prenez une putain de gorgee, bebes

Hey guys another grammar post, this time we’ll be talking about the uses of mögen, sollen, and wollen with reference to reported speech. This is something really meant for those at a B2/C1+ level & primarily those who read newspapers.

First of all, Konjunktiv I isn’t going to be explained in this post, so you might wanna give that a quick read if you’re unaware, and secondly… enjoy the post!

Wait what do you mean by reported speech?

Reported speech is simply reporting what someone else has said, and appears quite often in newspapers with the Konjunktiv I mood. Mögen, Sollen, and Wollen can all be used to modify the tone of the reported speech.

Mögen

Mögen is used in reported speech to show a polite request. You may either use the Konjunktiv I or Konjunktiv II form, but möchten is more common than mögen in 3rd person plural.

Ex:  Sie bat dich, du mögest/möchtest so schnell wie möglich zurückrufen. Tr:  She asked you to call back as soon as possible [polite tone].

Ex: Er hat zu ihr gesagt, dass sie sich ein bisschen beeilen möge/möchte. Tr: He told her that she ought to speed up a bit [polite tone].

Sollen

i) When reporting on commands, sollen is stronger than mögen and suggests a command as opposed to a polite request. You can also use Konjunktiv I or Konjunktiv II here, but solle is more common than sollte.

Ex: Die Polizei befahl den Leuten, sie sollen/sollten weitergehen. Tr: The police ordered the people to carry on [walking].

Ex: Er verlangt von ihr, sie solle/sollte sich ein bisschen beeilen. Tr: He demanded that she hurry up [command tone].

ii) When reporting on speech, sollen is the most neutral option and suggests that the reporter doesn’t know whether the speaker’s claims are true/false. In fact, the claims don’t even have to come from the speaker themselves - no judgement is made. Either Konjunktiv I or Indikativ is possible.

Ex: Lisa soll/solle schwanger sein. = Man behauptet, dass Lisa schwanger ist. Tr: It’s reported that Lisa is pregnant.

Ex: Ich habe gehört, dass er jetzt irgendwo im Ausland leben soll/solle. Tr:  I’ve heard that he’s currently living somewhere abroad.

Wollen

When reporting on speech, wollen is the least neutral of these options and suggests that the truth of the statement is doubtful. Unlike sollen, the claim being doubted does normally come from the speaker. Once again, either Konjunktiv I or Indikativ are possibly - the latter way more common.

Ex: Lisa will/wolle schwanger sein = Lisa behauptet, dass sie schwanger ist. Tr: Lisa claims that she is pregnant.

Ex: Mark will/wolle der jüngste Läufer sein = Mark behauptet, dass er der jüngste Läufer ist. Tr: Mark claims that he’s the youngest runner.

There you have it! If you’re interested in finding out more about how modal verbs go beyond their usual meaning, look upp Subjektive Bedeutungen Modalverben.

“It’s a Friday night and you’re learning Polish”

“Saylor, what”

“That looks hard”

“That… did not come out in English.”

“How do you say ‘____ sucks dick’ in insert language”

“Wait, wait, I want to guess how it’s pronounced!”

“You’re talking shit about me aren’t you?”

“I don’t even feel like translating that mess right now.”

“ENGLISH.”

“But, what can you do with that?”

“I just don’t have the mind for learning another language, good for you”

“I think I know what this means… okay… wait, help”

“You can’t just teach yourself how to write in Korean in one night”

“OH MY GOD, how did you know how to spell your name in Russian?!” - my russian friend

“What do you mean there’s no word for ‘fuck’ in insert language”

Why say ‘to eat’ when you can say 'to devour’, 'to wolf down’, or 'to dine’?

1. Auffressen - to devour (normally of animals) Ex: Gestern hat ein Vogel das ganze Vogelfutter aufgefressen. Tr: Yesterday a bird devoured all of the bird food.

2. Speisen - to dine Ex: Hier speisen viele Beamte, Richter und Ärzte. Tr: Many lawyers, judges and doctors dine here.

3. Tafeln - to dine (elevated) Ex: Am liebsten tafeln wir im schönen Garten der Villa. Tr: Most of all, we prefer to dine in the villa’s beautiful garden.

