Language Practice (Help your fluency)

[Linguoboy]

Vorplanen!
Planning ahead!

[Travis B.]

Ich bin kein Muttersprachler von Deutsch, aber ich weiß, dass das Wort für "Sunday" "Sonntag" ist.
I am not a native speaker of German, but I know that the word for "Sunday" is "Sonntag".

[Nooj]

Nola erosten zara zerbait, dendak itxita igandean daudela?
How are you supposed to get something if shops are closed on Sunday?

Nola erosten duzu zerbait, dendak itxita igandetan badaude
Nola erosten duzu zerbait, dendak itxita igandetan daude eta
Nola erosketak egiten dira 'how is the shopping done'

[Imralu]

Today is Sunday. The shops are closed.

Ich bin ganz* überrascht! Du lebst in Berlin, oder? So eine große Stadt, und alle Laden sinds > haben geschlossen? Hier in den Niederlanden haben Supermärkte sonntags meistens geöffnet am Sonntags.
I'm very much surprised! You're living in Berlin right? Such a big city, and all shops are closed? Here in the Netherlands supermarkets are mostly open on Sundays. [And fastfood restaurants must be opened, right?]

*
Ganz überrascht is not really wrong, but somehow sounds strange to me. Ganz tends to be used with absolute adjectives to mean "completely" and with gradable adjectives it's more like "quite" (i.e. less extreme than "very much"), so I'd prefer sehr überrascht, but a native speaker might say "No, that's fine!"

When talking about shops, "to be open" and "to be closed" are, for some reason generally "geöffnet haben", "geschlossen haben" (and these don't mean "have opened", "have closed" but "are open", "are closed"), which just seems completely strange to me, but that is what is used. (The second sentence in the second picture is totally strange, which is why pictures of this sign have been posted on the internet, but the first sentence is completely normal.)

am Sonntag = on Sunday [prepositional phrase]
sonntags = on Sundays [adverb, no capital, obviously derived from the genitive singular but common for things like morgens, abends, mittwochs etc.]

Ndio, maduka ya chakula (masupamaketi) huwa yamefungwa siku za Jumapili. Katika jiji lote la Berlin kuna masupamaketi manne ninayoyajua ambayo huwa hayajafungwa siku za Jumapili, yote yakiwa katika stesheni kubwa za treni. Kwa bahati nzuri, mojawapo la masupamaketi hayo yako karibu kiasi nami (lazima nitembee kwa dakika ishirini nifike hapo), lakini siku za Jumapili kuna sikuzote watu wengi mno na nisipohisi vizuri, naweza kupatwa na hali ya wasiwasi.
Yeah, grocery stores (supermarkets) are closed on Sundays. In all of Berlin, there are four supermarkets that I know of that are open on Sundays, all of them being in big train stations. Fortunately, one of these supermarkets is fairly close to me (I have to walk about 20 minutes to get there), but on Sundays there are always too many people and if I'm not feeling good, I can get anxiety.

Siku za Jumapili, migahawa na maduka rahisi huwa yamefunguliwa, lakini maduka rahisi Spätis hayana chakula kingi isipokuwa chipsi za viazi, chokoleti. Jijini Berlin maduka rahisi yanauza hasa pombe. Nadhani pia kwamba siku za Jumapili hayakuruhusiwa kuwa yamefunguliwa mpaka hivi karibuni, lakini maduka hayo yaliyo mengi yalipuuza sheria hii.
On Sundays, restaurants and convenience stores are open, but convenience stores "Spätis" don't have much food other than potato chips and chocolate. In Berlin, convenience stores mainly sell alcohol. I also think that they weren't allowed to be open on Sundays until recently, but most of these stores ignored that law.

[jal]

Danke! Ich habe wiedermal viel gelernt!
Thanks! I've again learned a lot!


JAL

[HazelFiver]

Je ne sais pas quoi dire ici, donc je vais dire quelque chose d'inutile.
I don't know what to say here, so I'm going to say something useless.

Le brouillard vient sur de petites pattes de chat. Peut-être que quelque chose ne va pas dans cette phrase-là, mais je ne sais pas qu'est-ce que c'est.
Mae'r niwl yn dod ar balfau bach cath. Efallai mae rhywbeth yn bod ar y frawddeg 'na, ond dw i ddim yn gwybod beth ydy e.
The fog comes on little cat feet. Maybe something is wrong with that sentence, but I don't know what it is.

