen,...To make this confusion even worse we have different plural forms: Car...cars; man...men, woman...women; child...children; wife...wives; tomato...tomatoes; goose...geese, foot...feet; oasis...oases, crisis…crises; mother-in-law...mothers-in-law; baby...babies; boy...boys.
Some words don’t have a plural form or the plural is the same as the singular: one hovercraft, two hovercraft, one fish, two fish but fishes in a restaurant as a dish. Series and species are the same in singular and plural. Some like the letters of the alphabet and abbreviations take an apostrophe + s =‘s: 1960’s, MP’s
Numbers go before adjectives: six lazy daisies. Some nouns are difficult to pronounce: cloths and clothes. Some singular verbs take plural complements: The biggest timewaster is meetings but three thousand pounds is a big sum of money. In some countries phone numbers are given in pairs of numbers while in England it's number by number e.g. 245688 In England, "Two- four- five- six, double eight", but in Spain or Germany, for example, "Twenty-four, fifty-six, eighty-eight". I don't know the conventions for other English-speaking countries.
Wortstellung
Adverbs of frequency
Place time
IV. Germanismen
Aussprache
Loyalty
Say
Pronomen (personal- und Possessivpronomen)
Im Englischen im Gegensatz zum Deutschen sind Pronomen in folgenden Fällen wichtig:
1. Bekleidung: Zieh die Schuhe an put on your shoes
2. Korperteile: gib mir die Hand Give me your hand
3. allowed:: Es ist nicht erlaubt hier zu rauchen
You are not allowed to smoke here. You hier ist keine Anrede sondern bedeutet man o
Sport
Fußballergebnisse
Richtung
Bringen Herbringen (zu mir) Bring a book from the library
Hinbringen (eg von mir) I take you to the station.
Leihen
Deutsch ein Wort English zwei oder mehr
Machen
Platz
Sportlich
Verneinung
Ich glaube er kommt nicht I don’t think he’ll come
V. Culture
VI. Tricks
Bedeutung machen
The duality (polarity) principle in English Grammar
What I here call the duality or polarity principle implies the existence of a dual or a polar mode. The phenomenon of duality permeates nearly everything in the world. There is life vs. death, female vs. male, regular verbs vs. irregular verbs, stative verbs vs. dynamic verbs, gerund vs. infinitive, simple vs. continuous aspect, analogue vs. digital. You can go on and on drawing examples from all walks of life infinitely. In fact the words <and> and <or> demonstrate this relationship. There is a protagonist and an antagonist. Even God must have an adversary, namely the devil. This duality could be a simplification but crucial for making meaning.
Some of Ferdinand de Sauseure’s (a Swiss philologist 1857-1913) most central ideas are also expressed in pairs of concepts as: diachrony vs. synchrony; langue vs. parole; signifiant vs. singnife´; syntagmatic vs. paradigmatic; even Chomsky generative approach (Competence and Performance) is also derived from this dichotomy. Although this duality is based on polarity, it is in the end a dependency relationship. You can’t know what’s good if you don’t know what’s bad. So “bad” makes “good” possible. IT or computer language (digital language) is also based on two modes (two digits: there is current vs. there is no current). In addition, if I say <I> I have to say born to <my mother and father>. The duality system is widely distributed in nature. Furthermore, often the pairs merge or fuse into one and go back to their analogous origin where there are no clear-cut distinctions but a continuous flow.