4. Naschen - to nibble Ex: Viele Kinder naschen gerne Zucker, wenn er auf dem Tisch steht. Tr: Many children happily nibble sweets if they’re lying on the table.

5. Sich [dat.] einverleiben - to swallow up Ex: Jetzt könnte ich mir ganz alleine eine Riesenpizza einverleiben. Tr: Right now I could swallow up a whole large pizza by myself.

6. Schmausen - to feast (outdated) Ex: Die beiden Helden und ihre gallischen Freunde schmausen, trinken, schwadronieren und feiern. Tr: The two heroes and their Gallic friends feasting, drinking, ranting, and partying.

7. Verputzen - to scoff/scarf [down in one go] (slang) Ex: Saskia hat die ganze Torte verputzt. Tr: Saskia scoffed down the entire torte.

8. Verschlingen - to wolf down Ex: Sofort fängt sie an, ihren Kuchen zu verschlingen. Tr: Straight away she began to wolf up her cake.

9. Schwelgen - to indulge in Ex: Wir können täglich in Bananen, Apfelsinen und anderen tropischen Früchten schwelgen. Tr: On a daily basis we can indulge in bananas, apples, and other tropical fruits.

10. __en Hunger stillen - to satisfy one’s hunger Ex: In der Pause können sie ihren Hunger stillen. Tr: During the break they can satisfy their hunger.

Zu Hause:

backen | to bake

basteln | to do arts and crafts

ein Scrapbook basteln | to make a scrapbook

fotografieren | to do photography

häkeln | to crochet

jonglieren | to juggle

kochen | to cook

lesen | to read

malen | to paint

Musik hören | to listen to music

Briefmarken sammeln | to collect stamps

schreiben | to write

singen | to sing

Brettspiele spielen | to play board games

Dame spielen | to play checkers

Schach spielen | to play chess

Sprachen lernen | to study languages

Videospiele spielen | to play video games

sticken | to embroider

stricken | to knit

tanzen | to dance

Draußen:

angeln | to fish

im Garten arbeiten | to garden

Vögel beobachten | to bird watch

boxen | to box

Fahrrad fahren | to bike

Schlittschuh fahren | to ice skate

Ski fahren | to go skiing

ins Kino gehen | to go to the movies

spazieren gehen | to go for a walk

joggen | to jog

kegeln | to bowl

reisen | to travel

reiten | to go horseback riding

schwimmen gehen | to go swimming

Eishockey spielen | to play hockey

Fußball spielen | to play football/soccer

Tennis spielen | to play tennis

Sport treiben | to do sports, to work out

turnen | to do gymnastics

Norwegian: a clear babbling stream, snowy mountaintops, sea birds, reindeer, sledding down a hill

German: strong black coffe, cobblestone roads, cloudy skies, lustful gazes, red lipstick

Mandarin Chinese: walking down a city street, bustling crowds, stationary, the sound of opening a new book

Spanish: warm summer sun, laughter, bright smiles, dancing until you can’t anymore, gold earrings

Dutch: warm hugs, waffles with cream, good cheese, the smell of an old library

Hindi: marigold flowers, a sense of peace, brilliantly colored vegetables, flowing vibrant clothes

Icelandic: wind rolling over hills, crashing waves, tinkling bells, icicles

French: early morning sunrises, sleeping under a new duvet, strawberries, sharply drawn eyeliner

Italian: home cooked meals, singing alone in your room, boats

Swahili: music that you can’t help but dance to, winning at your favorite game, water dripping into a puddle, golden eyes, dark hair

Arabic: body art, mosaics, glitter, rainbows cast from sunlight through crystal

Japanese: delicate flowers, well made machinery, studying with friends, fireflies, the first snow of winter

Irish: flute music, wet grass, fairy whispers, a full moon, playing with children

Russian: alcohol, runner’s high, bronze statues, old buildings, heartfelt conversations

Those marked with an * are only done when speaking informally and often considered ‘messy’! Please don’t write like this, use the correct way in writing or speaking in a professional environment!

