Clarification Edit: for people who speak English natively and are learning a second language

  • BradleyUffner@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Learning German taught me how messed up non-English languages are. Having to memorize if every noun is either male, female, or neuter just so you can use the right form of “the” with it is crazy.

    • Miphera@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      As a German myself who tried to learn French a while ago, I gave up because that language has the same issue, but the genders for nouns are different and I just can’t be bothered to memorize two different genders for every noun 💀

    • Mkengine@feddit.de
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      5 months ago

      And then you also have different meanings depending on pronunciation, here some examples:

      • umfahren: to drive around something or to run over something

      • Montage: the act of assembling or the plural of Monday

      • übersetzen: to ferry across a river or to translate into another language

      • umschreiben: to rewrite or to paraphrase

      • durchschauen: to look through something or to understand

      • unterstellen: to place something underneath or to imply or accuse someone of something

      • unterhalten: to hold something underneath or to support or to converse with someone or to entertain

      • wiederholen: to fetch something back or to repeat something