Since Language is a product of human mind and perception this duality can be used in explaining English grammar particularly the English tenses which is a pitfall for some typical mistakes. Learning or teaching grammatical phenomena should be based on comparison. The past tense is a closed system because the action is complete. The markers like yesterday, last, ago show this clearly. The present or future by contrast is an open system. There are also two aspects. There is a simple and a continuous aspect in all tenses. There are rules / routines / facts (simple) vs. exceptions / current or temporary projects / change (continuous). Past simple can be learned in comparison as follows:
• Past simple vs. past continuous
• Past simple vs. past perfect simple
• Past simple vs. present perfect simple
Verbs undergo the same principle because the verb is the basis for tenses. There are stative verbs (know, understand) vs. dynamic verbs (live, work). Some verbs have both a stative and a dynamic meaning (have). It is stative when it means possession and dynamic when it means experience). Stative implies no change and anything which is dynamic changes. There are regular and irregular verbs (work and go); linking verbs that take adjectives and action verbs that take adverbs or verbs which can be a link or an action depending upon the meaning: He went crazy. He went crazily. She turned quick She turned quickly. There are main verbs and helping verbs; there are transitive and intransitive verbs. There are also two kinds of decisions: decisions which are made on the spot (instant decisions: (will) I am cold I’ll get a pullover) and decisions which are planned: (going to): I am going to see a film this evening)
Infinitive can be contrasted with gerund and present participle. Infinitive looks forward in time i.e. prospective (anticipative) view: (remember (1) to post (2) the letter, whereas gerund looks back in time i.e. retrospective view: I remember (2) posting (1) the letter yesterday. I stopped (2) smoking (1): (stop: give up). I stopped (1) to smoke (2) a cigarette (stop: halt). Thus the difficult job of learning lists of verbs by heart will be a bit easier. The duality or comparison principle can be applied as well to the following areas listed alphabetically:
Adjectives vs. adverbs
Capital letters vs. small letters
Countable vs. uncountable nouns
Definite article vs. indefinite article
Direct speech vs. indirect (reported speech)
Passive vs. active voice
Singular vs. plural
Style (formal vs. informal)
Vowels vs. consonants
Pronunciation vs. Spelling
Entscheidungen (decisions)
1. Spontane/nicht geplannte oder überlegte Entscheidung die auf der Stelle trifft (instant decisions: like instant coffee) werden mit will iedergegeben:
I am dirty I think I’ll (I will) have a shower.
I am hungry I will have a sandwich.
I am tired I’ll go to bed.
I am cold I think I’ll get a pullover.
2. Geplannte oder durchdachte Entscheidungen (going to + infinitive):
I am going to see a film tonight
3. Bereits gefallene Entscheidungen (present continuous):
I am seeing a film this evening.
I am seeing my aunt tomorrow
Eventualitäten (eventualities/ possibilities/ probabilities)
Funny mistakes:
Write it on the backside (Schreib es auf den Hintern)
When do I become a beefstake (Wann werde ich ein Beefsteak)
I am photograph (ich bin ein Photo)
I am a cooker (Ich bin ein Herd)
I am a critic (Ich bin Kritiker. Critic bedeutet nicht Kritik)
I am an undertaker (ich bin ein Leichenbestatter)
Pay (for): I paid the coffee (Der Kaffee bekommt das Geld).
I paid fort he coffee. But: I paid the rent/the man
Laut
Deutsch Englisch
[z] [t]
Zeh toe
Zehn ten
Zelt tent
Zwei two
Lehnwörter aus anderen Sprachen
Preis
Fahrpreis Wenn es um Reisen geht das Wort für Fahrpreis ist immer fare: how much ist The fare to Hamburg?
Preis gewinnen I won the first prize
Preis/Kosten They sell their product at a high price.
Auf der andern Seite das deutsche Wort Kost und Englsih fare kann für das nötige Verwirrung sorgen:
Freie Kost und Logie free board and lodging
Geistige Kost intellectual fare
Leichte (schmale) Kost light (meagre) fare
Reichliche Kost plentiful diet
Boarding-school fare Internatessen
Um die Verwirrung noch zu steigern das Englisch Wort diet nicht immer Diät bedeutet sondern auch Nahrung:
I am on a diet Ich bin auf Diet.
You need to change your diet Sie brauchen Ihre Nahrung um zu stellen.
S
He/she/it s muss mit Die einzige übrig gebliebene germanische Endung wir entweder häufig vergessen oder falsch ausgesprochen
Says Aussprache [seiz] und nicht [sayiz]
Wortbildung
Affixes (Suffix –root – prefix)