1. Mesh together prepositions and articles

This is something we do a lot and not doing it makes you sound very formal. Unlike some of the other things on this list, it acceptable to do this in writing as well. This is only done with the article dem and sometimes with das and der too. The following are only a few examples to show how it works:

zu + dem = zum; zu + der = zur

an + dem = am; an + das = ans

in + dem = im; in + das = ins

von + dem = vom

etc.

If we want to stress the object, however, we don’t combine them:

In welchem Haus wohnst du? - In dem Haus. Which house do you live in? - In that one.

Note: In some cases, you cannot dissolve the combination. That is the case in fixed phrases that don’t change depending on cases. “Zum Beispiel”, for example (haha, I’m so funny), is one. You cannot say “zu dem Beispiel”.

2. Leave out ‘e’ *

This is done mainly with first person verbs and in verb+es constructions. This is acceptable in informal writing but should not be done in essays, books, articles, or anything of the sort.

Ich habe mein Buch vergessen. - Ich hab mein Buch vergessen.

Wie geht es dir? - Wie geht’s/gehts dir?

Note regarding the apostrophe: in cases where verb+es is shortened to verb+s, an apostrophe is not absolutely necessary, according to Duden. However, many people use it anyway.

3. Mess up word order in ‘weil’ sentences *

So… German has strict word order. But we like to bend the rules a lot. In sentences with ‘weil’ especially. Usually, this kind of clause requires different word order than a normal sentence but we’re lazy and often pretend like there’s a … after the ‘weil’ and we get to start a new sentence with the normal word order. 

Correct word order:  Ich habe keine Energie, weil es mir heute nicht so gut geht.

Colloquial way: Ich habe keine Energie, weil (…) es geht mir heute nicht so gut.

4. Ignore Präteritum completely *

You do not do this in writing!! But often times we ignore the existence of Präteritum completely, especially here in the South. You learn that for things that weren’t that long ago, we use Präteritum…. It’s not true. Colloquially, we use Perfekt for almost everything. But you still need to learn it because most fictional books are written in Präteritum and you do need to be able to use it for writing or speaking in a professional environment.

5. Leaving out ‘ei’ in ‘ein/eine/einen’ *

While speaking or in informal writing, many of use shorten ‘ein’ and its forms by leaving out the ei:

ein - ‘n

eine - ‘ne

einen - ‘nen

einem - ‘nem

einer - ‘ner

Note: in middle and northern Germany people will often use ‘n and ‘nen interchangeably, so don’t let that confuse you.

6. 'Is’ (+’er’/’es’) *!!!

A lot of times we leave out the last ‘t’ of ‘ist’ when speaking. Many times this also causes ist+es or ist+er to merge into one word.

Es ist kalt draußen. - Es is kalt draußen.

Ist er noch da? - Is er (or: isser) noch da?

Ist es fertig? - Is es (or: isses) fertig?