[Znex]

Mae'r niwl yn dod ar balfau bach y gath. Efallai mae rhywbeth yn o'i le ar y frawddeg 'na, ond dw i ddim yn gwybod beth ydy hi?.
The fog comes on little cat feet. Maybe something is wrong with that sentence, but I don't know what it is.

Dyna'r cyfan fedra i weld sy o'i le ar hynny.
That's all that I can see wrong with it.

[HazelFiver]

Mae'r niwl yn dod ar balfau bach y gath. Efallai mae rhywbeth yn o'i le ar y frawddeg 'na, ond dw i ddim yn gwybod beth ydy hi?.
The fog comes on little cat feet. Maybe something is wrong with that sentence, but I don't know what it is.

Dyna'r cyfan fedra i weld sy o'i le ar hynny.
That's all that I can see wrong with it.

Merci, mais j'ai voulu dire "petites pattes de chat", non pas "petites pattes du chat". Je sais que les deux expressions yn bod ar et o'i le ar existent, mais je ne suis pas sûr de la différence. Je croyais que peth était masculin... peut-être pas.
Thanks, but I wanted to say "little cat feet", not "the cat's little feet". I know both the expressions yn bod ar and o'i le ar exist, but I'm not sure of the difference. I thought peth was masculine... maybe not.

[Znex]

Mae'r niwl yn dod ar balfau bach y gath. Efallai mae rhywbeth yn o'i le ar y frawddeg 'na, ond dw i ddim yn gwybod beth ydy hi?.
The fog comes on little cat feet. Maybe something is wrong with that sentence, but I don't know what it is.

Dyna'r cyfan fedra i weld sy o'i le ar hynny.
That's all that I can see wrong with it.

Merci, mais j'ai voulu dire "petites pattes de chat", non pas "petites pattes du chat". Je sais que les deux expressions yn bod ar et o'i le ar existent, mais je ne suis pas sûr de la différence. Je croyais que peth était masculin... peut-être pas.
Thanks, but I wanted to say "little cat feet", not "the cat's little feet". I know both the expressions yn bod ar and o'i le ar exist, but I'm not sure of the difference. I thought peth was masculine... maybe not.

Mae'r Gymraeg yn defnyddio'r fannod benodol mewn rhai ffyrdd sy ddim yn synhwyrol yn Saesneg. Felly os ydy "cath" yn dilyn "palf" (fel yr ymadrodd genidol), geith y fannod benodol ddefnyddio rhwng nhw. Fel arall, efallai mod i 'di disgwyl "cathbalf" yn syml.
Welsh uses definite articles in a few ways that don't make sense in English. So if "cath" {cat} follows "palf" {paw} (as in a genitival phrase), a definite article gets used between them (so "cat paws" = "the paws of the cat"). Otherwise, I might have expected simply "cathbalf" {cat paw}.

Dwn i'm yr ymadrodd "yn bod ar", felly efallai fod hynny'n gywir. Hyd gwn i, dim ond â pobl mae "yn bod ar" yn cael ei ddefnyddio yn wir.
I don't know the phrase "yn bod ar", so that might be correct. As far as I know, "yn bod ar" only really gets used for people.

O ran "hi", am does dim gyn y Gymraeg "it", mae "hi" neu "hynny"'n cael ei defnyddio yn amlog yn lle; er medr "e/o" ddefnyddio hefyd. Does dim gyn "beth" cenedl yn wir.
As for "hi", since Welsh doesn't have an "it" {3NSG}, "hi" {3FSG} or "hynny" {DEM.N.DIST} is often used instead; though "e/o" can be used instead. "Beth" {what} doesn't really have a gender.

[Zju]

Ich habe bemerkt, dass die meisten Sprachen definitiven artikeln etwa anders als Englisch benutzen, z.B. Abstraktsubstantive sind gewöhnlich definitiv.
I've noticed that most languages use definite articles somewhat differently than English, e.g. abstract nouns are usually definite.

[jal]

In jeder Sprache gibt es ihre eigene Regeln in Bezug auf die Artikeln.
In every language there are different rules with rgards to articles.


JAL

[Ryusenshi]

Le brouillard vient sur de petites pattes de chat. Peut-être que quelque chose ne va pas dans cette phrase-là, mais je ne sais pas qu'est-ce que ce que c'est.

Belated remark: we don't use qu'est-ce que with subordinate clauses, only with questions. (Children sometimes do this: "C'est qu'est-ce que j'ai dit!", but it sounds, well, childish; an adult would say "C'est ce que j'ai dit!")

Incidentally, non-native speakers often make a similar mistake in English: invert the subject and the verb in subordinate clauses, as if they were questions. For instance: "This allows you to know what is the computer doing" instead of "what the computer is doing". (I'm not sure if the first version is incorrect, but the second one seems more natural.)

[Linguoboy]

Ein Bekannter hat mich überredet, Goodreads beizutreten. Ich weiss nicht, ob ich damit Vieles tue. Mir gefallen die Teilnahmebedingungen von ihrem Lizenzvertrag nicht.
An acquaintance convinced me to join Goodreads. I don't know if I'll make much use of it since I don't like the terms of their licensing agreement.

[Nerulent]

Incidentally, non-native speakers often make a similar mistake in English: invert the subject and the verb in subordinate clauses, as if they were questions. For instance: "This allows you to know what is the computer doing" instead of "what the computer is doing". (I'm not sure if the first version is incorrect, but the second one seems more natural.)

Tu as raison - la première phrase avec l'inversion est erronée sauf comme une question indirecte: 'this allows you to know, what is the computer doing?'.
You're correct, the first sentence with the inversion is incorrect except as an indirect question: …

Bonne Année à tous!
Hape Nū Ia ki a koutou katoa!
Heri ya Mwaka Mpya kwa kila mtu!
Happy New Year to everyone!

[alumox]

Emi (mein Hund) wurde gestern kastriert. Sie sieht erbärmlich aus, wegen des Schutzkragens. Meine Schwester sagt immer wieder dass Emi "herausgeschöpft" wurde, ein Ausdruck, den mein Bruder völlig hasst. Ich finde es ziemlich lustig.
Emi (my dog) got spayed yesterday. She looks pitiful with that cone on. My sister keeps saying that Emi got "scooped", an expression that my brother totally hates. I think it's pretty funny.

[Linguoboy]

hą́ąpa wahkǫ́tą́ki haašíhta Field Museum ci hpaðímaha hcí ąkǫ́hpape.
A week ago we visited the Pawnee Earth Lodge at the Field Museum.

wakǫ́ze ąkóhkiape. wazóąkšiðape.
We conversed with the docents. They enjoyed that.

hą́ąpa wahkǫ́tą́ki ðe Art Institute ci níihaamąžą įcéwaléze ówatoį ąkǫ́hpe.
This Sunday we visited the ukiyo-e exhibit at the Art Institute.

įcéwaléze apa ochíe. įįštá wíhta áwabruucˀáke.
There were a lot of prints. My eyes got tired.

[Nerulent]

Kāore anō au kia oko i tēnei kupu 'docent'. Ki te Wikipedia, he kupu o Hononga-o-Amerika pēnei. Ko 'kaiārahi' tāku e kī nei
I haven't heard the word 'docent' before. Wikipedia tells me it's a US word in this usage. I would just say 'guide'.

Kāore au i mōhio kei noho ētahi iwi taketake* o Amerika ki roto o ngā whare whenua. He ngahau!
I didn't know that some Native Americans lived in earth lodges. Interesting!

More: show

* www.maoridicitonary.co.nz tells me the word for Native American is kiriwhero, literally 'redskin', however I am definitely unsure if this usage is still current, so I went with 'indigenous peoples of America'.

[Imralu]

Sijasikia kamwe neno la docent kwa Kiingereza. Kwa Kijerumani, Dozent linamaanisha mwalimu wa chuo kikuu au mara kwa mara mwalimu anayefundisha watu wazima.
I've never heard the word "docent" in English. In German, "Dozent" means a teacher at a university (a lecturer) or sometimes a teacher who teaches aldults.

[jal]

I've never heard the word "docent" in English. In German, "Dozent" means a teacher at a university (a lecturer) or sometimes a teacher who teaches aldults.

In den Niederlanden, ein "docent" is jemand, der unterricht gibt in der Schule oder an der Universität. In dem Flandern, es ist nur jemand, der an einem Universität doziert.
In the Netherlands, a "docent" is someone who teaches in a school or at(?) a univeristy. In Flanders it's only someone teaching at a university.


JAL

[Nerulent]

Te āhua nei ka whakamahia pēnei taua kupu i te Peretānia - he whakamahi HOA te aronga o te kaiārahi tūao o te whare pupuri taonga.
Apparently the word can be used that way in the UK - the meaning of 'volunteer museum guide' is an American usage.

He kaitūao taku hoamahi i te whare mātai ātea o Poneke, i kite au nō tērā wiki. Ka whakamahi ia i tētahi karu whātata i rau e rima tekau ōna tau.
I discovered last week that one of my colleagues is a volunteer at the Wellington observatory. He works a 150-year old telescope [lit. a telescope whose years are 150.