Requested by anon

Jul (m) - Christmas, Yule Høytid (m) / Helligdag (m) - Holiday Julefeiring (m) - Christmas celebration Julaften (m) - Christmas Eve (December 24th) Lille julaften (m) - Day before Christmas Eve (December 23rd) Første/1. juledag (m) - Christmas Day (December 25th) Andre/2. juledag (m) - Boxing day (December 26th) Desember (m) - December Advent (m) - Advent Juleferie (m) - Christmas break Julegave (m) / pakke (m/f) - Christmas present Innpakningspapir (n) - Wrapping paper Gavebånd (n) - Ribbon Adventskalender (m) / Julekalender (m) - Christmas calendar Juletre (n) - Christmas tree Juletrefot (m) - Christmas tree stand Julestemning (m) - Christmas spirit Juletradisjon (m) - Christmas tradition Julesang (m) - Christmas song Julepynt (m) / Juledekorasjon (m) - Christmas decoration Juletrepynt (m) - Christmas ornaments Juletrelys (n) - Christmas lights (for the tree) Julekule (m/f) - Christmas ball Julestjerne (m) - Christmas star, Poinsettia Julenissen - Santa Claus Reinsdyr (n) - Reindeer Slede (m) - Sleigh Pipe (m/f) / Skorstein (m) - Chimney  Snø (m) - Snow Misteltein (m) - MIstletoe Julebord (n) - Christmas party Glitter (n) - Tinsel, glitter Girlander (m) - Garland Julemiddag (m) - Christmas dinner Dessert (m) - Dessert Kake (m/f) - cake Småkake (m/f) . cookie Pepperkake (m) - Gingerbread cookies Julemarked (n) - Christmas market Enebærbusk (m) - Mulberry bush Hvit - White Rød - Red Grønn - Green Lilla - Purple Gull / Gullfarget - Gold / Gold coloured Sølv / Sølvfarget - Silver / Silver coloured Nisselue (m/f) - Christmas hat Julebukk (m) - Yule goat Julenek (n)- Christmas sheaf Gløgg (m) - Mulled wine Nisse (m) - A nisse (A creature in Nordic folklore)  Grøt (m) - Porridge Risgrøt (m) / Risengrynsgrøt (m) - Rice porridge Mandel (m) - Almond Familie (m) - Family Å pynte- to decorate Å feire - To celebrate Å bake - To bake Å spise - To eat Å synge - To sing Å danse - To dance Å pakke inn - To wrap Å kose seg - To enjoy oneself God jul! - Merry Christmas! Jesusbarnet - Christ Child Gud - God Jesus - Jesus Josef - Joseph Maria - Mary De tre vise menn / De hellige tre konger - The Biblical Magi, The Wise Men Gull (n) - Gold Myrra - Myrrh Røkelse (m) - Frankincense Gudstjeneste (m) - Church service Krybbe (m) - Crib Julekrybbe (m) - Nativity Scene Engel (m) - Angel Betlehemsstjernen - Star of Betlehem Fødsel (m) - Birth

scrosciare (vb.): the action of rain pouring down heavily or of waves hitting rocks and cliffs

meriggiare (vb.): to rest at noon, more likely in a shady spot outdoors

lapidoso (adj.): full of stones, said of roads or of the bottom of a river.

innaffiare (vb.): to water something, especially a garden, a plant, a flower, etc

cruore (n.): it literally means “flowing blood”

nottivago (n.): of a person who wanders at night; night-roamer

terrifico (adj.): of something or someone that terrifies, that provokes terror

ansare (vb.): to hardly breathe, to be out of breath

nequizia (n.): wickedness, evilness, iniquity or evil action

I don’t know if you’re familiar with Spanish or Catalan but it’s the same difference there is between saying Sp. querer, Cat. voler and Sp. tener ganas, Cat. tenir ganes.

Volere is “to want” whereas aver voglia di qlco. is more like “to feel like (doing) smth”, “to be in the mood for smth”. It’s more of an urge or desire compared to voglio (I want) and it sort of implies that this is not always dependent on your will. In this respect volere and aver voglia (di) are not fully equivalent in meaning.

voglio un cornetto - I want a croissant (will)

ho voglia di qualcosa di dolce - I want something sweet (I feel like [eating] something sweet) (desire)

vuole andare al mare - s/he wants to go to the beach (will)

ha voglia di andare al mare - s/he wants to go to the beach (desire)

vogliono vedersi - they want to meet (will)

hanno voglia di stare insieme - they want to be together (desire)

In the sense of urge or desire is also the noun voglia “lust”, as in vuole soddisfare le sue voglie “(s/he wants to satisfy his/her [sexual] desires”. Sometimes you also see it to mean volontà.

Other expressions with voglia (where it doesn’t mean “[sexual] desire” are

morire dalla voglia (di) - to die for

contro voglia ALSO controvoglia - unwillingly

di mala voglia ALSO malavoglia - unwillingly

di cattiva voglia - unwillingly

en vennskapskamp → a friendly match

Polen skal spille en vennskapskamp mot Uruguay i dag.

kollektivtransport → public transport

Det er billigere å bruke kollektivtransport f.eks. buss eller tog enn å kjøre bil.

i gjennomsnitt → on average

I gjennomsnitt bør man drikke en liter vann hver dag.

en brudekjole → a wedding dress

Hun kunne ikke finne den perfekte brudekjolen som passet til sin figur.

å laste ned → to download